Yes, it’s back.  Much like Galligator, I’m hella excited to see Project Runway back for season 5.  And whaddaya know, it’s back to Season 1 for the famous supermarket challenge.

My god, a lot of them used tablecloths.  That makes for a boring supermarket challenge, folks.

But the new Bluefly shoes were lots of fun.

Let’s give Kelli her props for this winning outfit, which was a beautiful dress AND made of creative products (vacuum cleaner bags, coffee filters, push pins, and my very favorite element: the spine of a spiral notebook for hook & eyes on the back).  And the Charles Nolan Casey pump was a nice shoe to go along with it.

In other interesting shoe choices, we’ve got Emily’s bouncy ball collar dress with the Charles Nolan Tara boots in bronze.  Gotta say, the collar’s fun, but the boots are my favorite part of the outfit.

Following on in the school of “the shoes are the best part” was Jennifer’s paper towel dress.  The dress was cute enough (if a little snore-inducing), but the emerald green Roberto Cavalli sandals popped.

I liked Joe’s “Italian” themed pasta dress.  And much as I gasp in horror to imagine it, it looks like Bell (the model) may be shoving her feet into these funky Christian Dior Anniversary pumps without benefit of ankle strap or proper sizing.

On the rare “affordable shoe” front, it looks like Daniel (who when he first showed up in a camera angle that didn’t show his face, terrified me for a moment that Daniel Franco was back… AGAIN) used the Savior mules from Charles by Charles David.  Also Elena here was by far my favorite model.

And then we get to eliminated Jerry’s crazy shower curtain/tablecloth concoction that does indeed (as one of the contestants said on the show) look like it belongs in American Psycho.  And the Cesare Paciotti white boots (embellished with even more crazy ribbons) don’t help matters.  As far as I’m concerned, this Auf’d designer was good riddance.

I won’t go into all the shoes, because this post would go on for days, but I can’t wait to see how they use the shoes this season, and to figure out which is the Patron Shoe of Season 5.

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It is probably safe to say that I am not alone in my obsessive anticipation of tomorrow’s season premier for Project Runway Season 5.  I can hardly bear the wait.

As an enthusiastic (if occasional) seamstress, I am inspired by the design challenges as well as the fantastic footwear. And what footwear it was last season. My personal favorite, the “Marie Antoinette” by Christian Dior is still available at Bluefly; today only it is $440.99, an additional 10% off the normal $489.99.

And that they have it available in a 7.5 is tempting. But I have already purchased a lower-end beaded slide by Naughty Monkey while it was on clearance earlier this year:

And, while I have been unable to find anyone still selling the Naughty Monkey shoe, you can still grab the similar “Diana” by Beverly Feldman care of Zappos for $152.10 in Black Crepe (below) or  Python/Silver (not pictured):

As for me, It looks like I’m probably covered on swaggy beaded sandals for awhile.

So, the real Shoeblog question:  What new shoe will replace last season’s “Patron Shoe” of Project Runway?

And now, in anticipation of tomorrow’s season premier, I took a sneak peak at this season’s hopefuls.

I find myself particularly excited because 3 of these designers hail from towns that I have at various times called “Home”.

It could be interesting to see what these folks from agricultural towns and small-town Americal have to offer.

Hope it’s at least as fun as last season.

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I’m not usually one to go for Dior, as their heels usually run approximately 70 inch tall and more often than not feature the distasteful monogram in the boring, ugly jacquard (ok, it’s a pet peeve of mine, bear with me here). However, I’ve fallen for these low-heeled anthracite Dior beauties:

Softly glimmering as their arabesque curves hug the feet of a tired diva, these sandals are quiet but not modest, balmy rather than hot, restful rather than busy. It’s what you wear when you feel completely relaxed — and completely beautiful. $294 at Saks (sale price).

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Charlize Theron is one of those actresses who seems to have a complete package. She’s definitely talented (I could barely recognize her in the role of a sympathetic serial killer in Monster), benevolent, looks like a super model, is dating the handsome Stuart Townsend, AND recent shots of her in various countries promoting the movie Hancock shows that she has great taste in shoes.

To wit, let’s start off Charlize’s shoe fashion bonanza at this week’s Hollywood premiere of Hancock. I love that she’s forgoes stilettos and paired the soft dress with romantic Giuseppe Zanotti sandals.

I couldn’t find the exact shoes online, but Zappos does have a similar Giuseppe Zanotti version with the same stone color available as a slide for $699.

If you prefer the same Zanotti style but not the color, it’s available at Zappos in white stone for $599.

Still another slightly cheaper option (though not by much) is the pink Giuseppe Zanotti t-strap, on sale at Endless in pink stone for $455. I would have preferred Charlize have worn either the white or pink colors with the light seafoam colored dress as there is less of a contrast in colors, but nonetheless I’ve still pretty satisfied.

And going further back to earlier premieres of Hancock, Charlize Theron glams it up at the German premiere wearing a black Christian Lacriox dress and Dior ankle booties, currently selling at Eluxury for $880.

Charlize Theron wearing Givenchy Gladiator ankle booties; Available at ShopBop for $995

Keeping with the current trend of ethnic and tribal prints, Charlize is wearing the Sigerson Morrison toe sandal (on sale for $315) and is accompanied by that scrumptious boyfriend, Stuart Townsend.

Charlize in a Balenciaga dress and black Louboutins ($540 at Saks). It might be the angle of the photo, but that’s some foot arch!

And finally, Charlize in a white Dior dress and beautiful bejeweled peep-toe animal print slingbacks (whew, say that all in one breathe). Shoe designer unknown…any ideas? At first, the animal print made me think Roberto Cavalli but the heel tip doesn’t seem to fit.

Photos from Celebutopia.net and TheFashionSpot

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My love for John Galliano has been well documented on this blog.  It is eternal and undying.

And it is here in full force again for his Fall 2008 Dior Couture collection from the Paris runways.

How can you not love the dramatic bravura of clothing like this?

The shoes are just as dramatic, though I don’t find them as beautiful as some of his other footwear creations have been in the past, and I don’t think their creativity is at the same level as the clothing in this collection.

But I’ll let you be the judge.

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