SS12 Fashion Week Footwear Trend Alert: Transparency

The manic Fashion Week energy has moved on away from New York City, but that only means it’s off across the Pond from Big Apple to Big Smoke.  London Fashion Week is well under way, and we’re seeing some of the same trends at Somerset House that New York brought us at Lincoln Center.

For example, that transparency thing that I mentioned with the uber uncomfy Carolina Herrera’s posted here or the Marchesa and Narciso Rodriguez shoes over here?

Well, I’m calling it.  Add it to the list of trends to keep an eye out for come Spring.

See-through footwear showed up through the rest of NYFW in shows like 3.1 Phillip Lim (left and center) and Chado Ralph Rucci (right).

Now, if you ask me, those are all three of them painful looking.  Talk about edges of straps digging into your foot.  And despite that last show being an awfully good attempt at a modern day Cinderella slipper, it’s nothing I’d want to be wearing to the ball to meet Prince Charming.  Hell, after a night of dancing in those, I’d be ripping ‘em both off and tossing ‘em at Prince-y, just to get them off my feet.

To round out the New York’s see-through bounty, the Marc Jacobs show flirted with transparent shoes, including these booties, which fill me, realist that I am, with dreadful imaginings of how rank and sweaty and stinky they would be after a day of wearing them.

And then we went to London!

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SS Fashion Week Footwear: Runway Drive-by

OK, friends, I have lots of interesting shoes to share from the NYC runways, so here goes.

We start before the jump with this one from Preen, which I put here, not because I like it or want to wear it or think it would be comfortable, but because it answers the question What would it look like if LEGOs and doilies and bikers had a baby and it took the form of footwear? And since that’s a question I just know you were all asking yourselves, I didn’t want to keep the answer from you one second longer.

And I will give you this one, too, from the Carolina Herrera show, because rarely have I seen a shoe that looks THIS painful to wear.

Now follow along after the cut for many more.

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Fashion’s Night Out in New York

Well, this year, Fashion’s Night Out in New York really rolled out the red carpet.

FNO is one of my favorite nights of the year. Who doesn’t love meeting their favorite designers, editors, models and style icon celebs? 

Forget the loud clubs. My favorite way to party is by shopping and mingling. And if you don’t love sipping free champagne, eating free Cluizel chocolates, scoping out handsome male models strutting around in slim suits, nabbing free Estee Lauder and Jo Malone beauty products, I don’t know if you and I can be friends. 

At Saks, the fabulous Alexandre Birman, exotic shoe designer extraordinaire, judged customers in a red carpet competition to see who had the best saucy struts in high heels.

After the jump, Hayden Panettiere designs shoes for Zanotti, Andre Leon Talley is stately at Manolo Blahnik, Frederic Fekkai graces Saks, The Pontani Sisters burlesque it up at Bergdorf, Beyonce’s nail artist gives MBMJ manicures, and sexy models pose in the Bendel window. (more…)

Marc Jacobs High-Heeled Mouse Loafer

Marc Jacobs, how cute are you that you made this shoe.

Very, very cute. While I am annoyed by the MBMJ mouse flats with the ears obnoxiously poking out of the vamp (makes me think of what girls would wear at an anime convention), I do love this loafer.

It’s simply adorable, with its gold mouse accents, scalloped tongue and red interior, but also classic-looking enough, with its leather strap across the vamp, black suede, visible stitches and high chunky heel, that it’s not laughable or a joke of a shoe. It doesn’t look cheap and silly like the mouse flats.

Buy your high-heeled mouse loafer in-store at Bergdorf Goodman’s 5F for $275.

Another photo after the jump.

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Metallic Madness 2: Marc Jacobs Mary Janes

Marc Jacobs Metallic Mary Jane Pumps

Well, I’m a little late on fulfilling my promise of a little more metallic madness, but better late than never, right? This particular installment is brought to you courtesy of the fantastically fabulous, utterly unmatched style and genius of Marc Jacobs. His hot little Metallic Mary Jane Pumps ($309.99 at Saks) are down from $775, and they represent oh so many things that I love in a shoe.

I can already envision how these would look placed against a pair of opaque black tights. That’s how I would wear them: all black, head to toe, with just the shoes and maybe a single stunning piece of jewelry, a necklace or a cocktail ring, for accents.

Pretty much everybody already knows that I am mad as a hatter for Mary Janes. (more…)