Shoes for Harry Potter fans

Now that the Harry Potter mania is about to reach the same levels as the iPhone one, with certain people queuing at Barnes and Noble early in the morning to read its thrilling conclusion (and you know who you are), perhaps it’s time to think of ways to greet the wizardry fest shod in some proper witch shoes.

If you’re on a budget, of course, you can go with these:

…cheap witch shoes which you can get for $30 here and there on the internets.

But if you can conjure some riches with the tip of your magic wand, here’s a much more fabulous option:

Casadei 4768 Red Velvet Boots, $451 on Zappos (and that’s almost half off). Now, that’s kicking it in style!

Or if the knee-high length is sort of overkill for ya, there are these (by comparison) understated booties:

Etro 6028 purple sueded booties with croc trim, $335 at Zappos (over 40% off). Wouldn’t Hermione be proud of wearing these?

Of course, you can always sex it up French style:

Roger Vivier deep purple patent buckle pumps, $315 at Bluefly (40% off). Definitely something Fleur Delacour would don to seduce Harry!

Finally, if you can’t decide you want to be a witch or a wizard, here’s something appealing to your androgynous side:

Bottega Veneta wingtip oxfords in brown, purple and green leather, $464 at Bluefly (20% off).

See you all at Hogwarts, my friends!

The Bridal Shoe dilemma

I was a very casual bride, one indeed not in the least preoccupied by the trifles and accoutrements that form the fodder of so many a young girl with sparkles in her eyes and a dream in her heart, a dream of happily-every-after, rose-strewn paths toward eternal bliss, with only the occasional unicorn or chubby-cheeked Cupid crashing that perfect day which marks the beginning of a perfect life.

I am, or at least was, kinda levelheaded about all that. We had a small ceremony presided over by a judge and two witnesses at the townhall; I wore a simple short white dress from a discount store (possibly TJ Maxx?) (I know) (no, really, trust me, I know) and some very comfy open-toed striped espadrille slides. I had no choice but to wear them because the day before I had stumbled over a perfectly innocent piece of furniture that separated me from my mail and bruised (blackened, rather) my left foot so severely I was certain I broke a toe. As a result,I had to limp for several days, so any other choice of footwear would have been laughable, if by laughable you mean, ‘would have made me double over in pain’.

Later that summer when we decided to have a ceremony back in my home country so that my parents could rest assured we were, indeed, married, I left all the details to my family; after all, I could only spend two weeks there, and I wasn’t going to be driven nuts by the legendary slackitude of my fellow-countrymen while trying to arrange a proper reception from 7000 miles away. I arrived sans a wedding dress, but with a very comfy pair of white-leather woven slides (Sesto Meucci). In just about every respect I was sort of a bridal bonehead. However, the importance of comfortable shoes has not been lost on me ever since: I was able to dance the night away in my shoes, while many of my (female) guests were, well, severely impeded in their mobility and agility by their crippling stilettos.

But enough about me! This post is occasioned by the impending nuptial of a lovely friend and member of this forum, who starts off on the right foot (really!) by wishing for comfortable shoes for her wedding day. Apart from the fact that, duh, it’s a pretty big day and you don’t want to be wincing in pain five minutes into it (hint: there is a lot of standing, walking around, and dancing involved), her sensible resolve is strengthened by their choice of venue–it’s an outdoor wedding, so the bride has to be able to walk comfortably on grass, which rules out any kind of heels, and even kitten heels. To further complicate matters, she got the idea of ‘something blue’ stuck into her head, and why not put some blue into those shoes, right?

See, I did not have this all-consuming shoe passion back when I got married (in retrospect, that’s probably a good thing; not sure it would have been a strong selling point with my husband!), but now I kinda wish I did. Because I did not exactly splurge on a wedding dress for my reception, I could have splurged instead on shoes, right? Fabulous, out of these world shoes like these:

The silver and gold lame ‘Belle Vivier’ flats (from Roger Vivier, of course!) with the rhinestone buckle. A thing of wonder! Even at 20% off, they’re $876, a small fortune, of course, but fit for a goddess, no doubt.

I could have also probably settled for the silver croc-embossed version, at ‘only’ about half the price:

Or something equally fabulous from the master of bling, Giuseppe Zanotti?

These flats are covered in Swarovski crystals and cost $600 a pop, but my god. Shiny! Fantastic! And fantastically shiny!

Or perhaps I would have gone with something ruffled, off-the-beaten-path, but equally gorgeous, something like these Pedro Garcia Albany flats in ‘frappe satin’:

Or these Kate Spade bejeweled beauties in hematite metallic nappa:

But–I’m done and spoken for; time for other brides to shine, and not only hypothetically. Going back to my friend, let me say that I share her disgust of the ubiquitous ivory-satin-jeweled shoes with the teensy-weensy heel, a dime a dozen in every bridal shop. Brrr! Why not try to be unique and resplendent rather than trite and blah on your all-important day? Finally, let’s remember that my friend not only wanted something flat, classy, and sophisticated, but something blue, too! That was tough. Try as I might, I could only come up with the likes of these:

- Vera Wang soft blue gathered leather flats ($170, down from $430), which I would have further embellished with a little bit of shoe jewelry (from here or here), or maybe these Delman flats:

–with a caveat, though: get them only if you have relatively narrow feet–otherwise, forget it!. Still, these did not seem bridal enough!

And here is when my friend made the wise and totally appropriate bridal purchase, which I can only heartily condone should you be in need of a footwear idea for your own special day: This half d’Orsay pointy-toe skimmer from Shannon Britt, the ‘Olivia’, with a light blue embroidered satin upper:

Beautiful, no? If there is one message I want you to take is this: Brides to be, do not fear being comfortable. There are super-elegant, super-dressy options out there that will not kill your feet and will compliment any dress. Dare to dream!

Roger Vivier: Comma and Pilgram Shoe

Roger Vivier was called the ‘Fragonard of the shoe’ and his shoes ‘the Faberge of footwear’ by critics for his sense of design, structure and ornamentation. He is credited, among other things, with the invention of the stiletto heel and of the comma heel. His ‘Pilgrim’ shoes became instantly famous and are to this day one of the most imitated shoe designs on earth.

Vivier’s shoes are displayed in numerous shoe and fashion museums around the world. However, you won’t have to go too far to get your hands on a pair like the ones pictured above, which feature both his sculptural comma heel and the iconic pilgrim buckle, all in a wild, sassy print. Available at Bluefly for $436.