Earth Shoes Beaded Sandals

There’s a lot to love about these new Earth Sandals.

In the past, I had eschewed Earth Sandals. Those hippie girls I went to school with wore them, but I could never bring myself, even when I was a campus protesting activist gal. UGLY UGLY UGLY I kept hearing in my mind.

Not so with the Earth Enchanting, $119 at EarthFootwear.com. Excellent arch support, cushioning and cute decoration are the mood here. I tried them on, and they look and feel much better in person! So on my quest for comfy sandals this summer, I present you with Exhibit B (Exhibit A were the Bass Chloes). It’s environmental, comy and stylish, and definitely worth a look.

Happy Birthday Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood will have 69 candles on her birthday cake today.  Do you love the attitude?

  She was born to working class parents in Tintwistle,  at 17 she attended an art and fashion school for a semester but left because,  ”I didn’t know how a working-class girl like me could possibly make a living in the art world.”  She then went on to be a primary school teacher.  While she was teaching, she made jewelry and sold it on Portobello Road.

She met and married Macolm McLauren, they opened a botique on Kings Road called Let It Rock, where she sold her Punk fashion designs.   About this time McLauren started managing the Sex Pistols, who wore Vivienne’s designs.

Her wedding dress was the centerpiece of the in Sex and the City movie wedding,  however Vivienne criticised the clothing as frumpy and boring.  I think she is a part of the Sex and City 2 style team.

Here are some Vivienne Westwood shoes for you today. 

Baroque $625 at Styledrops

Anglomania $91 at Zappos

These aren’t for everyone, because they are designed for men.  I have purchased unusual men’s shoes and the following  are a shoes I would seriously consider.  I think the comparable men’s size is 2 numbers less than a womans.

MAN Seditionary  boot $562 at Zappos

and Seditionary shoes $477 at Zappos

To celebrate I will wear safety pins in my clothing and play punk music on my I-pod.

Isaac Mizrahi’s Salmon Leather Shoes and Dress

I just went to the Cooper-Hewitt’s current exhibit, “Design for a Living World.” Not only was it incredible and inspiring, but I learned quite a few new things.

From the website: “Ten leading designers have been commissioned to develop new uses for sustainably grown and harvested materials in order to tell a unique story about the life-cycle of materials and the power of conservation and design.”

Would you ever guess the materials for your shoes could come from a place like this?

And from a process like this?

As far as I know, there was one and only one pair of shoes included in the exhibit. These lucky shoes were the innovative, talented (and highly funny, I think) Isaac Mizrahi sustainable Alaskan white salmon skin shoes show below. Sorry for the slightly blurry photo but I had to work with what I could get and enlarge from press shots since photo was not allowed.

Salmon skin, ladies!! SALMON. SKIN. I assume they de-smellified them!

Consumers don’t need the skins and so they just go to waste. Here’s a way for those beautiful skins to go to use. Mizrahi sent the skins to Paris to be attached to flat, round paillettes and then attached them to make this lovely dress.

Mizrahi said in the accompanying exhibit video that he found that because the salmon skin was already pretty and iridescent, his work was cut out for him.

Mizrahi also said that he didn’t believe sustainable fashion design could work by sacrificing any level of glamour. Point taken, point agreed with.

Also check out Ted Muehling’s lovely jewelry from Micronesia.

This is the debut venue of the exhibit, which closes in January of 2010 to travel to other cities. Do go to see it if you love the place where design and sustainability meet!

Fashion-conscious, affordable finds at Famous Footwear

Let me start out by saying that I like summer as much as anyone. Warm weather and sunshine is nice, but after weeks of high-90′s temperatures, I am looking forward to more moderate fall temperatures.  Plus, my recent time in Las Vegas visiting with family may have left me feeling a bit ‘summered out’ – at least for a while. Whatever the reason, I was thrilled to discover during this weekend’s window-shopping that shoe and department stores are moving past caged booties, gladiator sandals, and *ick* flip-flops and into fall-friendly closed-toe Maryjanes, ankle boots, and knee-boots.

Yay! Fall has some of the most delicious footwear – particularly if you are a boot-lover like me.

One thing I noticed after visiting several area stores is that grey boots, in particular, are calling to me this season.  Perhaps it’s a carry-over from walking through the Bellagio shops where I covetously petted these uber-soft, grey, majorette boots by Fendi that are, sadly, not even remotely in this year’s budget (But *Gasp*  – Love ‘em!):

(Fendi boots are $995 at Net-a-porter)

These Fendi lovelies felt soooo dreamy. There really is whole other level of softness that you don’t find in cheaper leathers. (Don’t even get me started about walking through Bottega Veneta and Hermes …. *Sigh*)

So, since I am obviously obsessing over grey boots, I want to show you the first ones that caught my eye while I was wandering the aisles at Famous Footwear yesterday.

But first….Why famous footwear?

Well, for anyone on a budget, the whole buy-one get one 1/2 off is always tempting:

But, even better, there’s also a limited-time coupon, effective until September 12th, that is good for an additional 20% off your total purchase. You can print a copy of this coupon from their website or use discount code 32BTSD9 if you are buying at their website online:

How cool is that?

Anyway, back to ogling cute little grey ankle boots…

The first ones that caught my eye were these Lifestride boots. They have a bit of the same saucy majorette attitude I see in the Fendi boots while not being too costume-y. I really like the contrasting black piping against the grey suede. Hubby, however, is less won over by these. Also, these were true to size but a bit snug at the heel; they would probably fit better on gals with slightly narrower heels.

Lifestride ‘Smith’ $59.99 $69.99 before sales discounts.(Also available in an all-black combo)

By the way – These looked great peeking out from under my jeans!

Also catching my eye were several pairs of boots by the Fergalicious brand. One thing is certain, Fergie’s brand has a good feel for producing fashionable styles that don’t break the bank.

I am in love with this next little bootie; all it needs to be a perfect fit is a little arch insert to accommodate my high-ish arches. It has a black faux leather upper with contrasting grey piping and and open toe. I am loving the look of these. They are a bit reminiscent of Gucci a few seasons back, but the added lacing on these gives them a retro bowling-shoe vibe that appeals to my love of both swing and rockabilly.  These would look fabulous with a 50′s-inspired sundress or 40′s-style pencil skirt.

Fergalicious ‘Margo’ $49.99 $59.99.

But, I really, really, love these little grey ankle booties.  Just look at that zipper and that cute little wearable heel. Plus, when I tried them on, they were so soft, it was like wearing little hugs for my feet. These are definitely tempting me to make a return trip to the store before that extra 20% coupon runs out.

Fergilicious ‘Tasha’ $59.99 $69.99.

And look, they also come in black….so tempting! Just because I am in love with grey doesn’t mean I can’t love other colors too….

And, just to satisfy my love of earth-tones, is this knee-high, Fergalicious boot; warm browns are a great fall wardrobe staple. Just check out these strap-happy boots. (Also appropriate for any of you steampunks out there – Maybe I’ll see ya at Steam-con this fall.)

Fergalicious ‘Skeeter’ in brown or black; $69.99 $89.99.

Now, I just have to double-check to see if I can fit a couple of these into this month’s budget. After all, I’ve been good. I haven’t purchased a new pair of shoes since May (quite an acheivement for a lady who’s had periods where she averaged four new pairs of shoes per month)…..and that includes my recent trip to Las Vegas.

What do ya think?

Stella McCartney Sandals for only 55 Bucks

Yoox, an online luxury discounter, is having an end of summer sale to clear out their spring / summer merchandise.

I found these earthy Stella McCartney camouflage sandals to be an awesome price – only $55 plus everything ships free!  Surprisingly, they even have a few sizes left.  And since the shoes are by Stella McCartney, you can feel guilt free with your purchase because it is guaranteed to be both eco and animal friendly.