Naughty Monkey: Tiara sandal brings big summer bling

I know I’ve mentioned sometime before that I’m somewhat like a crow

>>>>>Oh Look! …..A Sparkly!

or magpie and am very attracted to small luxuries and shiny, pretty things.

Case in point:

Naughty Monkey ‘Tiara’ $69.99 at Zappos.com,  $70.95 at Endless.com & sale priced @ Bakers.com for $49.99

These are a truly tempting replacement for the terribly worn and abused, sequined, toe-sandals that I got for a steal from Payless when my son was still just 6 months old …. He’s 5 1/2 now, so you do that math.  Any way you look at it, those once fit for a gypsy-princess sandals are due for a replacement.

So, while I really don’t like flip flops (and even less that they have become the de-facto summer uniform for 90% of the women I encounter when I am out and about), I can go for a blindingly bling-tastic summer toe-sandal if it is both  fancy enough to wear with my summer skirts yet not  to fancy to pair with classic jeans or summer capri pants.

These fit the bill nicely.

Now, to balance my June budget and see if I might realistically be able to make room for these.

As to closet space, that is another issue entirely….

Ask the ShoeBlogger: Who designed those shoes in the SATC2 Movie?

With the Sex and the City 2 movie premiering this weekend, we’ve received a few “Ask the ShoeBlogger” inquiries requesting more information about the shoes and designers featured in the movie.  Rather than do individual posts for each query, we thought we’d point you in the right direction so you can find out ALL the designer outfits worn by Sarah Jessica Parker and try to answer questions on the shoes we’ve been asked to id.   Ready?

For the die-hard fashionista, the Sex and the City 2: The Stories. The Fashion. The Adventure ($19.77 at Amazon) book is a must purchase.  The book has a whopping 176 pages consisting of scene-by-scene looks of every outfit (from head to toe) that Carrie Bradshaw wears in the film and select outfits worn by her costars.  There’s also commentary provided by the stars and producers of the movie, giving you an all-access pass to the outfit selection, scene, and movie making process.  Here’s a few samples from the book along with the more detailed shots of the shoes that we found:

Page 54, 55 from the Sex and the City 2: The Stories. The Fashion. The Adventure book

Christian Louboutin Glitter Pumps

Page 80, 81 from the Sex and the City 2: The Stories. The Fashion. The Adventure book

Manolo Blahnik Sahara pumps; Our SA at Nordstroms tells us these shoes will be on sale for $535 (basically 40% off) during the Nordstroms Designer sale. If you wish to presale, please contact Henry at hirbod74@yahoo.com.

Page 56, 57 from the Sex and the City 2: The Stories. The Fashion. The Adventure book

Brian Atwood White Closed Toe Pump; Available in red and black at Saks for $565

Christian Louboutin Bridget Strass Pumps $3,325 at Louboutin boutiques

Brian Atwood Loca Purple Pumps – $800 at Net-A-Porter

Pierre Hardy black and blue pumps

Christian Louboutin T-bar pump

Manolo Blahnik Lessa

Converse All-Star Core X; $45 at Zappos;

Sergio Rossi Pumps

Christian Louboutin Biana Pumps; $775 at Net-A-Porter

Of course, we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface on the amazing shoes in the SATC2, but please do email us if there are any exceptional shoes you’d like to see featured and we’ll try to append them to this post.

Sarah Jessica Parker’s SATC Promo Shoes

Sarah Jessica Parker has been promoting Sex and the City 2 this week.  She was on the Early Show a couple of days ago wearing a raspberry colored dress with Alexander McQueen sandals.

Hers are bronze, there is a pair available at Nieman Marcus that is titled Oil.  Love the color.

Alexander McQueen Oil Backzip sandals $925

Then during the New York Premier she wore a Valentino Couture dress.  This collection wasn’t a hit with the critics, but on the red carpet, the dresses are beautiful.  I think it will prove to be a popular collection.  I have seen dresses from this collection twice so far.

Anyways, Sarah Jessica Parker wore silver gray Ferragamo double platform pumps.  Overall, critics think the pumps were too clunky for the light silk dress.   I am a little tired of this style of pump, especially double and triple platforms which get into tranny territory with their 6 inch heels.  I am surprised SJP didn’t wear a strappy sandal.

I am more than a little surprised she wore these because we have seen Jennifer Lopez, twice, Kate Beckinsale, and Michelle Williams wear these shoes all last month.  As one who is known for being first in fashion I thought she would have gone with something never worn on the red carpet before.  There was an issue a couple of years ago about a dress that had been worn on the red carpet before.  Her stylist should have paid more attention.  I couldn’t find an online source for these shoes.

Then for the after party dress SJP went with an Madonna-ish Elie Saab and Kicholas Kirkwood shoes.

She also wore them last night to the Letterman Show.  I like them with the second outfit over the Elie Saab dress.

These shoes are available through Browns Fashions  £665.00 .

I couldn’t locate an US outlet, but I didn’t spend a lot of time searching.

As she spends more and more time promoting the movie, it will be interesting to see what SJP wears.

Dekkori accessories: Spats meet modern fashion.

I encountered the Dekkori brand a few weeks ago while surfing *playing* around the Endless website.

Here’s the deal.  At endless.com, these are referred to as ‘boots’.  That took me aback for more than a moment or two.  But, really, once you get into the product description you begin to realize that these are not meant to be boots; at least not in the classic sense.  If worn by themselves, I suppose these would be more of a pseudo-boot – a potential fashion statement for the bared-foot lovers out there.  I can even really see how these would fit right in onstage at a dance recital.  The reality of these ‘boots’ is more straightforward: These are  a wonderfully modern take on a much older shoe idea: Spats.

Spats (also sometimes called gaiters), in the classic sense, are not seen much in modern times outside of stage, film, and fringe-fashion scenes.  Originally meant as protective footwear extensions to basic shoes, they have, occasionally, taken on a more fashion-centric role (And yes, for good or ill, the occasional resurgence of leg warmers might be seen as part of this trending cycle).

It is the idea of having a detachable shoe upper that can instantly transform a basic or past-season shoe into a completely new silhouette that is still relevant today – particularly if you are a runway fashion lover living on a bargainista budget.

Classic spats have been out of mainstream fashion for decades.  Luckily, these shoe accessories from Dekkori are made with a eye to modern fashion sensibilities and with the current consumer market in mind. The result is silhouettes that  are anything but old-fashioned.  The transformative power of historical spats still remains present within these accessories. But, as you can see, Dekkori has moved far from the spats source ideas in bringing their accessories collection into reality.

So, these are the two ‘boots’ (from the SS ’10 collection) that originally grabbed my attention:

Dekkori ‘Devon’ Cutout lace-up boot $208

Dekkori ‘Riley’ eyelet pull-on boot $128

Dekkori ‘Rocco’ Gladiator boot $146

But these two (from the Fall ’09 collection) are my personal favorites:

Dekkori ‘Charm’ ankle piece $62

Dekkori ‘Innocence’ bow ankle piece $58

The one problem I see with these accessories is their relatively high price-tags. I understand that leather goods have become more expensive over the last 5 years. But, with prices ranging from $40 – $200+ per pair,   a lot of savvy shoppers will be able to find one or more reasonably-priced  ‘whole shoes’ for the cost of just one set of these quirky accessories.

Overall,  I find these to be an intriguing idea. They appeal to the portion of me that loves the idea of limiting production waste.  Interchangeable uppers have the potential to be a great way to ‘go green’ while still indulging your shoe-love.

The basic idea would seem to be a natural marriage to meet the needs of the budget fashion-shopper.  However, the cost on these may be too prohibitive for many consumers. I’m just not convinced that  these are adequately priced to gain the attention of the  ‘budget-based’ consumer.  Instead, these seem to be priced more toward the mid-range and luxury-aspirational consumers, a smaller market by far.  The consumer on a budget knows that  $50 for a pair of shoes was a lot of money 10 years ago – and it still is a lot of money for them today – but today it just doesn’t stretch as far. Will such shoppers be willing to spend this amount of money, or more,  on a partial shoe?

The one place where the Dekkori pieces have an identifiable advantage is for those women who have limited storage space. You can fit a whole lot of Dekkori accessory uppers into the space of just one boot box in your closet. For those shoe lovers with storage issues, Dekkori shoe accessories might be a viable solution to the inevitable storage space dilemma most shoe-collectors eventually face.

Opinions, thoughts?

Sarah Jessica Parker in Nicholas Kirkwood Lattice Pumps

Carrie Bradshaw may prefer her Manolo Blahniks, Choos, and Louboutins, but the shoes of choice for Sarah Jessica Parker while promoting the SATC2 movie were these Nicholas Kirkwood for Future Collectables pumps.  Although these statement shoes with blue podium platforms are sold out, you can email Brown’s Fashion and refer to these Nicholas Kirkwood Lattice pumps to get them when they are available again.