Blue Slippers continues Beverly Semmes’s fabric-based practice where surreal oversized garments act as surrogate for the female body and condition. Here the rich fabric evokes feelings of comfort, desire and seduction, while the material's weight binds the wearer. The velvet robe evokes an era where Hugh Hefner's velvet smoking jacket and his Playboy Mansion were considered sexy rather than predatory. This is the stuff that velvet handcuffs are made of.

Tucked away in the pockets are a pair of sky blue slippers. In Freudian thought shoes frequently function as a symbolic reference to the female sex. Here the slippers are holstered, raising the question, have they been brought to heel or are they ready for battle?