Shoe blog

Runway to Retail: Miu Miu’s Color-blocked Oxfords

Oh my, Miuccia. What is this?

We love you to tears – your passion for color, your extravagance, and your obsession with playful details – we really, really. do.

This, however:

Oh, and this:

Runway details  via Style.com

Explanations please, on what is this sadness?

When you showed your spring 2011 ready-to-wear line back around October, we here at Shoeblog weren’t quite certain what to say and how to review the shoes you had produced.  We  wanted to love whatever shoes you made, as we have often done in the past.  However, the unfortunate mix of pastels and metallics on saddle-stitched oxford silhouettes left one of our bloggers refusing to comment with any word other than “Oo-ga-lay” while the other shuddered in horror, murmuring “hot tranny mess” over and over to herself (She has since recovered).

Me? While I wasn’t quite as horrified as those other writers, I also wasn’t exactly ‘over-the-moon’  for any of these styles.  The phrase “I’m not loving these” comes to mind – And I love, love, *Love* sexy, high-heeled, Oxfords – in all their saddle-stitched and Maryjane-ish glory.  Unfortunately, these are ‘almost’ shoes for me: they almost feel balanced, almost feel playful, almost feel original.  Too forced; these are trying, and failing, to convince me of just how playful they are, supposedly, meant to be.

Or if you like it in baseball speak, these felt a bit like a swing, and a miss.

So, enough with the runway.  Now  that we have hit March and spring is technically around the corner (though the snow-gods seem to be thumbing their noses and holding on to winter as long as possible this year) the various retail versions of these are starting to show up online.

Can you sense my trepidation?

Miu Miu three-toned wing-tip boot $995 at Nieman Marcus

Oh dear.

On a deep and visceral level, I cannot make myself like these; not even the tiniest little smidge.

Next?  These ones are all variations on a beige/black/silver color-blocking scheme:

Miu Miu three tone cutout pump $895 at Nieman Marcus

Miu Miu tri-color spectator pumps $895 at Saks

Miu Miu tri-color double-buckle Maryjane pumps $790 at Saks

While mixed neutrals are definitely on-trend this season, and the contrast of silver against ivory and black  is a slightly less jarring color mix than the black/gold/white combo of the open-arch calf boots, that silver is still a little off-putting to me. I do like the detail of the partially-wrapped heel, though; it’s just not enough to convince me to love the rest of the shoe on any of these.

What else to we have?

Miu Miu tri-color double-buckle Maryjane sandals $850 at Saks

Oooh.

Neon pink….hmm.   Pink usually works for Miu Miu; it’s feminine, cute, and playful.  While not for me, these are definitely on-trend with bright color-blocking and a retro-80′s fuschia color-reference that you will be seeing everywhere this year.  I’m liking the little art-deco vibe on the heel as well.

What else?

Miu Miu lace-up double Maryjane sandal $950 at Nieman Marcus

Miu Miu lace-up slingback sandal $690 at Nieman Marcus

Miu Miu Oxford sandal $690 at Barney’s

Finally, we’re getting to my kind of shoes.

In my book, if you want to go for crazy details and textures, then tone it down on the color, and if you want to go mad-creative with color, then keep the silhouette clean. Either the color or the cut should take precedence, lest we reach the unfortunate land of  too-much-going-on.

So, first we get a feminine, yet wholly modern, granny boot. Then, we cut that down into a flirty Oxford slingback in one of this season’s most popular trends – mixed neutrals. Finally, we take that same slingback into a black monochrome where the textural details become very subtle, indeed.

After  seeing the neon-green cut-out granny boots on the runway, I was a quite leary of how these would translate to retail. Overall, while there are some definite misses in the bunch, some of these are worthy of a second peek.