Pan E. Tulipani: Floral High Heels

Uh Oh. Here I go again with the poetry …

Roses are Red,

Violets are Blue,

Sugar is Sweet,

And so are You:

 

 Pan E Tulipani ’3031-HH’ Heel Open Toe $250 $503 at Zappos.com

Maybe it’s the sunshine this weekend. Sure, it may be chilly outside; but, at over 50 degrees today (for a refreshing change) it is so bright and sunny outside that I can’t help but think of spring, flowers, and the eventual return of summer … and all of the things that come with the warmer weather. Things like sandals and sundresses rather than boots and bomber jackets.

So, since the next week or two (according to my ’09 Garden Almanac’) are great times to plant roses - today is an ode to a rose-adorned shoe; part of an ongoing effort to control my growing spring fever.

Enjoy.

Shoe Monuments and Museums of the World

Remember when the Iraqi journalist threw a shoe at Former President Bush?

And maybe you remember when a shoe monument was built in Tikrit by a sculptor (assisted by orphans, no less) to mark the momentous occasion?

Well, just now on CNN and CNN.com, I’ve learned that the monument has been taken down by Iraqi government officials.

CNN says “By tradition, throwing a shoe, is the most insulting act in the Arab world.” If the reasoning behind this train of thought were that you are willing to lose your valuable shoe in order to make a statement, it would make a lot of sense to me, but apparently the reasoning is because the shoe and foot are “ritually unclean.”

Thousands of miles away, meanwhile, in Marikina, the Shoe Capital of the Philippines, shoes are worshipped and idolized as the great vehicles they are, fantastic giant shoe floats parade down the river and the Shoe Museum features shoes from Former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos’ collection.

My favorite shoe monument is the Bata Shoe Museum, an entire museum in Toronto devoted to the history of shoes and modern museum-worthy contemporary shoe couture. I was lucky enough to visit it last year. It’s full of everything from high-heeled Italian sandals of the early 18th century to beautiful modern Louboutins, and there is currently an exhibit on ballet shoes called “On Pointe” until February 22.

Paris Couture Footwear from the Spring 2009 Shows

It is that time again, yes.  Paris fashion week for the couture labels.  Oo la la.

It wasn’t my favorite collection this time around.  A little on the snoozy side.  Couture is where you can really go for it, you know?  And these… well, mostly not so much with the going for it.

Armani Privé did some variations on this d’Orsay pump.

I’m not terribly impressed.  It’s nice and all, but a little *yawn* for a couture show.

Though, this combo of dress and shoes was a knock-out.

Chanel was also feeling the sparkly appliqué trend.

*thunk*

What?  Oh… sorry… dozed off there.  My head must have hit the desk.

Let’s see… I’m still nodding off over blah beige numbers from Christian Lacroix (left, which makes the models look like they’ve got coral sprouting from their ankles) and Elie Saab (right, which seriously interests me in absolutely zero ways… zero).

Can Givenchy wake me up?

Wow!  No!  In fact, those look disturbingly like hospital-wear or slippers or something.  Something that’s NOT going to make me more alert.

Valentino?  Nope.  Any shoe whose separated-at-birth twin is one of those hideous shell-covered mirrors doesn’t wake me up.  It just makes me want to sleep through the tackiness.

Jean Paul Gaultier perked me up a little bit.  Sure, the structured, mostly-monochromatic thing isn’t necessarily brand new for him, but he did some interesting amendments with more feminine flow and flashes of color, and you know I love me some shoes that come with their own built-in fishnet hosiery.

But, not surprisingly, it was John Galliano who gave me the jolt of caffeine I really needed.  His Dior shoe (it was just the one shoe, really, but in lots of different colors) is fabulously rococo, which only made it that much better to see him bringing in things like Delft tiles and Renaissance portraiture and even a cracked-out Little Bo Peep number.  Love!

I suppose I will just have to sigh and throw my hands up at this season’s couture shoes and hope for better luck next time.

The City’s Shoe Cameos Galore

Stylists’ picks, of course, flit across the screen of Season One of MTV’s The City like socialites flit from club to club. It is New York, after all, and fashion reigns supreme in the city. Things that Whitney could probably never afford, even on a DVF stylist’s salary or connected perks and swag, pop up all over the show.

The series wasted no time showing its love for shoes with a Manolo event at Bergdorf on Episode 2. And what was exhibited but Carrie Bradshaw’s Something Blue shoes that ShoeBlog marked as a momentous shoe moment of 2008.

Also these lovelies:

Wouldn’t you kill to have your Manolos autographed? If you could only have one pair autographed, which would it be? Lucky Whit gets her first pair of Manolos autographed.

On Episode Four, Whitney works the DVF Wonder Woman Collection event and the camera does a sexy shot of her shoes. It was so quick you may not have noticed it, but I let out a giant gasp when I saw that Whitney sports (in October, no less!) none other than the superheroesque gold Gucci Baboushkas sandals that we loved on before for their motochic, pairing them (surprisingly!) with a rather (if ironically, loosely/drapingly) preppy white blazer with black lining on the lapels. Works Wonder Woman wonders for her though, because she gets asked out! (I think it was the shoes… wouldn’t you want to spend more time with these gold wonders below?)

Discount Design Thursday: What to Buy for the Price of a Few Lattes

So, everyone knows about Simply Vera by Vera Wang at Kohl’s. I’m not a huge fan of the clothes, as I don’t know if the goth meets boho meets Transylvanian count thing really works for me, and I don’t think much of the shoes either.

But recently, on a somewhat scary outlet-plagued suburban family trip to pick up household goods, we stopped at a Kohl’s near my parents’ house in Southern California. It was the first time I’d been inside a Kohl’s since I was 12 and living in suburban Illinois.

That’s where I came across the ELLE line. I was tickled to see that some of the design was quite good, and would expect no less from a line that the magazine stamps its label on. I got a cute little purple cropped sweater with rolled sleeves that doesn’t seem to be on the website, this demure little cropped white jacket and this adorable pintucked faux silk shirt and got loads of compliments on them and looks of disbelief when I revealed their store of origin.

But I didn’t notice the shoes because we didn’t go to the shoe section. Then I looked online on a whim after a cross-continental fashion phone conference with one of my dearest friends today about how we were trying to incorporate looks we weren’t used to, that were edgy and smart and urban, but still thriftily stretched our dollar.

So I was pleased as punch to make the acquaintance of these Ultra Dress Heels, on sale for the price of a pair of Payless heels at $24!!!:

These stylish Vivas look pretty much exactly like a bunch of other current shoes that cost a lot more from other retailers. They are on sale for $39!

And cute! These royal purple Necole flats will have people thinking you paid much more than $19.99 until you tell them how you got a total steal (or don’t):

Bet you ShoeBlog readers can’t wait till Christian Siriano’s line comes out for Payless! What does the man-child adored by Victoria Beckham and well known for accusing people of venturing into Hot Tranny Messdom know about designing shoes? Who knows! But we will all cross our fingers and hope for edgy, fun shoes priced between $25 and $45 from the man best known for being fierce! We’ll preview them next month, but I just wish we didn’t have to wait until this fall to buy them!