Catherine Zeta Jones in YSL

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Landsbury were at the Etcetera Etcetra Restaurant as part of “A Little Night Music” celebrations.  When I grow up I want to be like Angela.  I can’t tell what kind of shoe she is wearing, however I will assume they are low heeled pumps because Ms. Landsbury is 84 and I can’t imagine her tottering about in platforms.  She is beautiful.

Catherine Zeta-Jones is wearing a black Alexander McQueen dress, also seen on Anna Paquin and Cameron Diaz, with red accessories.  I used to think this was a wonderful way to put an outfit together but I have seen it too many times, so has become a “safe” way to put an outfit together.  That being said, since this dress has red piping on the zipper this works better than most.

CZJ’s shoes are Yves Saint Laurent Eelskin pumps, $875 at Bergdorf Goodman.  Gorgeous.  YSL hit a home run with their Trib and Trib 2, but it is refreshing to see a celebrity wearing something different. 

LOVE the color; love the shape; love the material. 

These are my Holiday Lust Shoes.

Jimmy Choo: Project Pep 72-hour preview

Sometimes email is just plain fun to open.

Case in point:

Note that Jimmy Choo is launching the “Project PEP” Collection in which 25% of the net sales will be donated to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Also note that you can preview this collection online now or at the 72-hour ‘pop-up shop’ – if you are lucky enough to be living or travelling in the UK and in range of the Jimmy Choo concept store located in Selfridges, London.

In my case, I’m pretty much stuck with the online preview of this very colorful Choo collection.

Here are my quick faves:

The ‘Pep Loop’ sandal ($975):

Or, this cute little wrist cuff ($245):

And, because I’m really more of a wristlet than huge handbag gal, this little ‘Filipa’ wallet:

Which one is your favorite?

Louboutin Dresses Barbie

Update: The lifesize Louboutin Claudia peep-toe for Barbie is available now at LuisAviaAroma for $956.

Back in September, Twinkletoes reported on Barbie’s 50th birthday show and bubble gum pink Louboutin shoes designed for the lucky doll.  The collaboration is not limited to just the shoes though.   WWD reports that Christian Louboutin will serve as Barbie’s godfather for the next few months and that means an entire series of Barbie/Louboutin-centric products, including a diary that showcases Barbie and Louboutin on various adventures around the world:

And dolls that come packaged with their own pairs of Louboutin heels, each in Louboutin branded shoe boxes.   For Barbie and Louboutin collectors, the accessories and dolls will be sold exclusively through BarbieCollector.com and Net-a-porter.com starting in December and throughout 2010.  The dolls will sell for $150, the diary $40, and a 12 pair Louboutin Barbie shoe collection will go for $40.

Asked about the recent controversy that Louboutin felt Barbie had fat cankles, Louboutin issued a statement to clear the air:

Barbie’s foot has always been shaped less ‘curvy’ than the rest of her perfect body,” he said. “I just added my little science to Barbie and I’ve been proud to serve her. But fat ankles she didn’t have, she just could have had thinner ankles. That’s all.

My God, what a story, he said, reacting to the controversy. I apologize to my goddaughter [Barbie]. There has been a bit of confusion there, but it’s just the proof that Barbie has real serious fans.

House of Harlow Shoes from Nicole Richie

Nicole Richie already has a jewelry and clothing line. Today, we were happy to get a first look at the latest addition to Nicole’s fashion empire, specifically House of Harlow 1960 shoes!  Judging from the initial sneak peaks, the shoes, as with the rest of the line, continues to be inspired by Nicole’s love of the 1960s and 70s.   It’s easy to imagine Nicole actually wearing the bohemian looking footwear which consists of geometric patterns and tribal looking shapes.

What do you think of this line?  Would you buy these shoes when they arrive in 2010 and at what price point?

Seattle Steamcon 2009

So, Hubby, the kids, and I attended the inaugural year of Steamcon 2009 which was held October 23-25 at the Seattle Airport Marriott.

For a first-year convention, there were certainly a few hiccups, but most of those were a product of the small venue combined with unexpectedly large turnout. When planning a 1st-year event, the only numbers you can rely on are numbers for similar events, in this case, a normal first-year estimate would be in the neighborhood of 400 attendees. Over 1300 attended, and that is not including the number of people who showed up but were unable to get one of the extremely limited number of available day-passes.

Day-pass hopefuls roped a line around a large area of the atrium pool and waited hours for the chance at receiving a badge that would allow them to attend panels, workshops and gaming tables.  I suspect many without badges wandered the halls anyway and just soaked up the general atmosphere.  Can I even over-emphasize how important it was to pre-register?

Final reminder to self: Don’t forget to pre-register for next year at the earliest opportunity. Even with the convention organizers new hunt to locate a larger venue suitable for next year’s convention, it will likely continue to grow in size, so early registration will be vital!

Now, with that out of the way, was it fun?

Hell yeah!

This was absolutely worth finding a way to squeeze the price of registration and the two separate ticketed events out of our rather tight 2009 budget.  Admittedly, being able to get the room on bonus points helped out immensely.

So, hubby and I attended Steamcon as a sort of unplanned 18th anniversary gift to ourselves (though, what does it tell you that we both realized we had this anniversary coming up…. 2 days after it was past?).

Anyway, the kids were with us on Friday only as we got settled into our rooms (Grandma & Grandpa were working Friday, so we had a big family hotel adventure that day & evening), learned the layout of the hotel, checked out the vendor room, and bopped from panel to panel; generally getting a feel for the people and event as a whole. We dressed in steam for the entire event; shopping from our closets since our budget is closely controlled this year. An eclectic personal wardrobe made this less of a challenge for me than it might for others; vests, skirts, ruffled shirts, even a long cavalry-style coat made the trip to Seattle – just in case.

We were also able to spend time with friends we had not seen for years – a wonderful added bonus.

Highlights of the weekend:  Chatting with author Tim Powers while waiting in line at the coffee shop, watching my daughters get dragged onstage by Abney Park lead-singer ‘Captain Roberts’ with the sweeping phrase “Check out the awesome” in reference to their age and outfits,  wearing feathered hats without feeling even a wink self-conscious, and of course, just wandering around among all of the amazing and creative people.

(Abney Park‘s Dread Captain Roberts…pardon the blurry focus, it was dark & a bit of a distance shot)

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, the one thing most Steampunks have in common is a do-it-yourself attitude that takes many forms but which also tends to cross-over with a Victorian aesthetic.  So, these are not cheap Halloween costumes people are wearing; they are truly one-of-a-kind fashion statements.

So, without further ado, just a few of the fabulous and fun people – and outfits – from Steamcon 2009:

(These ladies were so hot; it completely put to lie the idea many modern fashion designers have that you must be a skinny stick-figure to make clothing look good and that curvy women aren’t a worthwhile designer type.  I posit that it’s the impeccable tailoring and fit to an individual’s body-type that makes all of the difference…something that we are unfortunately lacking in today’s ready-to-wear culture.  Lazy fashion designers who can’t fit a gal with curves are also a bit of a personal peeve. Could you tell?)

(Check out those Fleuvogs!)

These are actually Born’s – here’s a detail:

And a close-up of those spats:

There were simply too many amazing outfits and people to show you in a single article. But, if you are interested in seeing more from me or others – particularly if you love boots and spats, I am posting all of my photos in an album on Shoeblog’s Facebook page for your enjoyment.