I’m opening up a question from one of our readers, who is desperate to find these boots:

(as seen in the original context here).

I’m afraid I couldn’t be of much help. The only thing I could do is go hunting for beautiful button-embellished shoes, and hope one of them will strike her fancy. Buttons are a wonderful embellishment on shoes if used wisely; here are some of my finds:

• Frye “Adrienne” boots, already a bestseller, and for a good reason–they’re beautiful, and they look comfy, too. $398 at Piperlime.

• Dolce & Gabbana dark brown button boots, $800 at Overstock.com (that’s 43% off, but sizes are limited):

• Gorgeous Fendi high-heel suede boots with patent trim and brass button details, in dark brown, $795 at Barney’s (the all-leather version is just $500 at eLuxury):

• Duo “Bordeaux” Boots (in black leather)–stylish and custom-made to fit your calves; £129 at Duo Boots:

• Gabriella Rocha “Romina” button boots, $150 at Zappos:

• Type Z “Merengue” button boots with metallic leather trim, $225 at Zappos:

• Cesare Paciotti military-inspired boots, $928 at Zappos:

• Marc Jacobs suede and leather knee-high boots with the famous conical heel, $1400 at Net-a-porter (also available in a mid-calf version for $1,135):

• Tory Burch patent button boots, $545 at Shopbop:

You can go vintage, in which case I particularly love these sexy velvet Victorian boots , ca. 1880(unworn, no less!):

It’s a shame that during this research I didn’t really find anything that looked like the boots that started all this, in order to answer our reader’s question. Perhaps one of our savvy readers can help?

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Fans of the Balenciaga Lego pump can rejoice this Christmas season.  The lego shoe family has spawned.

Actually, there was a slight mutation in the reproduction process but don’t these rainbow colored shoes from the Fendi look like could be offshoots of the Balenciaga lego shoe?  I’m (somewhat) a bigger fan of the Fendi rainbow flats and sandals, but only because they look more practical.

The Fendi flat and sandal are available at Neiman Marcus for $520 and $385 respectively.

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You’ve probably heard by now about the Great Wall of China Fendi extravaganza. No? Then go read about it immediately. I have to admit: a really, really gutsy idea! Not the mention, now it’s going to be so much easier (and faster) for all those Chinese Fendi-knock-offs to flood the market!

At any rate, I was, surprise-surprise, concerned with the shoes. As it was usually the case this year, the point of interest lay in the heels, and Fendi’s gimmick is this chunky-chain heel. I have to confess I wasn’t impressed with either the height, which made models scrunch their toes for dear life, or the way the straps wrapped around the foot. In all honesty, it made some of the models look club-footed, especially from a distance. I’m not a fan of the chained heel either. I find it gimmicky, precious, and ultimately…meh. What do you think?

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The shows just keep on coming, and the shoes just keep on making statements.

The newest crop of designer shows in Milan includes some of the heavy hitters of the fashion world (Dolce&Gabbana, Pucci, Versace, and Fendi among others).

And what have they brought us?

Well, Dolce&Gabbana have won my award for best use of ”arts and crafts” styling with several variations on this brocading technique that I love.

They’ve also done a lot of patent leather snakeskin, which I’m less nuts about.

Pucci has brought out more designs with that gimp-like robe element.  I imagine we’ll be seeing a fair amount of that come Spring 2008 shoes, since it’s showing up in lots of places on the runways.  Can’t say I love that look overall, but I do love these shoes!  Candy colored Pucci deliciosity!

Versace continues with the glam/luxe a-little-over-the-top style they’re known for.  My fave shoe from their show?  This one in a pretty pretty kelly green.

Fendi seems to have put all of their models in variations on this shoe, which I almost love, but then just at the last minute, my love veers off into great disgust.  So close, yet so far.

But at least this model’s feel look like they might be escaping the runway mostly unscathed.  Unlike some of the other girls’ feet we’ve seen on the catwalks.

And speaking of models’ feet in danger, Dsquared wins my award for Worst Fitting Shoe on the Runway.

It’s a shame, because the shoe itself is quite lovely to look at.  But that poor model looks like she’s a second away from falling completely out of that shoe.  Her heel’s going to slip down that steep slope of an arch and her toes are going to slide of that front platform (look they’re already halfway there) and she’s going to fall on her face!

But Dsquared is also in my bad books for this not-so-sexy accessory.

 OK, sure, a lot of models smoke.  That doesn’t make it any better for them.  And putting it up on the runway certainly doesn’t encourage young girls to smoke in order to be sexy, does it?  No!  Of course not!  Sort of ironic timing, since America’s Next Top Model (for my money, the best crappy reality show out there) just aired an ep where they did ”before and after” shots about the effects of smoking and then declared the season a non-smoking one.  Oh, Tyra.  What a daring and innovative statement you make that no one has made before you.

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Instyle and Fendi are running a shoe contest. The grand prize winner receives an entire shoe wardrobe and 10 runner ups will each add a pair of Fendi’s to their shoe collection.

The contest rules are simple. All you need to do is explain, in 100 words of less, why you have ‘Fallen for Fendi’ Fall/Winter Shoes. One has to wonder why they only allow 100 words. I could write a thesis.

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