This particular purse stood out the most for me because the it looks like it was embroidered with some sort of metal, accompanied by beads to accentuate the design. I was blown away by the high level weaving and at a close up, the patterns were formed threading each individual metal “circle” forming a round shape that is repeated vertically, with a line of beads separating them, row by row. This is craftsmanship at it’s finest! Colours are not necessary here as the textures are stunning on it’s own.

This exhibit displays shoes of the types of shoes worn by women of different social categories in early 20th century Singapore. Bound feet was popular back in the days as it symbolised beauty and status in the Singaporean Chinese culture. The shoes are intricately crafted and embroidered with a range of materials such as beads, sequins, and fabrics like cotton, leather, plastic, velvet, silk satin and suede. I truly appreciate the details and work that goes into each individual shoe as most of  our modern foot wear are largely made in bulk productions for commercial purposes. From the level of perplex detailing, I can tell that a lot of thought (form, style, material choice, pattern design, colours) goes into creating these beautiful shoes to suit the Chinese women of that era. Maybe they were even personalised to the characters of each individual.