Shoe Deja Vu: Louboutin’s Spiked Clou Noeud

You may remember Louboutin’s Clou Noeud with the girly bow on the toe & the all-over spikes….If not, here’s another peek:

Christian Louboutin Clou Noeud  (sold out) , original retail $1195

Well, since these have been out for over a year, I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised that mainstream imitations are available at lower-end prices.

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LAMB vs. Dollhouse & Type Z

Sometimes it’s difficult to tell when a style is simply inspired by recent trends rather than a knockoff of a specific designer’s shoe.

Not so in this case.

Behold spring’s ‘Joelle’ from the LAMB shoe line.

LAMB ‘Joelle’ $383 $251.99 via Heels.com , $208.45 via Endless.com & $195 via Zappos.com

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Happy Chinese New Year!

Actually, this is more of a belated Chinese New Year wish, since February 14th was the start of the approximately 15-day holiday.  So, celebrations this weekend are going on in many cities.

Welcome to the Year of the Tiger.

People born in the Year of the Tiger always take pride in being different from others, and normally demonstrate their originality best in their homes. Their homes are typically filled with exotic possessions. It is no surprise that one of the Tiger’s favorite gemstones is the cat’s eye, but tigers also love the sparkle of rubies and diamonds. They like to spend money, and also to share it. They can be very impulsive spenders because they know they can at all times make more. (From yearofthetiger.net)

You know what that means in regard to celebrating in Shoeblog style; not just animal-prints, but tiger-print shoes. And whether you prefer heels or flats, there’s a number of styles out there for those days you want to walk out the front door while showing your wild side.

Carlos by Carlos Santana ‘Chula’ $78.43 at Endless.com, $87.00 at Zappos.com, & $106.19 at Heels.com

Jessica Simpson ‘Rolly’ $75 $88.95 at Zappos.com, $62.27 at 6pm.com

Naughty Monkey ‘Chiller 2′ $50.02 $89.95 at Endless.com & $76.23 at Zappos.com

Arturo Chang ‘Magente’ $88.95 at Shoebuy.com

Via Spiga ‘Yadirra’ $85.51 $169 at 6pm.com

Prari ‘Ranee’ $109.25 $236 at 6pm.com

Donald J Pliner ‘Gem’ $207 $390 at Zappos.com

Mardi Gras Glitter Shoes

This is just one more reason that hubby & I need to get out to New Orleans one of these years for Mardis Gras.

Krewe of Muses is the only all-female club to have a float in the New Orleans Mardis Gras parade.  And, while most of us know to expect a lot of beads to be thrown at Mardis Gras, the Krewe of Muses have their own souvenirs to throw to the watching crowds.

Individually hand-decorated ‘glitter shoes’:

Image from the Krewe of Muses shoe gallery.

How fabulous these are!

What’s a shoe-lover to do?  For starters, add one more thing to my ‘When I get to New Orleans during Mardi Gras’ list.

Of course, now I’m thinking about glitter shoes. Sure, there are the Louboutin Glitter Pumps Trainingheels showed us yesterday. But, if you want a pair for a future Mardi Gras that you won’t be too afraid to get dirty, how about trying out a pair of these un peu moins chère versions:

Guess ‘Tailgate’ $89.95 at Zappos.com

Vince Camuto ‘Maria’ $122 at Zappos.com

J Renee ‘Gazelle’ $99.70 $104.94 at Endless.com

Guess ‘Carrielee 4′ $89.95 at Zappos.com, & Endless.com;  $89.99 at Heels.com

Romantic Soles ‘Dasha Sequins’ $65.95 at Zappos.com

Butter ‘Season’ $268.95 at Endless.com

Juicy Couture ‘Emily’ $140 $238 at Zappos.com

Pelle Moda ‘Lilu’ $77.85 $114 at Zappos.com

To read more on what is involved in gathering and decorating these one of a kind Mardi Gras treats, see this article at ShuzSociety from Mardi Gras 2009. Also, details on how you can become a Muse are here.

Passementerie Shoes

I first saw passementerie-embellished footwear on a pair of boots several years ago while browsing through one of those old paper Spiegel catalogs that used to arrive in my mailbox on a near-daily basis.  Back when finding a catalog item on back-order was a normal course of events with mail-order houses and not an internet emergency requiring the thwarted buyer to immediately write a scathing site review; my, how expectations have changed. This was also before I knew how much other women were willing to spend on things like shoes and fashion and the then-$60 price-tag on the boots in question still fell firmly into my personal idea of ‘too-spendy’ to consider actually purchasing. Since then, I have seen passementerie-bedecked shoes arrive in stores at rare, irregular, and unpredictable intervals that easily defy my own, limited, ability to predict.

Anyway, on to the now – and Christian Louboutin’s recent forays into passementerie…which, since they have been out for more than five seconds, are pretty much sold out everywhere.

Oh well. If you, unlike me, are unable to resist the appeal of these sumptuously-styled pumps, now’s the time to grab the style….because Louboutin’s popularity makes anything he touches golden and therefore likely to be copied by other, less creative (or expensive) footwear brands.

Case in point:

Martinez Valero ‘Olivia’ passementerie pump. $107.19 – 160.00 at Nordstrom, Heels.com, Endless.com, Amazon.com and Myglassslipper.com – just for starters.

The ivory or white pairs are simply ideal for matching to a bridal gown.  I am surprised that this isn’t more of a bridal-shoe staple.

So, if you like the passementerie style, you may not have another chance at purchasing anything like this for some time…the braided ribbon detail really doesn’t come along and visit all that often here in shoe-land.