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.

(more…)

Vera Wang Lavender Label Flats

Vera Wang, as you may or may not know, has really been focusing on her ready-to-wear market and shoe market. These flats on display at New York Fashion Week were lovely. Very high end for flats, obviously, with their Swarovski crystal flowers that mimic vintage flower clips. These are a lot more high-quality than a lot of flats out there retailing for equal prices, but you’ll have to deal with the elastic band heel, which is my only concern.

If you’ve never read the interview with Vera from several years ago on NYMag.com, you should. She makes me laugh.

Vera Wang Lavender Label Lexi Jeweled Ballet Flats, $295 at ShopBop.com

Vera Wang Lavender Label Lisa Ballet Flat, $295 at Cusp by Neiman Marcus

Vera Wang’s “New York Look”

I waffle on these shoes from the Vera Wang show.  I look at them first and I think, “Neat mixture of unusual cut-outs and twisting, tied/buckled leather.  I can see those shoes walking down the sidewalks of New York City in droves.”  Then I look at them again and think, “Danger, Will Robinson!  Those are granny shoes on a high heel!”

Which of my opinions is crazy?

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!

new york fashion week roundup

A few memorable shoes spotted during the just-past New York fashion week:

worn by Vanessa Minnillo in the front row at the Monique l’Huillier show

Patrick McDonald posing for the cameras

a pair of heels designed by Lela Rose for Payless

more Payless shoes at the Abaete show

a model at the Vera Wang show

shoes in the Matthew Williamson show

Overall, I’d say nothing is a total shake up, and it doesn’t look like shoe styles will be changing all that drastically heading into spring. Still plenty of chunky platform heels, still plenty of pointy toe pumps, still plenty of cork wedges.

I do have to say that I’m very pleased with the new Payless shoes. I know they’re still not about to be the pinnacle of quality construction, but the new image makeover for the chain seems to be working. I’ll be checking them out when they show up in stores in a few months.