Ooh Marabou!
Watch Marilyn Monroe's 'Seven Year Itch' and the first thing you notice is the feather-trimmed shoes she flaunts in style. The Marabou, Fluffy Mule or Feathered Heel, whatever you prefer to call it, has come a long way since 1940s.
The Marabou has long been associated with glamor and sex appeal. When the heel was added, it was as though the naked heel and ankle of the woman's foot was placed on a pedestal … needless to say, it looked highly erotic. The Marabou mule soon became trendy in the bedroom.
The Marabou (historically spelt Marabout), are feather trimmed shoes that added an oomph factor to style icons. The word "Marabou" describes a certain type of feather trimming. Although it takes its name from the Marabou stork whose undertail once provided its feathers, white turkey feathers are being used now. Since turkey feathers take dyes well, they can be used as versatile trimming for dresses too (not just shoes). It can also be an effective substitute for fur.
From Virginia Grey to Marilyn Monroe to Rhonda Fleming, the Marabou has been widely showcased by starlets in their movies. In a climactic scene in
Madame Bovary, Flaubert uses Emma's pink satin mules as a metaphor for seduction. In films of the 50s marabou mules signaled sweltering purgatory.
In fact, the Metropolitan Museum states that 'no object better epitomizes the sex kitten glamour of the 1950s than the Marabou mules'.
Paparazzi snapped Mamie Van Doren and Diana Dors wearing them to the supermarket. A buyer from Fredericks of Hollywood saw a Marabou mule with 3.5 inch heel in a
Parisian Fashion Show and replicated it for the catalogues. In current times, Marabou mules are worn mostly as boudoir slippers.
Marabous from beverlyheels gives you the right amount of oomph appeal for some spicy action!
