Heel details have definitely been one of the biggest trends of past few years, and I for one I’m glad–just look at this breathtaking pair of Giuseppe Zanotti booties:

Shiny patent uppers rest on 5 inches’ worth of mirror-embellished stiletto heels, tapering into multicolored gems. These beauties cost just about $1000 at Net-a-Porter–and for the chick with a fiery attitude and the generous pocket, they’re worth every penny!

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So, the challenge was to design an outfit for the female athletes from the USA to wear for the opening ceremonies of the summer Olympics.  Cool challenge, right?  Olympics start this week.  We’ll get to see what Ralph Lauren cooked up for the actual ceremony tomorrow night.

And I have to say (with a few exceptions), thank god those women don’t have to wear what was proposed for them on tv last night!

Seriously, can you imagine hundreds of athletic, muscular, strong women coming out into the international scene in this?  I know I’ve loved on Jerell before, but this is just flat out hideous.  And misses the challenge by a mile!  The Charles by Charles David Skip shoes are pretty adorable, though (and on sale for only $60!)

Or, what about Daniel’s cocktail dress?  It’s the Olympics, for chrissake!  As Michael Kors said, a woman wearing this would have to be coming from the Republic of Cocktail Land.  Though, the Stuart Weitzman Spring Fling platforms are kind of cute, in a basic summery way.

Keith’s outfit wasn’t a total travesty, but has nothing to do with an athlete’s body and isn’t particularly American, apart from the color scheme (which misses the mark, too, in my book).  He did use the Gucci Eva oxfords, which I suspect are going to end up as the Patron Shoe of Project Runway 5.

As far as the good, there were really only two that I thought deserved a win.  And neither of them won.  One was Joe’s skort outfit, which says USA in a cute and athletic way, without relying on one particular era or style other than… well… sporty.  Plus, I ADORE his zipper color combining (in case you missed it, he bought red zippers and blue zippers and mixed them so each zip had one red side and one blue).  Couldn’t find his exact shoes, but the Stuart Weitzman Linda isn’t too far off.

And finally, much like last week, I thought Leanne deserved much higher kudos for her effort. Because this is sporty and flattering as well as representing a nice, clean vision of USA sportswear.  Fashion and athleticism (and patriotism, too) at once.  The shoes are adorable, too, and though I couldn’t find these exact ankle strap sandals, this Giuseppe Zanotti red and white slingback would do in a pinch.

One note, though.  I know this was a runway show and all, but there are plenty of cute shoes on Bluefly that (if they were available to the designers) would have been much more appropriate sporty footwear choices.  To wit, the Kate Spade Hayley ($32!!) in either red canvas or the oh-so-American denim

or the Stuart Weitzman Freshy (what an adorable name).

We’ll see how the real thing stacks up tomorrow night.

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We all know that animal prints come and go, right?  Right?  It’s not every season that you see stores full of cheetah spots and zebra stripes.

Same’s true for shoes, of course.  But if you’re dying to work an animal motif into your footwear without looking like a tiger impersonator, then you might try one of these.

If you’re feeling the wacked-out wedge like my fellow bloggers Shoesense and Galligator, then check out these gorgeous snakeskin patterned Terry de Havilland stunners.

They’re 380 GBP at Asos.com (yeah, that’s about $760), but they’ll put a sssssizzle in your ssssstep.  (Sorry… couldn’t help myself.)

Don’t want to pony up or hobble down with these 5.5 inch wedges?  Then snag your python print in the much more comfy Katella Tex slip-on sneaks from L.A.M.B.

Snake not your thing?  Then how about going for the understated animal print look with these tortoiseshell Alexander McQueen stilettos.

They won’t be any friendlier on your wallet (they’re 340 GBP/$680), and at 5.5 inches high, they won’t do your bone structure any favors, either.  But they sure are pretty, ain’t they?

Or skip the reptile thing altogether and go right to full-on amphibian with some fun and fishy footwear, which can be just as glam and glittery as anything snakeskin.

Take, for example, these $850 Zanotti’s.

Bet you never thought a fish skeleton could look so good.

And since fish gotta swim, what more perfect way to wear the scaly beasts than on a pair of rain boots like these fun koi-patterned ones from Chooka ($60 at Endless).

But if fish aren’t enough to make you strut your stuff, then you can razzle-dazzle ‘em in the rain with the peacock version of those Chooka boots (only $51).

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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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I know I’ve written about gladiators before, trying to find a pair that was both good looking and relatively inexpensive, because, let’s face, my shoe budget is not on the level of Gwyneth Paltrow or Lindsay Lohan or numerous other stars who’ve been spotted around town in these Giuseppe Zanotti stunners (about $650 at Zappos):

No, I’m more on a Nine West budget here (especially with some recent fashion expenses that I shall leave nameless for now).  Speaking of Nine West! It seems that they have made my perfect gladiator sandal and then they promptly got sold out of it:

Seriously, I can’t find this multicolor version of the Nine West “Jobilyn” for the life of me–although I can find it in about 12 other color combos, most of which are on sale for a little over $50 at Endless. Oh! Le sigh.

But then, the gladiator-shod gods smiled down at me as they made me discover this:

Palladium “Key Largo” sandal, rich in buckles and studs and overall gladiator-y goodness. I can’t decide between the pewter version or the orange version–they’re both very appealing, I must say! And only about $80 at Shoes.com or Endless (shipping included):

I’ll probably go with metallic (metallic is the new neutral, remember?), as I can probably accessorize it better. But I still love the orange! Bonus points: Palladium is a brand known for comfort, and I can already see that, unlike its cousins with ultra-thin, slippery soles, this “Key Largo is seriously padded. Score!

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