Marikina Shoe Museum: A Lavishing Shoe Collection of Imelda Marcos and a Display of Genuine Filipino Artistry

Prestige, glamour, extravagance and luxury—these are some of the qualities the controversial former First Lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos was being known for over the years.  Aside from owning an array of expensive clothing, jewelry and signature bags, this dictator’s wife has also been known to own the biggest collection of shoes a woman can kill for.

It’s like a shopaholic confession, just so you know, she had been keeping a vast collection of over 3000 pairs of shoes! According to her, most of these are all gifts from Marikina’s local shoemakers. Then why her reason could not even shut the mouth of some Filipinos for talking their own theories and speculations against her on how she got all these?

You might hate or envy Imelda Marcos for having this big wardrobe of shoes, but there’s somehow a good reason for you to smile. She had already let go of these shoes for everyone to see and appreciate.

Here at the Shoe Museum in Marikina, every piece is being showcased like an artwork. Every shoe has its own face, a distinguishing character—from being simple, studded, glimmering to being colorful and elegant.

According to reports, she wasn’t able to keep all the 3000 pairs of shoes that she owned. Some have been eaten up by termites already, some have faded and some were now totally wrecked by the oxidating effects of time. But the good thing is the Shoe Museum still holds a number of 800 pairs from her entire collection. Under the care of the museum, the shoes are still kept in good condition and shape.

Along with my adventure buddy, Bestfriend Ep, let’s rediscover and commemorate the First Lady's rich shoe collection:

Welcome to Marikina Shoe Museum!

The woman who once owned them all

I do not know what Bestfriend Ep was thinking while looking at these huge collection...Envy?

Being mesmerized by the place, I realized that this shoe museum not only houses Imelda’s pride. Other shoes that you might see here were from some of our local celebrities, personalities, actors and political figures. There were even traditional shoes from other countries. Here are some pieces:

A blue-suede shoes owned by the late comedy king, Dolphy

'Pa'no ang Puso ko' singer, April Boy Regino once owned this punky shoes

Hope Havaianas can create a pair of flip-flops like these from Maldives

Who would dare to try Brazil's sky-rocketing, high-heeled shoes?

You can also see a super-sized shoe displayed on the ground floor of the museum as well as life-size mannequins that portrait the act of shoe-making. These have been like emblems symbolizing the long-lived business of Marikenyos—nothing else but the art of shoe-making.

A life-size mannequin that portraits the act of shoe-making

The biggest real shoe I have ever seen!

A lovely shoe couch

Of course, Bestfriend Ep and I did not forget to pose outside the museum too!

After navigating all the corners of this small museum, I wasn’t thinking about Imelda Marcos after all. More than anything else, I was bothered about the current status of Marikina shoe business.

I realized that years back, Marikina was the top producer and maker of quality shoes in the country. But I guess this business is slowly dying out now because of this Made-in-China phenomenon.  Since China seems to be eating up all the businesses known to man, sales on Marikina shoes have started to decline and the high quality of products were now ignored by some budget-conscious costumers. Because of this sad truth, most of the shoe-making companies in this place started to shut down their businesses. However, I admire those who are still giving a hard, tight grip to this game of tug of war. I hope someday, they’ll be able to pull up the rope and win this competition.

"More than anything, this museum will symbolize the spirit and culture of the Filipino people".  This was what Imelda Marcos said about the Shoe Museum here in Marikina. True, I believe in the Filipino spirit of hard work and artistry. It’s just that not everyone is aware of it.

Our task? We must know our local brands then. Spread beautiful words about it. Use it and love it. The best thing—be proud of it.

The Shoe Museum

Click here to view location

Location:
J.P. Rizal St ,Barangay San Roque, Marikina City

Hours:
8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday - Sunday
Lunch Break 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Closed on Holidays

Admission:
P50 per person

For more info:
Call 646-2368/69