Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but shoes are this girl’s real love. And, while I love ribbons, lace, and flowers on my shoes, today I am crushing on a pair of tuxedo pumps from Harajuku lovers.

Harajuku Lovers ‘Dobson’ $94 at Zappos.com

Do these have spunk and attitude?

Yes.

Are they fun and flirty?

Again, yes.

Do these beg to be center stage of your outfit?

No question.

Do I know exactly which little black dress I would pair with these?

Of course.

Now, if only I had a convenient occasion to wear that little black dress…..

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I have written about Steven Madden and it’s past licensing agreements. Steven Madden continues to expand, with a spike in third-quarter earnings, a new licensing agreement and an optimistic full-year outlook.  The firm last week announced a licensing deal to manufacture footwear for Olsenboye, a new line created by Dualstar Entertainment Group, the management firm of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, that will be available exclusively at select JCPenney stores this holiday. A full launch in 600 doors is set for spring. 

Currently there are three styles of Olsenboye on sale at JCP.

Sofia   On sale at JC Penny.com $35

Kaylee $30.00 at JCP

Hailey $60.00 at JCP

While these styles are nothing creative or outstanding however, they are competitively priced and meeting the needs of a range of incomes.  (I just read my earlier post, and realized I said the exact same thing.)  I have Monopoly money on Steven Madden and it is up 10 points since July.

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I was reading some financial reports and came across an article that describes a shoe design contest SOLE SEARCH sponsored by Zappos, Steven Madden and Brickfish.   Since I am a techno-dork I don’t understand Brickfish, but I do understand Zappos and Steven Madden. 

You are able to create a shoe from a template in the program, or upload a design of your own making.  Three lucky consumers, one selected from each of the entering categories, will be given the opportunity to pitch his or her shoe design to Steve Madden in NYC. Steve Madden will then select one of the three designs to be produced and sold online at Zappos.com/Steve-Madden.  The contest ends December 29.   Some of the entries so far:

The next one is by far my favorite.  Very clever.

Hurry to the site and show us your dream shoe.

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“Shopping With Men” sounds like “Running With Scissors” or “Riding in Cars With Boys.” Might be fun, might be bad.

In this case, shopping with my brother who’s visiting from LA has been pretty fun. He can pick out a good, colorful, hip outfit for a girl, which is impressive. He has ideas and feels strongly about them. A lot of guys couldn’t care less what women wear as long as it’s girly.

However, my brother does not seem to be able to tolerate weird crazy shoes or even shoes that are too intense, whereas my shoe tastes can be described as verging somewhere on the map between motorcycle, dutch boy, domme leather and hip cuteness. I took him to some of my favorite shoe stores and he was not digging the Galliano or the LAMB or anything like that.

What he thought was a little too out of control at Iris that I loved included the Galliano Platform Ankle Boot. Call Iris at 212.645.0950 to see if they have it in your size:

What he liked included chiller shoes like this Completely Lustworthy Galliano High Top Sneaker, also at Iris:

I’m not a huge fan of Shoegasm’s quality, but we walked by and it’s sort of a cheap thrill, so we decided to go in. He wasn’t so into this white boot there, which he said was too go-go for him and not cool enough. I’d thought it was pretty cute except for the overly curved, rounded vamp and toe.

What he dug at Shoegasm: This All Black cutie with leather laces. I loved it too and want it badly! I can’t find it online so it’s on my list to go back and check out on sale!

Here he is holding a riding boot that I would have liked if it weren’t for the buckle. We agreed that it is exemplary of what is wrong with shoes today. Sometimes a designer doesn’t know when to stop and just let it be simple. That buckle was the straw that broke that boot’s arch.

What do guys like on girls, I asked?

Boots, he said.

Duh, I said.

And flats, he said he actually likes flats (!!!) on a girl. And high tops. A girl who’s kind of chill who can just be relaxed.

But I guess to each his own. I want a man who wears wild Fluevogs and Gallianos!

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Okay, so this one is from several weeks back:

- Hundreds of shoes from Imelda Marco’s infamous collection were rescued from rising floodwaters by dedicated museum workers at the Marikina Shoe Museum.

- In shoe-throwing news, a shoe is thrown at the former Australian Prime minister John Howard, while Sikh shoe-throwing journalist Jarnail Singh is honored in Canada.

- Jimmy Choo is interviewed by Roya Nikkhah - c/o NY Times

- Shoes continue to sell well despite recession. Apparently shoes are a luxury many of us refuse to do without c/o NY Times.

- A touching and Stars and Stripes article about two shoe bins marked ‘Left’ and ‘Right’. A story that brings home a sense of immediacy that although we are able to medically save many more military lives than we were able to in years past, the price is often a missing limb.

- Also touching, a Saks Fifth Avenue shoebox ‘full of New York’ care-package arrives in Afghanistan:

Lastly, and on a much lighter note:

-Cracked.com has the best version of the “women’s shoe-shopping dilemma” flowchart that I have yet seen. The after-commentary is also wickedly funny. Especially note the differences in the flow charts for men vs. women (as caught by Shoes N Booze)

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