During last week’s World Show Association (WSA) convention for new fall 08 shoes, I was surprised to find myself staring at today’s shoe history corner post. From the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas, I present to you a montage of some dazzling, flamboyant, and colorful shoes from the King of Bling.

Liberace’s red sequined sneaker, circa 1966

Liberace’s pink beaded loafer, circa 1967

Liberace patriotic oxford shoes, circa 1972

If you love these kicks and wish you had your own pair, the Liberace Foundation, in partnership with Kashi Kicks, have produced these equally over the top sneakers featuring a piano keyboard on the sides and soles of the shoes.

Liberace Kicks Black Diamond, circa 2008. According to the Liberace shop, this shoe design was inspired by the blue and bold costume Liberace wore during his 1985 Radio City Music Hall shows.

Liberace Kicks Pink Glass, circa 2008. This particular shoe was inspired by Liberace’s “Suit of Glass” costume which consisted of pink ribbons and rhinestones.

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The thing that’s great about watching all the various Fashion Week shows is that we get to see the viewpoints of the individual designers.

This may sound self-evident, sure, but think about it.  When you go to a non-designer shoe store (in person or online), you can pretty much count on seeing repetition of the same trends for that season.  Ballet flats galore.  Oxford booties coming out the wazoo.  More strappy gladiator sandals than you can shake a stick at.

But when you watch several Fashion Weeks’ worth of shoes parade down the catwalk, you can see individual style coming through instead of just the trends.

A current example?

Look at these Stella McCartney platforms.

They’re fantastic.  Chunky and super stylized with the shaping and the mixed textures and the metallic accents on the sole and heel.  And, of course, containing no animal products.

And then look at Sophia Kokosalaki’s dainty footwear.

Ladylike and refined with a hint of an insectile webbed feel to it with all those knots and twists and curls.

You just never know what those fashion designers will come up with next.  And don’t we all just love to wait and see what it’ll be.

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The heels on the Junya Watanabe Fall 2008 runway bear a small resemblance to the cyclindrical rings on the Nike Shox shoes. I just want to know if they serve the same function as the Shox, which is greater cushioning and stability. Now wouldn’t it be a refreshing change to see comfortable and fashionable shoes on the runway?

Top: Junya Watanabe shoes; Photos courtesy of Style.com

Bottom: Nike Shox 

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This column will be more of a question than of an answer. A reader is asking where she can find the shoes Marion Cotillard is wearing in these pictures–some pretty hottt black peep-toe, ankle-tie platforms. We here at Shoeblog find ourselves stumped, so we open the question to you loyal readers out there. My best guess was Chanel, given Marion’s pre-Oscars couture predilections, but I’m in no way sure.

The pictures were taken on January 7th, 2008, at the 13th Annual Critics Choice Awards in Santa Monica, California.

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Despite the cold weather that I keep reading about in New England, I’m convinced that spring is right around the corner.  What better way to flop your way into warmer weather than with these cute flip flops by Tory Burch.

They’re $45 at Bloomingdales.com but if you use promo code ‘TEEN’ at checkout, $25 will be knocked off the subtotal.   So, even though generic flip flops are cheaper and money could be better spent on shoes with better support,   I figure $20 plus shipping/tax for a pair of designer flip flops might be worth skipping about on a few lattes this week. Plus I need to start reducing calories for that summer body that I’ve always wanted.

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