I love St Patrick’s Day because nobody wears green, except on March 17, and it is such a wonderful color.  Everyone assumes I have an Irish ancestor, because of the red hair thing, but the red hair comes from a Scottsman.  Anyways, I have been planning my Irish meal for a week, and have been planning my green outfit for a couple of days.  It’s true, I have no life.  I have no green shoes, either. 

I would LOVE the Gaultier shoes from his Fall Couture line, but that isn’t going to happen.

So I decided to see what endless had for a substitute.

Miss Mooz Full House Sandals $95 at endless.com 

Moda Spana Pamper $75 

Moda also had a green platform pump that was made of the same green leather.  They are really cute.

Harajuku Lovers Avallon $100 

Isn’t the little heart on the heel adorable?

John Fluevog Pearl Hart $208

Fluevog always offers a funky taste to his high quality shoes.  I love them.

For those who just can’t bring themselves to wear a REALLY green shoe, here is an olive green boot that is nice. 

Eric Michael Soho $130

The following is what I ordered.  I hope they fit properly because I really need a green shoe for next year.

Miz Mooz Waverly $95 at endless 

So if you are going out, have a pint of green beer.  I am staying home and will be serving a Guinness Beef Stew and Irish Soda Bread. (We had corned and cabbage last year.)   Dinner is at 6:30, so come by.

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With the three major fall 2010 fashion events, New York, Milan and Paris,  concluding, there were a few shoe trends that recurred in several collections.  This is what we saw.  Mad Men curves are in.  Fur is in. Many of the big name fashion houses went with classic investment pieces that were timeless looking.  Several of the lesser known houses had some beautiful and interesting  pieces.  Let’s look at some shoes – that’s why we are all here.

Pointy toe shoes are returning, so dust off your Guess “Carrie” shoes because we will be seeing more pointy toes in the future.

Prada

Valentino.  There was a flat and a kitten heel also presented in this collection.

Louis Vuitton

While stilettoes were seen, typically  if the heel was high - especially boots -then it was a chunky heel.  I love the stability chunky heels offer.  Can you imagine tottering around in the above Vuitton shoes if  the heel was pencil thin?

Alexander Wang

Fendi

Erdem – love the print on these boots.

Not many wedges were seen, so I am guessing we will be seeing those phased out over the next couple of years.

Kenzo

Bottega Veneta featured this wedge on all the shoes.

Dries Van Noten.  I LOVE this half wedge.

With the retro girly-fication of the styles  no tough girl platforms were necessary.

Marc Jacobs

Dolce Gabbana

Carolina Herrera

Lanvin (Arguably the best line of the season.)

But lots of platforms were presented.

Christian Louboutin for Phillip Lim

Michael Kors

Burberry Prorsum

Brian Atwood for Victoria Beckham.

There must have been 10 different colors of this shoe because Mrs. Beckham likes to match her shoes to her dress.  These shoes are nice but nothing to hyper-ventilate over.  Her dresses were nice, wearable, and pretty.

Over the knee boots will be around for a while.  We saw over the knee boots in several presentations.  Since this is the fall season, we should not be surprised.

Burberry Prorsum presented some of the season’s favorite boots.

Roberto Cavalli

Statement shoes were everywhere.

If you are a chiropractor, you NEED these shoes.

Dsquared

Nicholas Kirkwood for Rodarte

Louise Goldin

Chanel.  Notice the ice heel.

Chanel’s show, in my opinion was one of the goofiest ideas I think I have ever seen.  Uncle Karl shipped a glacier from Sweden to Paris, had it sculpted it for the runway, put it on a swimming pool type platform,  then the models walked through about an inch of melting glacier water.  He presented some beautiful suits, IF you could see past the heinous fake fur that accompanied these outfits.  Global warming, glaciers melting, save the furry animals was the message of this show.  Here’s the thing. 1) Lagerfield  used more fur in Fendi than virtually any other collection, so why use cheap looking fake fur with Chanel.  2) The carbon footprint of this show was massive and the power it took to present this show could have powered a small country.  (Here is where I usually go off on my global-warming-leadership-hypocrasy tirade, but I won’t because you came here to see shoes.)

OK,  I rarely look at purses, but I WANT THIS PURSE.

Forgive me for this long post, but there were so many beautiful shoes, and even more beautiful outfits.  I wanted to show them all to you but that isn’t possible.

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A recent email request to Shoeblog had me searching my memory this weekend:

I’ve searched high and low for the attached shoes and I’ve come up empty handed.  I don’t know what else to try…so I’m trying you all!  I joined your forum and love your blog…it’s given me several ideas to date.

Do you happen to know what makes these shoes and where I might find them?

Any help or guidance, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,

Jenn

Luckily for Jenn, this shoe was tickling my memory.   It is definitely similar to styles that we saw being produced by many designers last spring; blending cage and gladiator sandal styles with a zip-front and high heel.  After a little bit more investigation to jog my memory, these are eerily similar to the (now out of stock)  Christian Louboutin ‘Zipette’ that was available for sale last spring and the prior fall (2008-2009).  That double platform has been favored by Christian Louboutin for several seasons now.

Unfortunately, these are past-season shoes which will make purchasing an original Louboutin style a challenge and test of personal patience (which can pay off, if time is not an issue for you).

On a positive note, there are several designers producing similar, zip-front, caged gladiator sandals for the upcoming spring 2010 season.

The original Louboutin Zipette has long since sold out of luxury retailers such as Saks and Neiman Marcus. So, now it’s up to Jenn. Does she wants to pursue a Louboutin aftermarket shoe-quest? Or would she prefer a to look at similar, but not identical, offerings that are currently available from several other brands?

I have rounded up several alternatives if she is looking for a style to wear this spring, since a Louboutin quest can take months or years.

Velvet Angels ‘Mondrian’ platform sandal $189.66 $294.95 at Endless.com

Jessica Simpson ‘Stelana’ $75 $87.95 at Zappos.com & Endless.com

Steve Madden ‘Hitower’ $99.95 at Zappos.com, Stevemadden.com & Endless.com

Promiscuous ‘Social’ $76.23 $100 at Zappos.com

BCBG Max Azria ‘Aceline’ $ 140.0 $250 at Endless.com & $147 at Zappos.com

Promiscuous ‘Enraptured’ $106.60 $139 at Zappos.com

We hope that his helps Jenn out in her quest for her perfect high-heeled cage gladiator.

• One word of caution for Jenn if she decides to go the auction/aftermarket route:  There are numerous Louboutin counterfeiters out there these days.  If you find something in your size claiming to be the Louboutin Zipette at auction  online, please be sure to have them authenticated, so that you can be confident in your purchase.

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Just in case your memory needed a little push…here’s a quick reminder of the Christian Siriano claw-heeled shoes from his Spring 2010 Runway Collection:

And now, a big thanks to Racked NY, who noticed that the Ready-to-Wear versions of these ‘magically popped up’ online yesterday. If you are interested a review, Racked NY also hunted them down in-store and took them for a  trial run to test for comfort and walk-ability.

So, if you loved the Christian Siriano spring 2010 runway looks, now is your chance to own a pair.

At $80 each, they are a bit pricier than your average Payless offerings. But then again, I fondly remember being a much younger me and grabbing a pair of cute black pumps at Payless for $6.99 after I had finally worn my last pair into the ground.  The most expensive items in the store in those days topped out at $21.99.  So, I may be a little bit skewed in my price comparisons.

In this case, it’s probably better to go with my husband who has paid enough attention to price increases  over the last decade to be more realistic about these things. He understands and occasionally notes, ‘That’s not a bad price these days’ on anything under $150.

Anyway, you might want to hurry if any of these styles have you crushing hard. You never know whether they will sell out;  leaving you desperately trolling the online auction scene for a pair in your size – at painful and ridiculous markups,  to boot.

Christian Siriano for Payless ‘Cut it Out Ankle Cuff Pump’ $79.99.

Christian Siriano for Payless ‘To The Point’ printed platform pump $79.99.

Christian Siriano for Payless ‘All Done Up’ Maryjane pump $79.99.

Oh, and if you like a retro-accessories shoe-purse match, there’s always this (previously available) Siriano for Payless handbag for your consideration. (It also matches the previously available & less expensive  ‘coast printed satin pumps’ which have a more traditional heel style if ‘the claw’ is not for you.)

Siriano for Payless Large Shopper handbag $39.99.

I would have liked to have seen the paper-bag, bloused, booties show up at retail, but at $79.99 I can see why that may not have been possible to achieve.

It remains to be seen if the Payless budget-shopper demographic will accept higher-than-normal (at least for this retailer) prices for such designer exclusives. I wonder if even these under $100 offerings may be a big gamble for Payless  and their traditional family-on-a-budget audience.

Which brings me to more questions:

Are you happy with the often pared-down  translation of shoes from fashion week to Ready-to-wear? Or do you feel that too much is lost in bringing original runway styles to a widely affordable price point?

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PPR showed Alexander McQueen’s last collection in a private showing with controlled the photography.   They showed 16 outfits,  although I am sure there was more to the collection.  The theme was Hells Angels + Prolific Demons, which shows up in the patterns of his fabrics, one dress even has wings on the back.   He used beautiful fabrics and fairly simple design work, a formula that will never disapoint.  Have a look at what was shown.

Here are the gowns.  This is the first shown.  Love the leaves/feathers on the bodice.

This line is lovely.  I always have to see the McQueen collections without the runway theatrics because I am to busy looking at things like armadillo shoes, horn hair looking things, or skull caps with feathers on them.  When I see his dresses on the red carpet,  I see just how nice the dresses are.

There has been some discussion about whether PPR will continue the McQueen Design House, or not.  It is my opinion that they will have his clothes available, but will probably not invest in another designer to do what Lee did.  The line had been in the black for only two years.  If someone is good enough to carry the Alexander McQueen style and vision, that someone is good enough to have their own name attached to the clothing.

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