…is being hailed, as usual, by the New York Times (photo credit):

Go to the article if you want to find out more about these shoes.

I have mixed feelings about these flamboyant creations. On the one hand, they’re extravagant, surprising, and almost made me squeal with glee. Whee! Feathers! Colors! Whee! Definitely creative and the very opposite of “blah.”

On the other hand, however, I find them almost impossible to wear. Well, unless I’m working the red carpet to promote Flights of Glory: Big Bird’s Journey, or perhaps a fancy masked ball. Needless to say, the probability of my attending either events in the future is extremely dim.

If feathers became the acoutrements  du jour, I guess I’d probably go with these Louboutins:

The Rosazissimo feather shoes are $760 at Net-a-porter. But don’t hold your breath, as I don’t expect feathers to become mainstream any time soon.

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The Olympics are winding down, so I thought I’d give another shout-out to the golden shoes (Puma, of course) Usain Bolt, now officially The Fastest Man in the World, kissed after winning the 100 and 200 m races. The shoes were customized to bear his nickname “Ugo” and were prominently displayed by a clownish, giddy Bolt after he won in style (also setting world records in the process). Apparently, there were complains about Bolt’s unabashed displayed of his sponsor’s logo, which Puma rushed to dismiss (”We didn’t tell him to kiss the shoes!”)–oh so much drama! Truth is, with or without the shoes, he’s a phenomenon any which way.

The History part of this post comes now: the previous world record holder in 200m was Michael Johnson (at the Atlanta Olympiad) also wore gold athletic shoes. He also won the 400-meter race, setting an Olympic-record, then tossed his gold shoes into the crowd. These are those famous gold shoes (Nike this time) which helped make Michael Johnson a legend at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996:

I believe it is clear by now what you’ve got to do if you want to run just a bit faster–right?

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One of the must-have items of the season is, apparently, the good ol’ penny loafer. I’m all for that: school season is knocking on your neighborhood’s door, and even if you’re not in or around a school at the moment, you must feel the buzz of books and the studious energy in the air. No? It must be me, ahem; still, you are probably seeing a preview of collegiate fashions by now. And if you indulge one of my pet peeves for just a second: I for one would LOVE to see young women sporting an elegant, well-made penny loafer rather than a flip-flop way into November, as I often see, and which is just….wrong.

Penny loafers were named as such because they could be decorated with a penny (or often, a dime). I didn’t realize there was actually an urban legend behind this:

In 1934 John R. Bass (a bootmaker in Wilton, Maine) started making loafers and called them Weejuns (meant to sound like Norwegian). These had a strap across the upper part of the vamp that was shaped like a pair of lips (said to be John’s wife, Alice Bass, kissing each shoe on its way out the door). The mouth opening soon was used to hold an ornament (such as a penny), and thus penny loafers became a style. Penny loafers often held a dime instead of a penny. (From Wikipedia).

Edited: Correction: Allison in comments points out that it was actually George Henry Bass (and not John R.). Thanks, Allison, for pointing out again why Wikipedia can’t be entirely trusted!

In the days of yore, the penny loafer was a low-heeled shoe through and through, with a strong masculine vibe (it makes sense, since it started off as a men’s shoe). These days the penny loafer, just like the oxford, has gone through a high-fashion transformation, and the New York Times’ T Magazine is eager to present these options to us:

Clockwise from top: Christian Louboutin shoe, $1,050 a pair. Go to christianlouboutin.com. Yves Saint Laurent shoe, $770. Go to ysl.com. Tod’s shoe, $545. Go to tods.com. Nine West shoe, $99. Go to ninewest.com. Cole Haan shoe, $275, and Anna Sheffield for Cole Haan coin, $45. Go to colehaan.com.

This style is a classic that’s been around for decades and is bound to stay in style for a long time; in theory at least, you can’t go wrong wearing a pair of well-made penny loafers. I do admit to having misgivings about the 3+ inch height of the models shown in T Magazine; but again, I also have misgivings about models that look so masculine I have no desire to wear them. Therefore, I have also scoured teh interwebs for more pleasant AND easier on the feet loafer-options and found a few. Behold:

From top to bottom:

Marc by Marc Jacobs patent loafers (available in other colors, too), $264 at Zappos.

Marc by Marc Jacobs high-heeled loafers (2 & 3/4″, also available in other colors), $354 at Zappos.

Kate Spade Lindsay loafer (also available in other colors), $199 at Zappos.

Givenchy gold calf loafer, on sale for $204 at Zappos.

Tory Burch Clayton Loafer (also in red), $275 at Nordstrom.

Celine tasseled low-heeled brogue, $460 at Yoox.

MariaCristina low-heeled loafers, $178 at Yoox.

L’Autre Chose tasseled loafer, $68 at Yoox (only one size left!)

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People Magazine gives us the scoop on these glittery heels Cate Blanchett donned at Australia’s Helpmann Awards: they are “a pair of limited edition Roger Vivier Limelight America platform heels with sequined star detail and Swarovski crystal buckles.” Wait, that’s not the best part: They cost $11,000! Eleven. Thousand. Dollars.

I’m sure they were a gift (really, what self-respecting celebrity would fork that kind of cash for shoes, no matter how fab?). At any rate, it appears Cate also wore them to the premier of her Bob Dylan movie “I’m not here”–so at least she got some mileage out of them!

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I’m all about utilitarian shoes nowadays, glued as I am to the Olympic coverage. These don’t exactly qualify as athletic shoes, but they did invite a great deal of stomping and qualified as food-processing appliances. From The Bata Shoe Museum: “Clogs like these were used in 19th century France to de-shell acorns and chestnuts. The meat from the nuts could be ground into flour or used as pig feed. France, 1800-1900.”

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