Last night, while I was drooling over shoes at Iron Man, the fashionistas and celebs were gathering for that hallowed night in the fashion calendar: The Met’s Costume Institute Gala.

This year’s theme (corresponding with the Costume Institute’s major show of the year) is Superheroes, and I couldn’t wait to check out how the attendees decked themselves out for this fun fun theme. And after perusing the pictures, I have to say that while there were some great outfits, it was really and truly the shoes that were the most interesting.

The dresses were nice and all, but lots of people tended to interpret Superheroes as being synonymous with Grecian Goddesses, which made for some pretty but uninspired sartorial choices.

The shoes, though? People went wild with their shoes, and I love it.

There was your typical crop of Louboutins, the best of which were the Spiderman-webbing-style blue pair on Diane von Furstenberg and the Rodita zip sandal on Dr. Lisa Airan.

Jimmy Choo was also well represented, particularly by Eva Amurri and Jessica Stam (though Eva’s got some seriously tight hair and some seriously squished boobs going on, and Jessica’s makeup job makes her look like she could use a few more hours sleep at night).

There were some old favorites that we’ve seen on past runways, like Anna Sui in boots from her Fall 08 collection and Vogue’s Valerie Boster in Spring 08 Balenciaga. While I’m not nuts about those shoes or that dress, I must say Valerie is working the shoes in a suitably superhero-ish way without losing the fashion.

You have your goddess sandal look, as exemplified prettily by Thandie Newton (though please try not to look too long at the frighteningly thin legs of the woman in the ugly bright pink tube going up the stairs behind her) and particularly by Barney’s Julie Gilhart, who has my favorite shoe of the night, as well as my favorite outfit, and the one I deem the best combo of superhero and chic.

There were some unexpected bursts of footwear color thanks to Katie Holmes and Tilda Swinton (who wore matching shoes with transgender performer Justin Bond, though hers are a much better color, I’d say).

Some people went for the unexpected like Kathryn Neale Shaffer in leather thigh-high boots with red flames at the tips (very cool, very superhero). And Monsieur Louboutin himself in black and white striped shoes, accessorized by a superheroic BANG on his lapel and a bizarrely Beauty and the Beast pair of Olsen twins who look like an elegant young woman and her frizzy-haired crone of a great-grandmother.

And last, but most certainly not least, there were patchwork shoes all over. The best were worn by Chiara Clemente and Kate Bosworth, and brought some pizazz to their feet, even though neither dress is anything to write home about.

Wait. No. On second look, I’m more than a little in love with Kate Bosworth’s dress. And her shoes. And her eye makeup. OK, well done, Kate.

And well done on the shoes, fashion fans. While I’m not overall that impressed by your superhero choices clothing-wise, your footwear can save the day any day.

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Being a cinephile as well as a shoe lover, I often find myself in a position to be checking out the footwear in movies.

This goes for pretty much any kind of film. Historical drama? Yep. Comic book adaptation? Hell yes.

I’m speaking, of course, of Iron Man, which I saw last night. Even if you don’t like comic books, this one’s a good time in the movie theater. It’s action-adventure and funny and well-directed and -acted, too.

And Gwyneth Paltrow (she of the Givenchy gladiator heels and the Zanotti gladiator sandals) rocks several beautiful pairs of Louboutins. Looks like her recent determination to wear only the highest of heels to her public appearances is leftover from filming.

The first noteworthy pair of Pepper Potts’s pumps (try saying that five times fast) is your basic round-toe black version.

This one can be yours for a mere $550, though I can’t guarantee it’ll give you Pepper’s managerial mastery over the complicated life of your boss/love interest/engineering genius/friendly neighborhood superhero.

But it’s the second pair (worn through the final sequence) that I couldn’t take my eyes off of.

Need to see those close up? I thought so.

A still photo doesn’t convey just exactly how much these shoes look like fetish footwear. The woman not only wears them over metal grates (though, of course, her stiletto heel doesn’t sink into the holes like a mere mortal’s would), but actually running. For her life. It’s unreal. And while my feminist side is up in anger over the fact that Pepper has to trust her life to running in these shoes that must be nearly 6″ high while Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) gets to fly supersonically around the world in a high-tech full-body-armor suit of near invincibility, I also sort of wanted to lick these, they were so beautiful and elegant.

Ah well, we all get to hold conflicting ideologies in our minds when we want them, no? Well, this will just have to be one of mine.

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It’s time again for Ask the Shoebloggers, and this time it’s not shoes for the bride, but for her bridesmaids.

Here are the initial parameters for this, our newest mission (which, of course, we chose to accept):

My best friend is getting married in September and we’re trying to find the perfect bridesmaid shoes—please help! Our dresses will be black, and she’s hoping to find a black shoe with some red and/or yellow on it (the colors of the wedding and bouquets). Our dresses are knee-length, and very 50s style with a wider skirt and fitted top—not too fancy.  Our location is in the U.S., we’d love to keep the price below $75, but could go up to $100 if need be. A mid- to high heel would be great!

With that, our very own Shoesense went on the hunt and came up with a first round of suggestions. First up was the gorgeous, but too pricey (at $270, and that’s on sale at Piperlime down from a full price of over $400!) Sophie by Cynthia Vincent.

Piperlime also has the Nine West Drazly 2 pump in black and red for $80.

From Nordstrom comes the pretty red/black version of the Boutique Nordstrom Melina pump (also $80).

And finally, the all-black Bruno Premi Deja-Vu slingback ($85).

That was our first round of suggestions. Then our bridesmaid-to-be responded with this:

Thank you so much for your help! We took a look at what you suggested and our bride thinks she would prefer to do a solid yellow shoe, and then put a sash on our dresses or a headband in our hair or something. So now we have changed the focus to yellow. I liked the style of the Nine West one you sent, and we really like a few at J. Crew, but they are a bit out of our price range.

The J. Crew styles she particularly liked are the Gwendolyn satin t-straps ($225)

and the Cleo patent leather t-straps ($195) that are so juicily lemon colored I want to make them into footwear lemonade.

And so now I’ve taken up the call for a yellow shoe, the official Shoeblog favorite color of spring, and very hot right now.

The rsvp Daina is a pretty lemony yellow patent leather sandal ($70) with a swooping heel detail I pretty much love.

The Nine West Argent in yellow satin is a pretty good substitute for the J. Crew Gwendolyn’s, but it’s only $64 at Endless instead of over $200. This one also comes in a yellow leather, but the color doesn’t pop nearly so much as it does in satin.

In other Nine West yellow options (of which there are several), there’s the Doverly ($80), which isn’t solid yellow, but might work anyway.

And if you want to go the super-dainty feminine route, there’s the lovely, refined Solelyn ($64).

The Jessica Simpson Chasie slingback ($100) has that same dark heel/yellow combination as the J. Crew Cleo, though with a heel of 4.75″ I can’t imagine dancing the night away in these at the reception.

There’s a new batch of suggestions for our wedding planners. Let’s see if any of them work out.

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I think I’m the only one in the world left who actively likes Gwyneth Paltrow. And dagnabbit, I like her sense of style, too! Not always the most flattering, this is true, but she shops outside the lines, and in a way that I usually think looks great on her. So, seeing her out and about for her Iron Man publicity tour has been fun for me. And boy, has she been parading the insanely high heels lately!

But the pair that grabbed my fancy has much more to do with the gladiator sandal trend.

Because how can you not love these Giuseppe Zanotti shiny gold sandals?

(photos from Just Jared)

If you have the cash and want to shell out for these pretty puppies, a very similar (though not identical, despite what other sites seem to say) version is available at Endless for $650.

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Remember Camileon Heels? The company that makes sleek heels that convert from 3.25″ high heels into manageable 1.5 inchers?

Brilliant idea, right? Wearing heels to work is a much easier proposition if you don’t have to worry about bringing a purse big enough to carry them while you wear a comfy pair for the commuting. And sure, you could leave the heels at your office, but then you’re down a pair of shoes at home, and that’s a dicey proposition. What if you’re heading out for a night on the town, and you want that pair of heels to pair with your mini or your jeans? See where I’m going with this?

Right… walk to work in your heels, then play Rubik’s cube with the heel until the higher version is clicked into place.

And the reason I’m posting about these again is that they’ve got a few new styles that I think are super cute. It’s nice to see they’ve expanded from the few purely basic styles they began with, because yes, it makes more sense to have a simple black pump if you can only have one style. But come on! We all like some flare, don’t we?

Well, Camileon now offers some flare (without getting too out there) with options like the Marta, with its stylish cap-toe and stitching.

In a similar vein, but with a pointier, slicked-down sling-back version, is the Valeria.

But my very favorite (and just in time for warm weather, too) has got to be the Mariella, which has just a hint of the bondage shoe to it with its buckles and patent leather accents, but keeps it all chic and simple at the same time.

You can check out the Camileon Heels site to shop online or to find a retailer near you (sorry to most of our international readers, so far the shops are only in the US, unless you happen to be in Winnipeg, Canada). Or, some styles are available at Zappos.

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