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!

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I know they’re technically last season, but I had to take a moment and pay homage to this beautiful shoe, the Sahara from Delman, one of their most successful creations last year, imho (they also had a blue version which was quite nice). I love the retro platform (too high for me, but still with pretty, classic curvature), the ornate and unusual cutout vamp, the slingback style, the Mary Jane strap, the peep-toe (sheesh, so many styles into one!). At any rate, you can find this beautiful platform half off at Shoes.com, currently going for $167.

Addendum: If you’re not a fan of the cutout styling, Delman also produced this shoe in regular nubuck, keeping all the other details (including the heart-shape peep-toe). They’re called "Sultana" and they’re available for $245 at Zappos (that’s 32% off).

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I’m fascinated by the history of the shoe and I can’t help being amazed at the beautiful creations masters of the past have produced, some of them bolder and more innovative than any pair of designer shoes today. And some other times, I marvel at the kookiness or even downright cruelty of a model. So, let’s reserve a little blog corner every week for a piece of shoe history.

Without further ado, here’s today’s shoe:

Delman vintage red and gold satin platform booties with instep hole and lace and bow detail, circa 1938-1940. Uncomfortable–perhaps, but also daring, exotic, stunning.

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In case you haven’t seen it already, Neiman Marcus online has a sale going on for the week, which means taking 30-40% off even clearance items. That means rock-bottom prices, which is basically the one time a year when I get really, really interested in NM wares. For example, these adorable Delman skimmers are only $62, down from $175.

Lots of other apparel discounts await the fashion-for-less enthusiast. The catch? A limited range of sizes, of course, and even those few selections are dwindling by the hour. So hurry up and grab something by Sunday–I’m sure there’s something in there for everyone. I, for one, have my heart set on a preppy grey cotton ensemble that seems to me perfect for indoor holiday wear; and yes, you read correctly, for once, I’m not going to buy shoes.

 

 

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