Yves Saint Laurent’s Palais

This shoe has been around for quite a while.  There are several colors and versions;  peep toe,  sling back, booties, suede, 80 mm  and 105 mm high, and a zillion colors.  I had one version of this shoe in my Saks Shopping Cart, waited too long and now it is gone.

After Kate Winslet wore the black suede version with a Stella McCartney dress, I wanted you to see them again.  I love the curve in the platform, the heel has a pretty, pretty curve and is a little thicker than a lot of designer shoes. I tend towards a thicker heel for stability, because, quite frankly,  falling down is a little embarrassing.

This silver shoe is new for this season available for $750 at Nordstrom’s.   Wonderful shoe for Holiday time.  Can’t you just see yourself wearing something this pretty?

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Get a Ruthie Davis Vibe with Sam Edelman’s ‘Scarlett’

The ‘Scarlett’  spiked sandals being offered by Sam Edelman immediately remind me of Ruthie Davis’ Spikette styles (and in a looser fashion, some of Louboutin’s & Rodarte’s past offerings). Let’s take a peek.

Sam Edelman ‘Scarlett’ peep toe sandal:

Sam Edelman ‘Scarlett’. Available via Nordstrom in blue, black, & color-blocked snakeskin at $199.95,

Also available in pewter grey at $200 via Piperlime.

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Casadei’s Sparkling Champagne Dream Shoes

I could wax on for days about these shoes. Adjectives such as fabulous, elegant, breathtaking, and more come trippingly off my tongue when confronted with this much concentrated shoe perfection. Shoes like these make me want to get married all over again just for the opportunity to wear them at least once.

Well, that’s quite enough of a lapse into hyperbole for the time being. I could go on all day; instead let me distill my mental stew of adjectives into the following statement:

Oh, look! Pretty!

Casadei Crystal Heel Platform Slingbacks $1870 via Neiman Marcus

SS12 Fashion Week Footwear: OMG YSL

Shoe lovers, we’ve been together long enough that I feel I can confide my deepest-felt emotions to you, and it’s with that security and knowledge that I make this confession.

I am in love.

I am in love with a platform.

I am in love with a beautifully fastened slingback.

I am in love with an etched instep shield.

I am in love with texture combinations that are simultaneously creative and restrained.

I am in love with the continuation of the SS12 trend for shiny shiny metallic gold.

I am in love with footwear that requires a polishing cloth.

I am in love with heels that are actually a wearable height.

I am in love with a neutral color palette highlighted by jewel tones in suede.

I am in love with reflective surfaces in unexpected places.

I am in love with shoes that can somehow be business-like and sexy as all get out.

I am in love with the kind of glitz that belongs on Audrey Hepburn’s stylish feet.

I am in love with dainty, on-trend ankle straps.

I am in love with toes that are just the right rounded square shape.

I am in love with shoes that are classic enough to last season after season.

I am in love with a sprinkling of sparkly crystals.

I am in love with the way the light shines off all those matte and semi-lustrous surfaces.

I am in love with shoes that seem to be from a whole bunch of 20th century decades all at once.

I am in love with elegant hardware details.

I am in love with a play of hard and soft.

Yes, Shoeblog fans, it’s true.  I am in love with Stefano Pilati’s Spring/Summer 2012 shoe collection for Yves Saint Laurent.

SS12 Fashion Week Footwear: Vive la France!

I always love that Paris Fashion Week comes last, because its style is my overall favorite.  I’m always likely to covet more shoes from the Paris runways than New York, London, or Milan.  This year is no exception.  I’m loving what we’ve seen from Gay Paree.

Balmain showed us glamorously embellished boots with heels and patent leathers and filigree swirls that make me swoon.

Viktor & Rolf gave us typically playful and over-the-top mules and sandals that made good use of the SS12 transparency trend.

Sonia Rykiel offered up charmingly wearable simple silhouettes with fun lacing details (and by the way, I’m proud of how closely those last flat ones match the “Pocahontas” Louboutins I scored some years back).

On that note, Jean-Paul Gaultier showed a similar silhouette with this sporty white number.

I give that one a big and central visual shout-out, because much as I like to ogle the awesome heels shown on the runways, I do so love seeing shoes that actually look like I could wear them in style and comfort on a daily basis.

However, I refuse to ignore the gorgeousness (and simultaneous unwearable-unless-one-is-Lady-Gaga-or-Victoria-Beckham-ness) of the rest of the JPG footwear.  Behold the pretty!

But wait! Despite the indisputable beauty (go on, I dare you to dispute the beauty of those JPG booties!) seen above, I have saved my favorite Parisian shoes for last.  And that collection comes from Balenciaga.

Would that I were in a cleverer frame of mind,  I would write odes to these shoes and their squared off toes and their little heel nubbins and their simple primary color palette and their architectural style.  If you love these shoes like I do and are feeling more eloquent than me, please oh please OH PLEASE, feel free to share your own odes in the comments to this post.  I’m so tempted to promise away my first born for those red ones on the left.