Valentino Keeps it Ladylike on the Paris Runway

At the Valentino couture show in Paris, things were very prim and proper. Gloves and hats and buttoned-up looks abounded.

And the shoes matched, making good use of pastels and loafer-inspired fringe on toes for some glammed-up country club set pumps.

There were also some jewel-encrusted heels perfect for an upscale night at the ritziest restaurant around.

And my favorite, these lavender strappy numbers that are the utmost in Victorian/Edwardian inspired ladies-wear.

Shoes of Project Runway 4.9

Good riddance to Victorya, I say. Her designs were never all that unique, and if I had to hear her talk about how she’s a very competitive person anymore, bodily harm might have been involved.

Her design last night was fug in a big way, and completely uninspired/uninspiring. Plus, she used a nude version of these blah Dais pumps from Stuart Weitzman.

I’m glad we’re done with that.

In other PR shoe news, we saw yet another use of the Patron Shoe of Project Runway 4 (the asymmetrical Versace mary-jane, which now seems to be gone from Bluefly… perhaps sold out with the aid of repeat viewings on PR) with this trench from Jillian, which was almost great, but then lost something in the execution.

Chris used these Gucci Ebony gladiator sandals again (which he also used in the Hershey challenge a few weeks ago), which looked nice enough, but the dress was a bit underwhelming.

Ricky’s winning outfit (which wasn’t my fave, I must admit–nice, but nothing fantastic) made good use of these wicked and excellent boots, which from the red soles, would seem to be Louboutins, but are hiding out there somewhere. Kit used them for the Hershey challenge, too, with an outfit I loved.

Rami went for the clunky Balenciaga nude sandals that went with his and Sweet P’s ready-to-wear outfit from last week. I think the sandals looked much better with the rougher, brass-button-enhanced look of the denim than they did with the floaty dress from last week. I’ve got to say that this outfit was gorgeous, and for me, either this look or The Whiner’s motorcycle-style one would have been crowned winner.

Sweet P brought these jeweled t-strap sandals back, which we first saw way back in the first episode on Carmen’s model. But do they show up on Bluefly? Seemingly not. They’re jeweled enough to come from Guiseppe Zanotti, but who knows.

We’re getting down into the final stretch on PR here. To paraphrase Heidi Klum, “Remember, shoes, this is a competition for you as well. The shoe paired with the winning designer will win a spread in Elle magazine.” OK, well, maybe not. But certainly a lot of popularity. I’m betting on those Versace’s taking the prize.

Givenchy Couture Shoes Spring 2008 (Paris)

We’ve seen some outlandish creations so far on the runways of the Couture Spring 08 Paris fashion shows, and some of the shoes have been no exception.  There have also been some who’ve kept their shoes simple.

Riccardo Tisci did just that for the Givenchy show.  He clearly took some inspiration from the ballet, with outfits like this one.

The runway was full of puffed skirts and tutu-like layers.  The shoes stayed simple to match, aping ballerina’s pointe shoe ribbons.  Perhaps not terribly interesting, but elegant and chic.

Instead of lots of different shoes, there were plenty of variations on the same theme.  To wit:

Couture Chanel Spring 2008 Shoes

While the Armani Prive spring 2008 couture show featured some titillating high heel fashion that had me wondering how the models walked on daggers, Karl Lagerfield kept in simple, girly, and presumably comfy on the Chanel Couture runway. Seemingly, he seemed to channel Coco Chanel who once said “Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.”

To wit, there was nary a single high heel on the fashion runway.

Of course these sequined flats could only go with this tweed number.

My favorite flats on the runway were these soft pink mary janes with ruffles on the vamp and side. Can’t you just image that one of the ballerinas in Edgar Degas‘ paintings would wear these?

Sadly, the remainder of the shoes on the Chanel runway were just a bit too plain for me.

and left me wishing that we could see updated, comfy versions of this lovely silver banded flat.

Photos from Style.com

Spring 2008 Paris Runway Shoes

Hot on the heels of Shoesense’s post about John Galliano’s crazy shoes (and please, let’s take a minute to goggle at the maestro’s Klimtian clothing that is simply gorgeous) comes some other footwear from the Paris Spring 08 runways.

Anne Valérie Hash offers this cool shaped shoe in a variety of colors:

And from the Armani Privé show comes a number of variations on the super-high spike heeled, pointy toed, bow-embellished pump.

My fave shoe from the Armani Privé show, though, is this glitzy version, which accompanied one of the many gorgeous business suit inspired evening looks that came down the runway.

Paris Fashion Week has started off with a beautiful bang, and I can’t wait to see what other couture outfits we get, whether or not there’s an Oscar red carpet for them to show up on in a few weeks.