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Faithful Shoeblog readers may remember back in May when Shoesense posted about the new shoes-only zip code at Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

Well, what’s the good of living near such a shoe lover’s Mecca if I don’t go check the place out now that it’s been open for a few weeks.  So that’s what I did for a part of Saturday afternoon.  And for all you shoe lovers out there who want to live vicariously through my trip, I come bearing pictures.  Come walk with me in Shoeland.

More below the jump.

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This Week in Shoes

What does the wonderful world of shoes bring us this week and for this first day of fall?

How about some tips for staying fashion forward as we head into cool weather.  The Winnipeg Sun certainly knows their target audience, up in cold Canada, but this is applicable advice to any of us who live in places where winter gets chilly.

I feel like this next one should somehow be the punchline of a joke.  What did Imelda Marcos’s doctor tell her to do?  Buy more shoes!  Yes, the international shoe queen’s doctor has told her that she needs to stop wearing the uncomfortable fashion shoes she’s known for, because they are what has caused many of her current health problems.  Who’d have thought, huh? 

Remember those off-the-hook ”backwards heel” shoes from the NY Fashion Week Marc Jacobs show?  These:

One of the great Manolo’s readers has found the inspiration for them: early sci fi!

And they’ve been gathering all kinds of buzz, too.  Personally, I like this article from the Daily Mail, which not only points out how awful it would be to your body to actually try and walk in these shoes (try to put any weight at all in your heel and you’ll be on your bum), but also shares this oh-so-true pearl of wisdom:

I give it a week before Victoria Beckham is spotted in them.

Me, I find these shoes FASCINATING to look at and quite pretty.  But wearing them?  Not a chance in hell! 

Speaking of trendy, are you still having trouble deciding which of fall’s fashion trends you’d like to adopt and which ones you absolutely deplore?  Well, maybe About.com’s shoe guru, Desiree, can help.  Check out her thoughts on ”worst shoe trends.”

And that wraps up the interesting happenings in shoe news this week.  Stay tuned.  Same shoe time.  Same shoe channel. 

“Fab Friday” designer shoe giveaway at Shuzsociety

Ok, folks–a little bit late in the game, but if you have a couple of minutes available this evening, here it is: Shuzsociety offers a unique weekly drawing for shoe fanatics. Today’s prize: Moschino–a gorgeous purple pair of buckled booties!!!

Straight from the horse’s mouth–or, rather, directly from the press release: 

Contestants will enter only once beginning on August 28^th through September 27^th and be eligible for weekly drawings on September 7^th, 14^th, 21^st and 28^th by 10:00 am Eastern Time. shuzsociety will award one ‘lucky sole’ each week with a pair of Christian Louboutin, Moschino, Strutt Couture or Missoni designer shoes.

Oh, I hope you all win! You’re all pretty and fabulous! Good luck!!!

Friday Shoe History Corner – Sabatons

This week, we’re looking at a very particular niche of footwear… the armored kind.

Well, these aren’t really properly shoes. They’re sabatons, which is the part of armor that covered the feet. They’re pretty ingenious really, with the flexible metal plates to let the wearer’s ankles flex and bend. And check out the detailing on this pair of Spanish 16th century sabatons from the Autry National Center (a collection of three museums dedicated to educating people about the experience of the American West), which would have been worn by a Spanish explorer in ”the New World.”

They’re not just there to keep your feet getting cut off by some opposing soldier’s sword. They’re pretty, too! This pair is made of metal and leather, but sometimes they were all metal… imagine how heavy those must have been on your feet. Believe it or not, sabatons (functional as they might seem) were also governed by fashion. Not just in the tooling of the leather like these, but in the types of toe caps used. These are pretty short and squared off, which is typical of the 16th century style, but some earlier styles had crazy long pointed toes.

And we thought our pointy toed heels were tricky to walk in!

But in a supreme example of how fashion appropriates from all areas of life, check out these Kangaroos Goon boots and tell me there’s no connection between them and Medieval armor.

Alice + Olivia shoes for Payless

Here’s a peek at the Alice + Olivia shoes for Payless that will be coming out for next Spring (available to buy around February 2008).

My faves? The sparkly silver pseudo-Chuck Taylors, the lime green cap-toe wedge slingbacks, and the mirrored version of that same wedge.

Can’t wait to see these in the flesh.