I had the luck to be working backstage at the Christian Siriano show at NY Fashion Week. What a madhouse! In addition to the regular melee of cameras, models, makeup/hair folk, and stylists, many of Christian’s friends and family were backstage helping the man himself prepare for the show. Among them were Jack Mackenroth and Sweet Pea (who seems to have picked up a gig reporting for MTV news) from Season 4 of Project Runway.

So let’s talk shoes:

Each of Christian’s models wore a pair of 4-inch stiletto heels in gray, acid green, or neon orange. Several had charming flower-like fabric appliques at the front or the back. These high fashion shoes bore no name, so this girl did a bit of detective work. Want to know how to make high fashion runway footwear?

Step 1: Go to Aldo. Purchase 30 pairs of  heels in a light color.

Step 2: Go to an Art Supply store and purchase some heavy duty paint.

Step 3: Whip out the hot glue gun and some bits of leftover fabric.

Step 4: Mix well.

Here are the before pictures in Taupe ($69.98) and Black ($84.98):

And Voila! Here are the the end results:

Pretty cool, no? That right there is a true PR innovation challenge.

Here are some photos of the backstage ruckus just for fun:

Christian makes some adjustments

A Model waits to go on.

This Lucky Shoeblogger stands between two models. They are SO tall! But very sweet. Don’t they look fabulous?

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In the madness of Fashion Week and its attendant glories, my Project Runway viewing was delayed this week.  But never fear.  The magic of TiVo prevented it from being lost altogether.

Although, you know what?  It almost didn’t offer up anything at all for a Shoeblog post.

I mean, Kenley’s hideous Aquarius-inspired (though I can’t see it for the life of me) design made use of the Theory Sacha booties we’ve seen before.

And other than that, well… if you can find the shoes with the rest of those outfits then you’re a better searcher than I.

Some we just couldn’t see, like Jerell’s Sagittarian winner (hooray for my boy!) or Joe’s gorgeous fiery Aries gown.

Some were repeats of shoes used before, like Blayne’s Libra outfit, which caused Michael Kors to hysterically say, “She’s pooping fabric!”

And some had shoes that were visible, but seem to be hiding somewhere in the depths of Bluefly.com, like Leanne’s sexy femme fatale Scorpio dress or Suede’s nearly-eliminated Libra pajama set.

Can any of you find these shoes?  Those adorable ankle-strap platforms with Leanne’s outfit are… well… adorable.

Stay tuned for next week, when the previews promise to show us Leanne working with the Nanette Lepore peep-toe pumps that I loved so much back here.

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Stella, I’m sorry to see you go.  You brought some attitude and edge to Project Runway along with a New York accent that won’t quit.

And honestly, I didn’t hate your outfit this week.  OK, so the tailoring wasn’t good, and the vest didn’t come out real sharp, and after being in the bottom two a few times, I get why they sent you home.

But your look was much more creative and cohesive than some of the others.  And it was indeed staying true to your own design vision and making it work for a 1940s internationally-traveling spy by way of Diane von Furstenberg.  Plus, you used those same bronze ankle booties that you’ve used for just about every challenge (see the Olympic challenge outfit for a good view).

I like those booties.  A lot.  And I can never seem to find them on Bluefly, though these Nanette Lepore Bewitching booties in gold come pretty close.

My much-beloved Leanne won her second challenge in a row (immunity be damned!) with this beautiful and beautifully-tailored gown and fun little jacket.

Who knows what shoes she has under there, though.

But, much as I like these two pieces, I don’t think they work well together at all.  And in addition, neither of them (the dress especially) seems particularly Diane von Furstenberg to me.

For that, you’d have to go to Korto’s dress-and-jacket pair.  Both pieces seem to work with each other and individually as DVF styles.  The patent leather peep-toes could be many shoes, but I’ll point to these Prada ones, which are sleek and chic.

Blayne went with a knickerlicious pant and top, much like his Lipstick Jungle outfit, and while I don’t love it (except that jacket, which I covet), I also weirdly don’t hate it.  Do you think he gets extra credit for using shoes by Michael Kors (the Bradford pump)?

Terri gave us this week’s pant-and-jacket combo (and how frightening that she herself can fit into the same size pants as her model) and this week’s wearing of the Patron Shoe of Project Runway 5.8 (yes, I’m coming straight out and declaring it officially): the Gucci Eva wingtip (though this could be the maryjane, too… can’t quite tell).

My boy Jerell went with some nondescript t-straps.  Joe looks like he used a shoe with a Chinese-inspired knot to add one more over-the-top-Shanghai element to his already-over-the-top-Shanghai outfit.  Suede could have buried any sort of wackadoodle shoe under his sack of a dress.

But the best shoes by far this week were with Kenley’s dress.  Look how cute those little floral sandals are.  I mean, the girl may drive me nuts with her whining and her vocal tone, but she does make a damn good dress, and she does pick some damn good shoes to go with it.  Sadly, though they seem Nanette Lepore-ish with the girly chic thing going on, I don’t seem to see them on Bluefly.

Ah well.  Better shoe-finding luck next time, I suppose.

[ETA: Sorry, dear readers.  This post seems to have been partially eaten at some point during the day.  It's back up now.]

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Hello again, Shoeblog readers.  The silence on the jitterbugbaby front has come to an end.  I’ve been away from the computer (or high-speed internet at all… horrors!), but now I’m back.  And though one of the Project Runway episodes (7) I missed involved shoes that were rather more specialized than Bluefly has to offer—I don’t see a category on their website for drag queen shoes—this past week’s offered plenty to drool over in the clothing and shoes front.

I shall start with my two faves, which were, not surprisingly, Leanne and Jerell.

Jerell’s futuristic space-age outfit was drama-rama, but in a way that I love.  And it was quite well paired with the Charles Nolan Tara boots that we’ve seen before.

And Leanne’s outfit (a deserved winner, if you ask me) went just perfectly with these Theory peep-toe booties.

Our good old Gucci Eva wingtips got a trip down the catwalk with Kenley’s vintage-inspired outfit (though, by god, she was whiny about having to switch models).

And Korto’s seatbelt swingcoat made good-if-basic use of the Stuart Weitzman Expumps that showed up on Keith’s Brooke Shields Lipstick Jungle dress.

Suede made yet another variation on his go-to shape.  So, as far as I’m concerned, he needs to do two things: 1. Stop making drop-waisted dresses with poufy skirts and 2. Stop referring to himself in the third person.  Sorry… three things.  3.  Stop using the word “wackadoodle.”However, this dress is cute (as are most of his designs) and the Stuart Weitzman Navigator boots are a perfect (and, dare I say it? comfy) footwear choice.

Good shoe choices this week, designers.  And good outfits, too, which might be more important in their eyes, but we know what we love around these parts.

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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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