Sergio Rossi Aisha Strauss; $799 at Zappos

Love the heels but can’t bear the pain? In the latest issue of Marie Claire, Sergio Rossi’s creative director Edmundo Castillo offers shoe advice for walking comfortably in high heels.

1. Change heel heights several times a day. Feet and legs shouldn’t be allowed to mold themselves to any one shoe shape.

2. Shoes are an emotional accessory; hurt your feet, hurt your feelings.

3. Befriend a salesperson who will tell you if a shoe will actually feel as good as it looks.

4. If you feel all the weight in the front of your foot, this heel’s your arch enemy — literally.

5. Your foot needs to sit in a shoe. If you can wedge two fingers between your sole and the shoe — bye-bye!

6. Platforms should be no more than one-and-a-half inches high — or you’re dangling off a cliff.

7. Think Cinderella: A heeled shoe must fit perfectly. Faking it with the wrong size will get ugly. (Hmm, I think Victoria ‘Posh’ Beckham didn’t get this memo. Didn’t she once say ‘If they don’t have my size I just stick toilet paper in…If that’s what it takes to get a nice shoe.’)

8. Don’t shoe shop with swollen feet — e.g., when it’s hot or right after exercise

9. To elongate your legs, ankle straps should sit above the ankle bone.

10. Still wobbling when you walk in your heels? Practice!

The advice makes practical sense to me. Well, except for #1. I’d love to change heel heights every hour but my shoe wardrobe is not extensive enough, my purse can barely fit my wallet and cell phone much less allow me to carry spare pairs, and my pant lengths would look goofy if I switched from a 6″ to a 1″ heel.

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Do y’all Yoox? Well, you should–I find it a good resource of designer shoes (and clothing and accessories, in general) at discount prices. If you’re on the ball and catch them during one of their fabulous sales, you’ve hit the motherload (like the Sonia Rykiel low pumps I scored once for $30, thirty dollars, that’s right!).

You can still find some cuteness hidden in their sales section, but this time I’m attracted to some of the fabulous flats they propose in their new arrivals.

These Costume National suede elasticized flats are darling, and the purple version is yum($281):

Even better are these Sergio Rossi polka dot flats, $264. Who likes polka dots? Don’t be shy, let me have it? What was that? Aha! As I suspected, just about everybody!

The Alexander McQueen colorblock flats
are drop-dead gorgeous, but $698? Really? Le sigh.

A more humane price is demanded of these beautiful Jimmy Choo flats
, which have been on my “covet” list for a while, and now they’re $254:

If you’ve had a yellow obsession like yours truly, and think of tempering it with grey (beautiful combo!), I’d go for these–trendy and unusual, $257:

At the end of the day, here’s my hands-down winner at Yoox–provided I had the money: Obeline multi-hued peep-toe flats
, classy and delicate, a glorious example of understated chic, though the price tag of $345 makes me flinch:

Thanks for playing this edition of Fantasy Flats here at Shoeblog. Tell us all about your fantasy shoes in the forums!

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Because we all need a little fabulousness in our lives. Especially on Mondays.

All together now: “You spin me round round baby right round, like a record baby, round round, round round….”

Via sergiorossi.com.

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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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Yes, we’ve been posting about boots for months already, but hey.  When you live in the Northeast, boots are the go-to footwear for a good chunk of the year, and today is no exception.  I decided to forego my ubiquitous Uggs this morning (I forewent them?) in favor of actual structured leather boots by Camper, which are comfy but not nearly as warm, and now my feet are hating me for it.So what am I doing, as I gaze outside at the mixture of hail, sleet, freezing rain, and snow that’s coming down out of the sky?  I’m looking up furry cozy warm-looking boots that retain enough femininity to put me in mind of Julie Christie’s Lara in the sleigh in Dr. Zhivago.I’m talking about luxurious things like this Giuseppe Zanotti buckled boot ($1,400)

and the Taryn Rose Douce rabbit fur boot ($842 on sale from $1,300)

and especially this gorgeous goat fur Sergio Rossi Chasa boot ($1,294).

These take the cake for me (although they’re also probably the least warm).  But look at the toggles.

LOVE!

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