Sometimes maybe no words are necessary. Wandering around the West Village yesterday, I came across a small unassuming shoe store. Nestled on a mostly residential (and definitely very high end) corner of the village, it glowed with the subtly expensive air of a fine boutique that knows it doesn’t have to advertise. And it’s a good thing too, because in fact, it doesn’t. There is no obvious sign broadcasting that it is one of the premiere purveyors of fine footwear in the world. No placard detailing just how they’ve made those shoemakers’ elves look bad. After lurking suspiciously around the store for a few minutes, puzzling on this and shooting the photo below, I noticed a tiny gold-stenciled sigh on the door, bearing their name. The moral of the story: if you are Christian Louboutin, less is apparently more.

I admit that the photo might be a tiny bit crooked, but that doesn’t mask the utter lack of signage. Now, I will admit that stores that refuse to put up signs stating their name and purpose irritate me. It gives the whole store a members-only kind of feel. I feel similarly about the ones where you have to be buzzed in if you want to shop. Let’s face it, your average boutique doesn’t have much clout. Come on people, you want more people to buy stuff, not less. Of course, CL doesn’t have this issue as people will buy stuff anyway. And they neatly sidestepped my semi-irrational irritation with their tiny golden sign.

Now that we are on the subject, let discuss a specific pair of Louboutin’s. Here are the celebrity favorite Orlan Double Platform T-Strap in red suede.

I love these. Note the slightly gladiator design that caters to the trend without buckling to it. Note the graceful sweeping lines, the thicker ankle strap, the tiny peep-toe. And I am not alone. Heidi Klum wore these to major events not once, but twice, in black.

On the left, see Frau Seal on her way to the Peabody Awards. Note the almost symphonic pairing of the geometric dress with fabulous geometric shoes. And on the right, she is posing for the Project Runway Season 5 promos. Clearly these shoes are loved. If you too love them enough to spend $885 dollars, pick them up at saks.com.

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Lipstick Jungle, huh?

Yep, that was the challenge for Project Runway designers last night: design an outfit for Brooke Shields’s character, Wendy, to wear on Lipstick Jungle.  I think it’s quite possible that every designer was also required to say the name of the show in every single soundbite, too.  Shill, much?

Anyway, the description that was given for the character was that she came from a bohemian background, but is now a high-powered executive, and this was supposed to be a day-to-night outfit.

What did these teams of two do?  More importantly (as far as we’re concerned here, that is), what shoes did they use?

The look I’d have handed the win to is the one Heidi loved most: Jerell and Stella’s.  And it’s also by far the one with the best shoes.  The Nanette Lepore Dotty Dame pumps are ADORABLE and have a perfect balance between grown-up and girly, as expected from the designer.

Who actually got the win?  Keith and Kenley, who, admittedly, also made a beautiful dress there.  It’s pretty primetime ready.  And so are its shoes, the Stuart Weitzman Expump (here in black patent, but also available in black leather).

Middle of the pack were Korto and Joe with their interesting “ethnic” blouse and poorly-fitted strapless dress.  And Terri and Suede, with this outfit that, to me, didn’t seem quite right for the office OR for evening.  And same goes for the shoe choice, the Charles by Charles David Savior mule that we saw way back in the first episode with Daniel’s plastic-cup dress.

And then we had the travesty that was Kelli and Daniel’s hoochie-mama outfit.  Leopard and lace and lingerie are NOT good looks for a classy, sophisticated type.  It looks like they used the Charles David Catch sandal, which is nice enough, I suppose.  But really, I don’t think there was a way to save that outfit.

If you want to check out other options for “dressing the businesswoman,” Bluefly is doing a spotlight on the peep-toe this week from their Project Runway accessories selection.  Ironically, the only one of the above shoes that shoes up on that page is the Nanette Lepore pump, and that one in a different color.

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So, the challenge was to design an outfit for the female athletes from the USA to wear for the opening ceremonies of the summer Olympics.  Cool challenge, right?  Olympics start this week.  We’ll get to see what Ralph Lauren cooked up for the actual ceremony tomorrow night.

And I have to say (with a few exceptions), thank god those women don’t have to wear what was proposed for them on tv last night!

Seriously, can you imagine hundreds of athletic, muscular, strong women coming out into the international scene in this?  I know I’ve loved on Jerell before, but this is just flat out hideous.  And misses the challenge by a mile!  The Charles by Charles David Skip shoes are pretty adorable, though (and on sale for only $60!)

Or, what about Daniel’s cocktail dress?  It’s the Olympics, for chrissake!  As Michael Kors said, a woman wearing this would have to be coming from the Republic of Cocktail Land.  Though, the Stuart Weitzman Spring Fling platforms are kind of cute, in a basic summery way.

Keith’s outfit wasn’t a total travesty, but has nothing to do with an athlete’s body and isn’t particularly American, apart from the color scheme (which misses the mark, too, in my book).  He did use the Gucci Eva oxfords, which I suspect are going to end up as the Patron Shoe of Project Runway 5.

As far as the good, there were really only two that I thought deserved a win.  And neither of them won.  One was Joe’s skort outfit, which says USA in a cute and athletic way, without relying on one particular era or style other than… well… sporty.  Plus, I ADORE his zipper color combining (in case you missed it, he bought red zippers and blue zippers and mixed them so each zip had one red side and one blue).  Couldn’t find his exact shoes, but the Stuart Weitzman Linda isn’t too far off.

And finally, much like last week, I thought Leanne deserved much higher kudos for her effort. Because this is sporty and flattering as well as representing a nice, clean vision of USA sportswear.  Fashion and athleticism (and patriotism, too) at once.  The shoes are adorable, too, and though I couldn’t find these exact ankle strap sandals, this Giuseppe Zanotti red and white slingback would do in a pinch.

One note, though.  I know this was a runway show and all, but there are plenty of cute shoes on Bluefly that (if they were available to the designers) would have been much more appropriate sporty footwear choices.  To wit, the Kate Spade Hayley ($32!!) in either red canvas or the oh-so-American denim

or the Stuart Weitzman Freshy (what an adorable name).

We’ll see how the real thing stacks up tomorrow night.

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Well, after episode two’s rather bland shoe offerings, last week’s episode three was a definite improvement. 

I have been drooling over the Gucci “Eva” wingtip platform pump and booties since I first saw them at the Gucci website last fall.  Unfortunately, even at Bluefly’s best sale prices, these have yet to drop below the $450-500 range. This is just too rich for my blood - and my bank account.

So, I was happy recently to find several reasonable and affordable alternatives to satisfy my attraction to the basic style of the Gucci originals.

• Guess by Marciano’s “Egeria” $129 at Zappos.com/$125 at Shoes.com. In black or brown:

• Report “Ellis” $189 at Zappos.com/$185 at Shoes.com.  In black, grey, or nude:

• Bongo “Square Dance” $46.00 at Zappos.com:

And, for those of you attracted to the green Cavalli sandal already seen on several episodes, Chinese Laundry has this affordable copy. Which, interestingly enough, seems to come in just about any color except for green.

• Chinese Laundry “Mika”, $63 at Zappos. In black, red, royal blue, and white:

I love the challenge of finding affordable styles for those of us who are on a budget or who live in small towns where we see very little variety. I hope these help you to look like you just walked off of a fashion runway.

And as for tonight’s show? I’m hoping to start seeing stronger designs tonight, both in footwear and in fashion.

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As Natalie Portman put it on last week’s episode, Kenley’s like some 40s broad.  She styles herself well, although the jury’s still out for me on her designs and her personality.  But she does indeed work the 40s style, and with that in mind, I’m taking it upon myself to suggest a pair of pairs she might want to look into.  No, they’re not vintage 40s, but they’re certainly styled that way.

The first is the Cole Haan Camilla Air.  This one comes in 3 colors, but trust me, Kenley, this is the one you should go for.  It looks like it belongs on the foot of a Hollywood starlet back in the era of the Glamorous Silver Screen.  Get yourself a matching green alligator purse, and you’ll be the belle of any ball.

And for those special nights out (when you won’t have much walking to do), the YSL Tribute Pump in this spectatorlicious (sorry… channeling Blayne there for a minute) satin/patent combination in a black and seafoam color combo that says clean Lauren Bacall chic like nothing else.

Think about it, Kenley.  Lots of people work this style.  If you want to do it a cut better than the rest (and no, that’s not a Project Runway sewing pun), here’s the footwear to (literally) lift you up above the competition.

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