One of the things that has sadly been lost a bit in the madness of the recent ready-to-wear season is one of things I like to do most here at Shoeblog.  Namely, ferreting out shoe lines that mesh both chic and comfort.  Much as I might love to drool over John Galliano and Viktor & Rolf and all the other beautiful footwear on display on the catwalks, there’s no way in hell I’d ever actually put my body through the pain of wearing those shoes.

So, in this season of particularly painfully high heels that no woman should have to wear to feel sexy and confident, I’m going to turn to Dana Davis to save me from the agony and bone-damage.

Who is Dana Davis, you might ask?

She’s a woman who, after spending much of her life as a Type 1 diabetic and dealing with multiple resulting foot surgeries, finally decided to take matters into her own hands and started a shoe line intended to offer women stylish, sleek shoe options that wouldn’t send them hobbling to the hospital after a night out.

She’s worked orthopaedic technology into her collection, which includes both flats and heels (up to about 3 1/2″), and she hasn’t sacrificed the style.  In fact, she’s hitting the classic vintage 1940s-inspired look really well with some of her shoes.

For example, the Volterra, which may look familiar to those of you who (like me) found your eyes caught on Anne Hathaway’s feet during her Frost/Nixon-aping performance with Hugh Jackman during this year’s Oscar ceremony opening number.

You can snap up your own pair of Volterras in several colors, but my favorite is this beautiful pink textured leather with chocolate accents.

The Campania in matte gold and metallic bronze will add some sizzle to your spring/summer wardrobe.

Or if you’re after a walkable sandal that’ll be low-profile in the way of sleek styling but high-profile in the way of fashionability, either the Elba or the Veneto will keep you (and your feet, of course) taken care of.

There are some pretty jewel tones coming for the fall 2009 collection, so keep an eye out.  But in the meanwhile, as the weather in some parts of the world starts to warm up, here are some ways to be well-shod for the upcoming season without killing yourself with blisters in the process.  OK, so they’re not cheap (they run in the $400-500 range).  But that’s what many designer label shoes cost, and I’d have a hard time buying a justification that dropping that kind of dough is worth it for a certain brand name but not for a shoe that’ll actually keep your feet supported and well cared for.

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I won’t bother to reiterate my love for John Galliano all over again.  This wasn’t even one of my favorite of his collections.  But it was for sure one of the most interesting to show up on the runways for the entire Fall 2009 season.  Russian folklore and art nouveau and gauzy, icy eccentricity.

And the shoes?  Well, it’s not so often that you see pompoms and wood and metallic leather in combination, is it?

And if you’d like a close-up on a couple of those vertiginous heels…

Keeping it interesting, John.  Always keeping it interesting.

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I have a pair of fall boots that I love.

All right, so I’ve had a few of those so far (Viktor & Rolf, I am still dreaming dizzily of your boot creations).

But now, Alexander McQueen has added another to the Fall 2009 repertoire with his high-drama, fashion-pastiche spiked numbers.

At the risk of sounding like a “You all know I like _____________, right?” broken record, you all know I like shoes that blend high fashion with fetish styling, right?

And boy howdy, don’t these deliver.  The McQueen models looked like something out of the Cremaster Cycle in a very McQueenian art-meets-fashion-meets-anarchy sort of way.

 =  + 

But no matter what your reaction to the melodramatic makeup job, these are the boots of a woman who will kick ass and take no prisoners and look amazing while she does it.

At the other end of the spectrum, there’s this shoe from the Chanel show that I totally love, not only for being quirky and fun and eccentric, but for taking Chanel outside the interlocking-C-logo, tweed-suit, bland-shoe box that even Karl Lagerfeld hasn’t really succeeded in escaping.  Until now.

Dare I say that something on the Chanel runway felt… young and quirky?  Why yes.  Indeed I do dare.  Bravo.

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You all know I love John Galliano, right?  That’s no secret.

But neither is the fact that I’m a total Viktor & Rolf devotee.

Fall 2009 isn’t changing that.

The clothing itself was a fairly understated (for this house, that is) collection of tailored and shirred outfits that include an awful lot of pieces I’d very much like to wear.  Some examples, you ask?  OK then.

But just by looking at the two pairs of shoes in those first two looks, you can see where this is going right?

It’s going straight into out-and-out drooling over the shoes that were paired with these clothes.  Whimsical blends of the Miu Miu “garden” shoes with knee-high gladiator sandals.

Playful uses of various fastenings, both functional and decorative.

And some flat-out diva glam 80s-done-right slouchy sequin boots.

(images from Elle.com)

Fun.  Fashionable.  Unique.  Just what I expect from this intrepid duo.  Bravo!

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Well, Averyl Oates (buying director for Harvey Nichols) may think the Dries van Noten shoes were all that, but I can’t say as I agree.

This is a designer who’s previously brought us such glorious pattern and texture combinations as the Spring 2009 line and the likewise-stylish Fall 2008 line.

But for Fall 2009, I have to say my high hopes were disappointed.  Pattern, yes.  But monochromatic and not terribly interesting.  Texture, sure, but only with a repeated python print (yawn… I’m not down with all the snake usage) and some rather boring brown leathers and… well… see and judge for yourselves.

Sure, that middle shoe is a beaut, but it’s a little snoreish given that it’s coming from Dries.

All right, as Averyl notes, the python soles is a cool idea.

But that doesn’t save this from being a bland collection from a designer about whom I never expected to use such a word.

I will, however, completely and totally agree with Averyl’s opinion on the Givenchy shoes.  What a fanciful pile of footwear!  Look!

I’m surprised we haven’t already seen Posh out and about in that last pair.

Picking up the Dries van Noten slack, it should be noted, was Emanuel Ungaro, where Esteban Cortazar seemed to take just the right mix of inspiration from the Dries Fall ‘08 line and the Cynthia Steffe Fall ‘09 line I was raving about a few weeks ago.  Who wouldn’t want to hit the town in these fun party shoes?

And finally for today’s fashion week report, I can’t leave without making mention of Costume National, where the Rick Owens blousy boots saw their cousins on parade and these gorgeous and funky MaryJanes clip-clopped down the catwalk to stylishly win my heart.

(images from Elle.com and Style.com)

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