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.

3 Comments »

This year for the Oscars, Stuart Weitzman has decided to choose Diablo Cody, Oscar nominee for the screenplay of Juno, to wear his superfantastic, super-pricey shoes. This is Diablo:

And these are the shoes:

The ‘Retro Rose’ shoe features two Kwiat diamond roses, fixed to 1940s-style beige metallic T-strap high heels. More than 1,800 Kwiat diamonds weighing 100 carats were used to make the roses, and 400 of them have been incorporated into the design of the shoe, which is worth over $1 million.

However, Diablo might be the first star since Weitzman instituted this tradition to refuse to wear the headline-making shoes. Associated Press reports that the Juno screenwriter might leave the diamond-encrusted high heels off her feet Sunday. Cody’s not completely thrilled, “now that I think about it.”

“They’re using me to publicize their stupid shoes and NOBODY ASKED ME,” Cody wrote on her MySpace blog Friday. “I would never consent to a lame publicity stunt at a time when I already want to hide.”

“I would expect she probably won’t wear them. She made that very clear,” Weitzman later told the AP about the shoe tussle during a telephone interview Saturday night. “If she decides not to wear the shoes, that’s Diablo’s decision, and I wouldn’t try to convince her otherwise. It’s Diablo’s day, and she can do whatever she wants.”

Weitzman says he made the cost of the metallic beige shoes clear to Cody when he met with her. He blames Cody’s behind-the-scenes team for not communicating the value of the shoes to the Oscar-nominated screenwriter.

“I’m just embarrassed that she wrote what she wrote,” he said.

Even so, the designer says he wouldn’t change his decision to give the ultra-expensive slippers to Cody.

Stay tuned tonight as the drama unfolds–will she or won’t she wear the shoes tonight? I am simply wracked with nerves!

***UPDATE*** She won the Oscar–you go, girl! And, from what I could tell, she didn’t wear the shoes. I was quite impressed that she wore flats with that flowy leopard-print bejeweled dress (which I didn’t like)–but I gotta give it to her, this girl is an original.

***UPDATE #2*** In an interview with celebrity gossip company TMZ, Stuart Weitzman is stating that Diablo was more involved in the design process than any other Academy Award nominee who has worn his expensive shoes.

“I have been making a special pair of shoes to be worn at the Academy Awards for a number of years. This year - more so than in any previous year - the lady who was given the opportunity to wear it was quite involved in the design process. Diablo Cody sent me examples of the type of shoes she liked and actually did the final selection herself, choosing a three-inch retro style T-strap as well as a changeover pair of ballerinas.

She chose to adorn the shoes with medium-sized diamond roses from three different sizes offered to her. Why she seems to be so surprised as to the attention being paid to her and these shoes, I cannot answer. It should certainly come as no surprise that a one-of-a-kind pair of shoes would generate excitement at the Academy Awards.

Regardless, what should matter is the fact that this talented woman won an Oscar this weekend. I offered her the opportunity initially because I so enjoyed her film, and I’m very happy for her success. I wish her all the best.”

Oye ye - we aren’t sure who to believe now.

7 Comments »

Good riddance to Victorya, I say. Her designs were never all that unique, and if I had to hear her talk about how she’s a very competitive person anymore, bodily harm might have been involved.

Her design last night was fug in a big way, and completely uninspired/uninspiring. Plus, she used a nude version of these blah Dais pumps from Stuart Weitzman.

I’m glad we’re done with that.

In other PR shoe news, we saw yet another use of the Patron Shoe of Project Runway 4 (the asymmetrical Versace mary-jane, which now seems to be gone from Bluefly… perhaps sold out with the aid of repeat viewings on PR) with this trench from Jillian, which was almost great, but then lost something in the execution.

Chris used these Gucci Ebony gladiator sandals again (which he also used in the Hershey challenge a few weeks ago), which looked nice enough, but the dress was a bit underwhelming.

Ricky’s winning outfit (which wasn’t my fave, I must admit–nice, but nothing fantastic) made good use of these wicked and excellent boots, which from the red soles, would seem to be Louboutins, but are hiding out there somewhere. Kit used them for the Hershey challenge, too, with an outfit I loved.

Rami went for the clunky Balenciaga nude sandals that went with his and Sweet P’s ready-to-wear outfit from last week. I think the sandals looked much better with the rougher, brass-button-enhanced look of the denim than they did with the floaty dress from last week. I’ve got to say that this outfit was gorgeous, and for me, either this look or The Whiner’s motorcycle-style one would have been crowned winner.

Sweet P brought these jeweled t-strap sandals back, which we first saw way back in the first episode on Carmen’s model. But do they show up on Bluefly? Seemingly not. They’re jeweled enough to come from Guiseppe Zanotti, but who knows.

We’re getting down into the final stretch on PR here. To paraphrase Heidi Klum, “Remember, shoes, this is a competition for you as well. The shoe paired with the winning designer will win a spread in Elle magazine.” OK, well, maybe not. But certainly a lot of popularity. I’m betting on those Versace’s taking the prize.

No Comments Yet »

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.

No Comments Yet »

So, I’ve waited almost an entire week to write about the shoes from last week’s Project Runway episode. So sue me. Better late than never, right? And there were some good ones, too.

Rami’s well-deserved winning outfit was not only fantastic, but also accessorized with these Versace pumps, which were also used with Kit’s outfit from the first episode, which are demure but hyper stylish. They don’t fight with this kitschy dress, but they’re sleek and chic enough to hold their own.

Chris refrained from making an overly costume-y confection out of the confections with this smart, artistic dress, which went nicely with Gucci’s Ebony gladiator-like platform sandals.

Victorya’s outfit plain old sucked, if you ask me. In fact, the only thing I liked about it was the shoes, which are these pretty, beachy Hermes Kristal sandals.

Likewise with Sweet P’s outfit. Well, no, that’s not quite right. The outfit was boring (in fact, I liked her initial idea very much, but she scrapped it), and the shoes were fine, but a little bit blah with that boring dress. I wish she’d gone with something a little snazzier in a bright color, but instead she stuck with these Stuart Weitzman Bellisima thongs. I say *yawn,* Silvery sparkly *yawn.*

Let’s see what they all come up with for tomorrow’s new episode. I can’t wait!

2 Comments »