Spring 2009 Shoes Trends: A Rainbow of Color

While economic events have been a bit dreary over the past six months or so, it’s nice to see that we won’t have to worry about being stuck with spring shoe options that are either conservative or gloomy.  

So, what am I seeing at online retailers as well as in every brick-and-mortar store with a shoe section?

Color.

What kind of color? From Payless to Macy’s to Saks, just about every primary, prism-based color is on tempting display.

So, if you like bold colors, then this is the season for you.

Here are some (mostly) high-end highlights.

Red:

Christian Louboutin ‘Madame Claude’ D’orsay Pumps $795 at Saks.com

Valentino ‘Mena’ Day Wear Pumps $695 at Saks.com

BCBGMaxazria Patent and Rafia* Sandals $250 at Saks.com

Orange:

Dior ‘Klimt’ T-strap Sandal $570 at Saks.com

Miu Miu patent leather wedges $570 at Net-a-porter

Yellow:

Christian Louboutin Platform pumps $736 at Saks.com

Brian Atwood ‘Riva’ patent sandals $725 at Net-a-porter

Green:

Roberto Cavalli satin basketweave sandals $915 at Net-a-porter

Brian Atwood Suede Sandals $710 at Saks.com

Blue:

Christian Louboutin ‘New Simple’ pumps $675 at Saks.com

Oscar de la Renta V-Pieced open-toe platform pumps $755 at Saks.com 

Loeffler Randal ‘Graphic’ wood platform sandal $575 at Saks.com

Violet:

Miu Miu ‘Sandali’ cork* sandals $585 at Saks.com

Miu Miu suede pumps $495 at Saks.com

Costume National slingback flats $560 at Saks.com

What if you want to play with the whole rainbow instead of just choosing by the individual color?  Well, multi-hued styles are available too. Heck, many of us are just starting to experience 2009′s first rainy, spring-time weather; it’s as good a reason as any to bring your own rainbow to the party.

Nine West ‘Mudpie’ bamboo*-wrapped slide $88.95 at Endless.com

T.U.K Rainbow Heart Strap Heel $60.50 at Zappos.com

Jimmy Choo Open-Toe Sandals $825 at Saks.com

Brian Atwood ‘Margie’ rainbow sandals $565 at Saks.com

Sergio Rossi patchwork knee-high boots $1500 at Net-a-porter

Here’s to a colorful and optimistic spring.

* See, you really can’t get away from cork & rafia this year. 

Oo La La, Paris!

I always think it’s fitting that Paris Fashion Week is the one that rounds out the ready-to-wear collections.  Because they always live up to their reputation for fashion creativity, those French designers.

This year is no exception.

Most obviously, we’ve seen the insane 11 inch, heel-less (or functional heel-less) Nina Ricci shoes.  But the other designers have stood up and brought their A games.

Olivier Theyskens wasn’t the only one playing around with fetish footwear inspirations.  His Nina Ricci designs are clearly related to shoes like these:

But the A. F. Vandevorst shoes also seem to be taking a hoof-shod page from pony style fetish shoes.

The Anne Valérie Hash show brought us basket-weaving gone glam.

Rick Owens showed a parade of wild boots that sprouted voluminous bunches of fabric and leather, and that, to my great surprise, actually worked.  Like, to the point that I want a pair of these boots.

A couple designers thus far have shown us—gasp!—flats.  Yohji Yamamoto, whose footwear I can’t say I cared for one little bit…

… and Dai Fujiwara at Issey Miyake, whose footwear I’m more than a little bit in love with.

But does it come as any sort of surprise at all that my favorite shoes of Paris Fashion Week thus far belong to the Christian Dior show and the amazingly creative brain of the one and only Mr. John Galliano?  It really shouldn’t.  I think I always love his shoes best.  I think it’s in my contract somewhere.  My contract for existing.

But really, look at these lovely, ornate, fanciful things.  Look at the heel detailing and the strap detailing and the ties around the ankle and… well… let’s just say I won’t be breaking my Galliano pattern this season.

(Paris Fashion Week images from Elle.com and Style.com)

Paris Couture Footwear from the Spring 2009 Shows

It is that time again, yes.  Paris fashion week for the couture labels.  Oo la la.

It wasn’t my favorite collection this time around.  A little on the snoozy side.  Couture is where you can really go for it, you know?  And these… well, mostly not so much with the going for it.

Armani Privé did some variations on this d’Orsay pump.

I’m not terribly impressed.  It’s nice and all, but a little *yawn* for a couture show.

Though, this combo of dress and shoes was a knock-out.

Chanel was also feeling the sparkly appliqué trend.

*thunk*

What?  Oh… sorry… dozed off there.  My head must have hit the desk.

Let’s see… I’m still nodding off over blah beige numbers from Christian Lacroix (left, which makes the models look like they’ve got coral sprouting from their ankles) and Elie Saab (right, which seriously interests me in absolutely zero ways… zero).

Can Givenchy wake me up?

Wow!  No!  In fact, those look disturbingly like hospital-wear or slippers or something.  Something that’s NOT going to make me more alert.

Valentino?  Nope.  Any shoe whose separated-at-birth twin is one of those hideous shell-covered mirrors doesn’t wake me up.  It just makes me want to sleep through the tackiness.

Jean Paul Gaultier perked me up a little bit.  Sure, the structured, mostly-monochromatic thing isn’t necessarily brand new for him, but he did some interesting amendments with more feminine flow and flashes of color, and you know I love me some shoes that come with their own built-in fishnet hosiery.

But, not surprisingly, it was John Galliano who gave me the jolt of caffeine I really needed.  His Dior shoe (it was just the one shoe, really, but in lots of different colors) is fabulously rococo, which only made it that much better to see him bringing in things like Delft tiles and Renaissance portraiture and even a cracked-out Little Bo Peep number.  Love!

I suppose I will just have to sigh and throw my hands up at this season’s couture shoes and hope for better luck next time.

Saks Sales Highlights

Saks 5th Avenue continues to put new items on sale over at their website.

Among the items available today are:

Yves St. Laurent Y-strap Patent sandal $311.90 $780.

Certainly, this style is not as universal at the Tribute and Tribute Two, but for those of you that like this funkier interpretation of their platform style, the price really is fantastic.

Gucci Newton High Heel Sandal $295.90 $740.

This two-tone is a lovely, classic style that will be wearable for years.

Dior Whisper T-Strap Sandals $267.90 $670. 

Imagine this with your perfect little black dress… wonderful.

So many sales these days, sigh.

Early Thanksgiving Shoe Sales – Nordies Salon Shoes at 40% Off

It seems like each department store is trying to one up each other – first Saks went on sale early and to be able to compete, others followed suit. The result is that we can now participate in Black Friday sales on Black Tuesday.  And now that we have the internet for reference, we can enjoy shopping without the hassles of standing in line at the stores.

Today, I was able to get my hands on the salon shoes lookbook from Nordstroms.   The shoes on sale will have their sale prices listed next to them and are officially on sale starting today (11/25).  Here’s a sampling of what is currently available.  And for the complete list, I will direct you to the shoe forums.  The designers on sale include: Chanel, Louboutin, Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik, Dior, Gucci, YSL,  Valentino, Stella McCartney, and Lanvin.  Let me know if this is useful to you – it took a while to format the pictures but if it is a good reference for at least one person, than my work has been justified.

For those interested in making a purchase, please call Henry at the Salon Shoes in Nordstroms Houston Galleria and tell him ShoeBlog sent you.  His number is (832)201-2700 ext 1600 and he will ship the shoes to you for free.