Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's shoes are making history

Written by Christina MaxourisSaeed Ahmed, CNN

New York congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she won her seat in the US House of Representatives because of all the doors she knocked on.

And she's got her shoes to prove it.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's campaign shoes, on loan to the Cornell Costume & Textile Collection (Ithaca, NY) for the exhibition Women Empowered: Fashions from the Frontline, on display December 6, 2018 - March 31, 2019. Credit: Courtesy Rachel Getman/ Cornell Costume & Textile Collection

The first pair of shoes to be worn by the 29-year-old on the campaign trail are now making fashion history as part of an exhibition at the Cornell Costume Collection titled "Women Empoered: Fashions from the Frontline."

The exhibition, which will debut on Dec. 6, calls on women to submit items of clothing that have empowered them in the past. Other items include collars from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a gown from suffrage activist Olivia "Livy" Langdon, a skirt owned by Janet Reno and the inaugural suit of Texas governor Ann Richards, among others.

A brief history of high fashion sneakers

Back in June, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted a picture of the shoes -- beaten, worn-out and with hole-filled soles.

"Here's my 1st pair of campaign shoes, " she wrote. "I knocked doors until rainwater came through my soles. Respect the hustle. We won (because) we out-worked the competition. Period."

"These shoes represent the hard work, dedication, determination, and commitment of the youngest woman ever elected to Congress," the Cornell Costume Collection posted.

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