Did all the excitement of the Met Costume Institute Gala get you psyched up for superheroic feats of derring-do?

Looking forward to all the superhero movies coming out this summer? (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Dark Knight).

Then maybe you should shell out the $675 and snap up a pair of these Marc Jacobs gold metallic booties to dash around town rescuing those in need of help.

Or, for less money ($120) and a more literal interpretation of the superhero, try these Ubiq Batman sneakers. They’ll probably be easier to run in than the Marc Jacobs, too.

Or, if running isn’t really part of your plan (if, say, you’d rather fly or teleport wherever you need to go), you could do it in these YSL star-studded Stella sandals.

Well, you could do it in the black or gold version.

For $595.

Maybe we should all just wish for the superpower of the never-empyting wallet.

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Being a cinephile as well as a shoe lover, I often find myself in a position to be checking out the footwear in movies.

This goes for pretty much any kind of film. Historical drama? Yep. Comic book adaptation? Hell yes.

I’m speaking, of course, of Iron Man, which I saw last night. Even if you don’t like comic books, this one’s a good time in the movie theater. It’s action-adventure and funny and well-directed and -acted, too.

And Gwyneth Paltrow (she of the Givenchy gladiator heels and the Zanotti gladiator sandals) rocks several beautiful pairs of Louboutins. Looks like her recent determination to wear only the highest of heels to her public appearances is leftover from filming.

The first noteworthy pair of Pepper Potts’s pumps (try saying that five times fast) is your basic round-toe black version.

This one can be yours for a mere $550, though I can’t guarantee it’ll give you Pepper’s managerial mastery over the complicated life of your boss/love interest/engineering genius/friendly neighborhood superhero.

But it’s the second pair (worn through the final sequence) that I couldn’t take my eyes off of.

Need to see those close up? I thought so.

A still photo doesn’t convey just exactly how much these shoes look like fetish footwear. The woman not only wears them over metal grates (though, of course, her stiletto heel doesn’t sink into the holes like a mere mortal’s would), but actually running. For her life. It’s unreal. And while my feminist side is up in anger over the fact that Pepper has to trust her life to running in these shoes that must be nearly 6″ high while Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) gets to fly supersonically around the world in a high-tech full-body-armor suit of near invincibility, I also sort of wanted to lick these, they were so beautiful and elegant.

Ah well, we all get to hold conflicting ideologies in our minds when we want them, no? Well, this will just have to be one of mine.

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It’s time again for Ask the Shoebloggers, and this time it’s not shoes for the bride, but for her bridesmaids.

Here are the initial parameters for this, our newest mission (which, of course, we chose to accept):

My best friend is getting married in September and we’re trying to find the perfect bridesmaid shoes—please help! Our dresses will be black, and she’s hoping to find a black shoe with some red and/or yellow on it (the colors of the wedding and bouquets). Our dresses are knee-length, and very 50s style with a wider skirt and fitted top—not too fancy.  Our location is in the U.S., we’d love to keep the price below $75, but could go up to $100 if need be. A mid- to high heel would be great!

With that, our very own Shoesense went on the hunt and came up with a first round of suggestions. First up was the gorgeous, but too pricey (at $270, and that’s on sale at Piperlime down from a full price of over $400!) Sophie by Cynthia Vincent.

Piperlime also has the Nine West Drazly 2 pump in black and red for $80.

From Nordstrom comes the pretty red/black version of the Boutique Nordstrom Melina pump (also $80).

And finally, the all-black Bruno Premi Deja-Vu slingback ($85).

That was our first round of suggestions. Then our bridesmaid-to-be responded with this:

Thank you so much for your help! We took a look at what you suggested and our bride thinks she would prefer to do a solid yellow shoe, and then put a sash on our dresses or a headband in our hair or something. So now we have changed the focus to yellow. I liked the style of the Nine West one you sent, and we really like a few at J. Crew, but they are a bit out of our price range.

The J. Crew styles she particularly liked are the Gwendolyn satin t-straps ($225)

and the Cleo patent leather t-straps ($195) that are so juicily lemon colored I want to make them into footwear lemonade.

And so now I’ve taken up the call for a yellow shoe, the official Shoeblog favorite color of spring, and very hot right now.

The rsvp Daina is a pretty lemony yellow patent leather sandal ($70) with a swooping heel detail I pretty much love.

The Nine West Argent in yellow satin is a pretty good substitute for the J. Crew Gwendolyn’s, but it’s only $64 at Endless instead of over $200. This one also comes in a yellow leather, but the color doesn’t pop nearly so much as it does in satin.

In other Nine West yellow options (of which there are several), there’s the Doverly ($80), which isn’t solid yellow, but might work anyway.

And if you want to go the super-dainty feminine route, there’s the lovely, refined Solelyn ($64).

The Jessica Simpson Chasie slingback ($100) has that same dark heel/yellow combination as the J. Crew Cleo, though with a heel of 4.75″ I can’t imagine dancing the night away in these at the reception.

There’s a new batch of suggestions for our wedding planners. Let’s see if any of them work out.

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Remember Camileon Heels? The company that makes sleek heels that convert from 3.25″ high heels into manageable 1.5 inchers?

Brilliant idea, right? Wearing heels to work is a much easier proposition if you don’t have to worry about bringing a purse big enough to carry them while you wear a comfy pair for the commuting. And sure, you could leave the heels at your office, but then you’re down a pair of shoes at home, and that’s a dicey proposition. What if you’re heading out for a night on the town, and you want that pair of heels to pair with your mini or your jeans? See where I’m going with this?

Right… walk to work in your heels, then play Rubik’s cube with the heel until the higher version is clicked into place.

And the reason I’m posting about these again is that they’ve got a few new styles that I think are super cute. It’s nice to see they’ve expanded from the few purely basic styles they began with, because yes, it makes more sense to have a simple black pump if you can only have one style. But come on! We all like some flare, don’t we?

Well, Camileon now offers some flare (without getting too out there) with options like the Marta, with its stylish cap-toe and stitching.

In a similar vein, but with a pointier, slicked-down sling-back version, is the Valeria.

But my very favorite (and just in time for warm weather, too) has got to be the Mariella, which has just a hint of the bondage shoe to it with its buckles and patent leather accents, but keeps it all chic and simple at the same time.

You can check out the Camileon Heels site to shop online or to find a retailer near you (sorry to most of our international readers, so far the shops are only in the US, unless you happen to be in Winnipeg, Canada). Or, some styles are available at Zappos.

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Yes, there’s a formula devoted to calculating the amount of inches you can tolerate in your heel and it’s been devised by Professor Paul Stevenson at the University of Surrey, UK. So, how high can you go?

The maximum heel height formula is based on shoe size and an elusive Q factor, which takes into account sociological factors such as how shoe stylishness increases a woman’s ability to tolerate pain.
h=Q x (12 + 3s/8)
h is the maximum height of the heel (in cm).
Q is a sociological factor and has a value between 0 and 1.
s is shoe size (UK ladies sizes).

There’s more to it, of course, and if you want to get technical and learn more details, read the whole thing here. An interesting factoid, though, from the same article: did you know that “a 100 pound woman in stilettos will exert pressure under her foot that is 20 times that of a 6,000 pound elephant“? Think about it next time you see that you left holes in the hot asphalt with you shoes and you get panic-stricken about your weight: those heels may look dainty, but they’re, well, literally, lethal.

(As an aside: I don’t think even Dr. Stevenson can explain how SJP aka Carrie Bradshaw can run in 5-inch stilettos, plus a bulky wedding dress, on the streets of Manhattan. That “Q” must be awfully high.)

I got the links and info via a MUST-READ article (no, really: compulsory reading for all you high or low-heel wearers alike) at Cocktail Party Physics, written by bona fide physicist and author Jennifer Ouellette. All the good, the bad, and the ugly about heels-or-no-heels* and an explanation of the science of heels, neatly packaged and humorously delivered. And I’m not talking only figuratively about the “good” part: apparently high heels can help you tone your abdomen and pelvic floor. Who knew? Ok now, off you go to read Jennifer Ouellette’s wonderful post. You’ll be a better shoe-lover for it!

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* Shouldn’t that be a reality show? “Heel or No Heel,” hosted by Sarah Jessica Parker. And we’re bidding on shoe-boxes containing shoes ranging from your cheapest knock-off Crocs to the most extravagant Loubous or Balenciagas. Just a thought!

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