Though I am a New Yorker now, in my previous life I was a full-fledged California girl. And in my California days, I had a secret love. And his name was Jeremy. Jeremy lives in Northern California, Berkeley to be exact. And Jeremy, or to be more specific, Jeremy’s carries a treasure trove of beautiful designer shoes at a significantly reduced price. Now, some of these shoes may be slightly damaged at the outset, but they just need a little love to become the perfect pedicurean delights that they truly are. One of my finest moments occurred when I purchased a pair of beautiful black patent Prada heels for $60. That’s right, I said $60. They needed exactly $8 worth of work to bring them up to mint condition. On my recent trip to California, I once again ventured to Jeremy’s. This time I came across a lesser known label: Le Due. These gold-tone boots are exactly what I wanted all winter. They are edgy, cute, comfortable, and water-resistant, everything a woman looks for in a man…or a shoe. And these babies were in mint condition. At 79.99, they were a steal. Thank you Jeremy’s, my first shoe love.

If you love the deals you can get with off-season shopping the way I do, you will be thrilled to know that the Le Due Kashmir is still available online for $121.00.

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Am I the only gal who’s heard of the shoe brand “Shoes for Lovely People”? The name really says it all.

I purchased my first pair from Endless.com in February of this year. At that time, there were only a few other online retailers I could locate which carried this style, if they carried this brand at all. I am happy to report there are now a number of online retailers carrying “Lovely” styles.

I really like the fact that Shoes for Lovely People are playing with trends at a reasonable price range. It’s nice to see shoes that are current and fun without necessarily being runway knock-offs.

In my case, I was looking for a striped shoe. This “Bonnie” pump won me over completely, how could it not? That heel is just yummy!

(Sale priced $74.22 at Endless.com in Brown or Black)

And, if you are looking for something more colorful, Endless.com also has a nice selection of colorful flats and wedges that I think of as  ‘Happy Summer Shoes’.

There is the “Blair” flat:

($109.95 at Endless in Green Multi or Silver, and $110 at Piperlime in Gold or Silver)

Or the “Stacey Q” wedge:

(Sale priced $79.72 at Endless.com):

Other retailers offering selections of Shoes for Lovely People include Barefoot Tess, Urban Outfitters, Karmaloop, Shoefly, and Piperlime.

Unable to resist, here is one last style, courtesy of Piperlime; the “Tootie“:

(On sale at Piperlime.com for $89.99 in fairly conservative nude or silver - or this festive green multi that is obviously related to the “Blair” shown above.)

That braid-wrapped heel is gorgeous; A simply lovely shoe.

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Project Runway 5.2 is tonight. (Season 5, Episode 2 for the non-PR junkie).

Reading Jitterbugbaby’s Project Runway 5.1, those Dior python shoes looked vaguely familiar to this small-town girl.

Dior Anniversary Python in Green:

(Discounted 40% to $834 off from Bluefly)

Maybe it was the glammed-up L.A.M.B. “Georgina”?

(Available in Grey, White, or Camel from Endless.com, Shoes.com, Zappos and retailing at just shy of $400; It is currently on various sales at Heels.com/$349.99, Shopbop/$197.50, and DJPremium/$266)

No, it was the Guess “Karavi” slingback:

(They are available in black, white, tangerine, pink, green, or espresso at Zappos/$114, Shoes.com/$110, Endless/$109.95, & Heels.com/$108.99 . However, you can steal these for $59.99 at Smartbargains.com).

And there you go. There truly is a shoe for all budgets.

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I love wedges. They give you height without pain (or, at the very least, they minimize the pain), they provide comfort,  padding, and arch support, and they are often quirky, innovative, whimsical, and plain ol’ fun. I don’t want wedges to go away anytime soon, but unfortunately, if trend spies are to be believed, they are gently phased out of the fashion spotlight and replaced with vertiginous, slightly chunky and/or whimsical heels. The wedges you can still find for the new season are definitely more toned down, stripped of nearly all the bells and whistles that the designers played with a mere 1-2 seasons ago.

Just so you don’t forget the fun to be had with wedges, I’ve reached into the deep underbelly of Yoox sales and pulled out a few quirky models.  Links, in the order of appearance, are below.

Alexander McQueen wedge, $344.

Alaia industrial wedge, $304.

Marc Jacobs architectural wedge, $135.

D&G Art Deco red wedges, $240 at Yoox.

Le Silla wedge with diamante orchid brooch detailing INSIDE the wedge, $168.

Parisi spiderweb wedges, $148.

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I loved the Miu Miu “Pop” brogues that came out last fall. With subtle color-block styling, including topstitching and wingtip styling, it was a wonderfully feminine version of a classic menswear shoe. (See Manolo’s take here):

There are a few isolated sizes & styles available at Net-a-porter and Bluefly- but Bluefly is already selling out some styles even as I am writing this, so these will not be around for long, even at discounted prices that are still around $500.

These were apparently too original to stay original.   I am in true awe at the sheer mass of imitations that have spawned from these fun and elegant originals. 

Be warned, some are quite cute, but others border on a level of “What were they thinking?” that leaves me shaking my head in confusion.

So, in no particular order:

Contestant #1 -  Guess by Marciano “Yerex” $125 at Shoes.com & $129 at Zappos.com (Not too extreme, and I kind of like the slender heel):

Contestant #2 -  Two Lips  “Cotton Club” $79 at Shoes.com and Zappos.com (Not sure I’m really ‘feeling’ the antiqued/brushed metal finish.):

Contestant #3 -  Hale Bob “Imagine” $87.47 - $124.95 at Endless.com, Heels.com & Shoes.com. (I’m okay with the metallic color balance, but the red is just too much for me.)

Contestant #4 - Dollhouse with the “Warhole” and “Rembrandt” styles $69.99 at Heels.com for either style. (Honestly, I do like the blue combo as it has enough differences to make it a nice variation on the original idea.)

Contestant #5 - Bamboo ‘Hanete01′ $34.99 at Cutesyshoes  (I can’t ever see myself wearing this cotton-candy color combo.):

And, no,  I have not forgotten Steve Madden, master style imitator; He has an honorable mention for the “Specs” which have apparently sold out at most online retailers.

So, how do we feel about these?

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