Prompted by a recent reader inquiry, I went over to Neiman Marcus’ Shoe Trend site, which I haven’t peeked at yet for this season. As per usual, I found plenty of tempting options. So, like any good blogger, I’m now here to spread the word.

Heel Detail

You may recognize a number of these from the runway shows, because they tend to go heavy on the dramatic flare. These Fendi cage heels walked the Great Wall of China and these Prada flowery sandals made an organic statement in Milan back in September. Now they can be yours for $690 and $790, respectively.

Metallics

Personally, I’m of the opinion that a metallic shoe is always a great way to spruce up an outfit. In any season. If you agree, you might want to snap up a pair right now, when there are so many options available. You can get your metallic fix in everything from a classic Kate Spade loafer to a pewter Donald J Pliner t-strap to a Valentino multi-tone platform.

Floral

What says spring more than floral-embellished shoes? Try a pair of cheerful Manolo Blahnik’s with the Marimekko patterns that we mentioned back here, or a pretty and understated Bettye Muller (whose designs we Shoebloggers always love), or–to be kinder on your tootsies–any color of these Costablanca suede thongs.

Woven

Here’s a trend we haven’t seen for a few years now, and I’m glad it’s back. Woven shoes have an earthy, organic sort of look that I always like for the warm weather months. What shoes are here to feel the natural inspiration? Well, there’s this Frye low wedge sandal (in a handful of pretty colors) and this Stella McCartney wedge (also note it covers you for the metallic and decorative heel trends, all in one fell swoop) and the Cole Haan Air Bria (in gold or silver and thereby also hitting the right metallic note), to name a few.

Gladiator Sandals

Nope, they’re not gone. They’ve been the ubiquitous trendy sandal for the past several years, but I’m not complaining. I always like a shoe that mixes elements. Refined and rough. Masculine and feminine. And the gladiator sandal does that, whether it’s a glamazon version by Stuart Weitzman, a buckled and studded strappy one by Claudia Ciuti, or a basic brown leather Dolce & Gabbana.

Safari

The final trend is the one you have to be most careful of. When you start getting anywhere near animal prints, you’ve got to be careful not too go too over the top. I’d recommend sticking with things that are a little more toned down like this Oscar de la Renta mini-wedge. Or get a safari-esque look by sidestepping animal prints in favor of wooden embellishments, like on this t-strap sandal by Shoesense’s guru, Robert Clergerie. Because, while I dearly love Taryn Rose shoes and all they stand for, their take on the safari style is WAY too much in my book.

So go, Shoeblog readers. Find your spring shoes armed with trend awareness. It’s a fine line between trendy for its own sake and trendy in a way that will last into future springs to come. But you can do it. You’re savvy people.

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Happy Easter to all of our readers out there who celebrate it.

And of course, this wouldn’t be a Shoe Blog without a footwear suggestion of some kind, right? So in case plain old pastels just don’t do it for you anymore, consider adding an edge with this sheer hand-painted organza floral pump from Dolce & Gabbana, with the unexpected contrast of a wooden conical heel:

The Dolce & Gabbana ‘Watercolor’ pump is available for preorder at Nordstrom for $995.

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Phew! Just when I thought oxfords were going out of fashion, Dolce & Gabbana comes to reassure me that no, they’re very much in, and not only that, but they’re now permitted to be chunky and flashy at the same time! There is something reassuringly autumnal about the collection (tweeds, ribbed tights, knits, and brogues), and the masculine flair of the shoes is tempered by the exuberant mix of textures, colors, and materials. All the trends of this past season are mixed and mashed (metallics, animal-textures–croc-embossing and pony hair–, razzle-dazzle rhinestones, toe-caps, colorblock) into a delightfully eclectic and likeable collection.

By now you’ve probably noticed that wedges (almost entirely) and platforms (only to a certain extent) are being fazed out of the fall trends. Hm… I wonder what’s next!

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I was browsing the shoe stores these days and was dazed with the possibilities and styles, and it got me thinking: what if I had to rebuild my shoe wardrobe from scratch? What if I had nothing, absolutely nothing to wear, and I would be forced to order shoes from one place and one place only to save me from this disgrace? (In this fantasy of mine, I don’t have shoes but I have plenty of money left to buy whatever I want. Ahem. Work with me here.). So I decided to create this little mind experiment and rebuild my wardrobe from scratch using one shoe store at a time. I need to cover my bases–I need dress shoes, warm-weather shoes, casual shoes, dog-walking shoes, career shoes, evening shoes, sensible shoes. Right? Right.

The first obvious place is, of course, Zappos. Here’s what I would pick up there, for starters, for the spring-summer season:

1. A. Testoni Giancarla red patent loafers, $376.

2. Michael Kors Palm Springs yellow patent flats, $400.  

3. Sigerson Morrison gold kitten-heeled sandals, $443.

4. Sergio Rossi Origami kitten heel pumps, $500.

5. Helle Comfort Ollie wedge, $160.

6. Ecco Performance Yarrah, $104.

7. Marc Jacobs color-block flat sandals, $353.

8. Delman Crest-V bejeweled velvet flat, $354.

9. Kate Spade Juliette open-toe slingbacks, $274.

10. Cole Haan Air Gabi boat shoe, $158.

11. Taryn Rose Daelyn gunmetal metallic wedges, $495.

 12. Christian Lacroix bejeweled kitten heels, $717.

13. Adidas by Stella McCartney sport flats, $100.

14. Tapeet by Vicini silver and gold flats, $400.

15. Dolce & Gabbana floral canvas flats, $330.

16. Juicy Coutoure Lillian espadrilles, $230.

17. Giuseppe Zanotti Mirror Lilia open-toe flats, $454.

18. Paul Green ‘Soul’ in leopard, $237 (although, shame on you, Zappos: the same shoe is half off at Piperlime! I guess it would be a good time to call them on it and get that 10% off the lowest price you can find on the Internet, right?)

19. Paul Smith Laney floral espadrille, $178.

Mmmmm….I’m drunk with shoes right now… I think I’m going to lie down, or I’ll buy all of them right now! Wait, I won’t: the grand total for this “starter” wardrobe is (drum roll): $6263. Over six thousand dollars. I probably went all crazy in the Couture section of Zappos, but I couldn’t help myself!

Later this week I’ll explore more eye-candy at other stores, and what it would take to get a “starter” spring-summer shoe wardrobe there. Stay tuned!

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So, this week, the designers had to make a prom dress for the high school girl who picked them. There were some great things up there, and some awful things up there, but mostly things that were neither great nor awful.

Whiny bitch Christian made this dress, which didn’t satisfy him or Maddie, his client. Then he blamed it all on her being picky. Suck it up, baby. You’re the designer. (Can you tell I don’t like Christian?) The dress was over-the-top and the Dolce & Gabbana pony hair leopard print pumps were, too. Maybe they’d be all right with an all black outfit or something more demure, but with this dress, they were way too costumey.

On the other hand, Chris (the King of Costumey) made this very nice dress for his client, Krista. Tasteful, stylish, prom-appropriate, and a great color on her. I couldn’t find the exact shoes on Bluefly, but any number of strappy silver sandals would look lovely with this dress (which has silver buckles on the back that are very subtle and glitzy). Might I suggest these “Ice Rink” sandals from Stuart Weitzman, which are delicate and neat-looking. If you like them, by the way, and you wear a 10 or 10.5, they’re on sale for only $130.

Likewise, I didn’t see the silver sandals Tizi wore with Kevin’s uninspired (and ultimately losing) dress. But these Ferragamo “Strike” sandals have a similar (and I think somewhat funkier) feel.

Overall, I was sort of underwhelmed. Nothing was really egregiously ugly (except for Christian’s), but I wasn’t blown away by anything either. Oh well. There’s always next week.

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