Shoes of Project Runway 5.10

OK, so my Shoes of Project Runway isn’t nearly as exciting as Twinkletoes’ up-close-and-personal tale.

But nevertheless, there was PR this week, and I aim to find those Bluefly shoes, just like every other week.

So, first up, let’s look at Jerell’s winning outfit.  A) Deserved to win.  B) Totally perfect for the girl.  C) I WANT THAT CARDIGAN!!!  And shoe-wise, those feminine patent peep-toes are what would happen if the Stuart Weitzman Expump and the Kate Spade Lara had a secret love-child.

Ironically, the best shoes of the show last night were the ones worn with Joe’s Auf’d outfit (which was really atrocious).  Don’t know if the client girls brought their own shoes from home (which I suspect they did, actually… since none of the shoes from last night seem to have shown up on PR before), but that red patent pair of booties (although not on Bluefly that I can tell) is sharp!

My girl Leanne made an outfit that was, yes, perhaps too matronly for her client’s job as an elementary school teacher, but it really did respond to the request that she make something that’ll bestow an appropriate teacher-as-authority-figure aura.  The grey shoes are super cute and an excellent professional wardrobe option.  They don’t seem to be on Bluefly, but either the Christian Dior CD pumps (if you want to splurge) or the Stuart Weitzman Portal (if you want a more affordable option) would be fairly close.

If you’re after the pointy-toe ankle-strap look that Suede chose for his outfit (and frankly, the shoes are just about the only nice looking thing in that picture… except, of course, for the girl herself, who’s a total charmer), you could… well… Bluefly doesn’t really have anything super close to this to offer.  But they have tons of other black pumps to peruse.

If you want a fun pair of maryjanes like Korto’s model (whose jacket I totally covet), the Brighton by Dolce Vita or the  are nice-looking options.  And for only about $65-70, too!

And last, but not least, is Kenley.  *sigh*  Kenley, it is time for you to put up or shut up.  Actually, how bout putting up (as in, making something that DOESN’T come straight out of a 1950s pattern book) AND shutting up, because I can’t even begin to tell you how ridiculous you sound talking about how you’ve experienced hardships in your life by coming to New York with no money.  Honey, that’s not hardship.  It’s just poor planning.

The dress was cute.  I’ll give her that.  And the shoes, likewise.  Kudos if you can find em, because Bluefly doesn’t really offer up anything in the ballpark.  But the low heel and the little bow on the toes are both adorable touches.

Christian’s Couture: Shoes of Project Runway, Special Edition

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.

Shoes of Project Runway 5.9

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.

Shoes of Project Runway 5.8

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.]

Shoes of Project Runway 5.7… We’re Back

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.