Is it just me, or have many designers forgotten the meaning of the phrase ‘Ready to wear’ during the Spring-Summer 2010 runway shows?  I know the runway is about drama, but more actual wear-ability in RTW lines would be nice to see.

Am I being too judgmental?

Perhaps I am in the minority here, but, I am willing to take the risk of being called  ‘unfashionable’ (or worse) when discussing the footwear that made it’s appearance at this week’s Louis Vuitton RTW runway show.

(Photos c/o style.com & nymag.com)

Called “terrific—modified clogs, moccasins and penny loafers, with kitten heels and feathery tufts” by Cathy Horyn at the New York times – I must, respectfully and vociferously, disagree!

We are, after all, speaking of these shoes:

And, painfully, all of these:

About the only thing I liked on the runway was the playful beaded take on the classic LV monogrammed bags (Which, if you take off that over-sized, fringe tassel, is kind of adorable):

Let me be clear on this.

I love that Marc Jacobs is unpretentious and playful with fashion.  Really, I do.

And, the idea of LV embracing MJ and adding a bit of play into their line is a nice idea – in theory.

But, please……..Let’s hope designers and fashion houses remember that we regular people need to do more than look at our fashion. We need to be able to wear it, too.

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Inside a tall rectangular box are hundreds of pairs of children’s shoes. Upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that each pair has a small card attached to it. A pair of tiny pink flowered sandals bears the card, “Nada, daughter of Leila Zechi, age 6, Gunfire, Latefiya, 7/22/04″

This small, free-standing installation was created by Code Pink: Women for Peace, an anti-war group founded in 2002 during the time leading up to the war in Iraq. They describe themselves as a “grassroots peace and social justice movement” whose mission is “to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education and other life-affirming activities.” Since their inception, they have staged several large-scale peace marches, protests, and demonstrations and have even sent delegations to Iraq.

The Walk in Their Shoes memorial is meant to be a visual representation of the human losses during this war. Each pair of shoes represents a child who has died in the war. More than 20 of these installations have been erected around the country. I took photos of this one on a visit to Washington D.C. a few weeks ago. Here are a few more photos, click on them to make them larger.

In the bottom two photos, you can see the sheer number of shoes inside the memorial. In the right photo, the names of the children are visible, printed on the glass. Regardless of your feelings about the war, this is a striking sight, particularly when you remember that there are 20 more of these. I think that a lot of the information that we hear about US operations abroad are discussed in terms of financial cost rather than human cost. This memorial certainly drives the facts about the sheer number of human losses home and it does so through a medium that is familiar to everyone: that of shoes. It is a reminder of the horrors of war.

A sign posted near the memorial gave statistics on the losses:

“According to a 2006 mortality survey conducted by Johns Hopkins University, an estimated 600,000 Iraqi civilians died from violence since the U.S. invasion in March of 2003. Most recent estimates have put the Iraqi death toll due to violence at between 734,000 to 1.4 million.

Shoes, like this pair representing the 3-year-old daughter of Hussein al Tarish, help people visualize the unspeakable pain and suffering this war has inflicted on the Iraqi people. Every pair of shoes contained in this memorial was labeled and donated by peace activists from all over the U.S. The labels document the age, name, and cause of death of innocent Iraqi civilians who have lost their lives since the tragic U.S. military invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq.

The war has internally displaced two million people and forced over two million to flee Iraq. Most refugees are in Syria and Jordan – which host the largest number of refugees per capita of any country. The vast majority are surviving with little or no assistance from the international community. Few, if any, enjoy their rights as refugees.”

The memorial also makes reference to the now infamous shoe-throwing incident at former President Bush’s farewell meeting in Iraq. As is well known, Muntadar al-Zaidi threw a shoe at President Bush as Bush described American achievements in Iraq. Zaidi is said to have shouted “This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq.” On one side, a small sign reads “Thank you Muntadar al-Zaidi.” A letter signed by several peace-keeping organizations is posted next to it. It declares Zaidi a hero for his actions and describes outrage over his being held and beaten in an Iraqi prison. The letter is dated December 18th, 2008. Since then, al-Zaidi has been sentenced to one year in prision, a significantly shorter term than was originally expected.

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It’s no mystery that metallics mysteriously come into fashion every Spring. Each year, the fashion magazine report, with breathless admiration, how “New!” and “Exciting!” this ground-breaking trend is. Whatever people; we’re on to you. We knew it was coming, but that doesn’t make metallics any less fun. In the spirit of fun Spring trends, here are some of the fancier metallic footwear that is (or will soon be) available.

Marc Jacob Heart Heel, approx $638 (converted from British Pounds).

A more practical version is the Marc Jacobs Heart Ballerina, approx $475 (converted from Euros)

Nicholas Kirkwood Black and Gold Sandals, approx $787 (converted from GBP)

Remember these from Phillip Lim’s Spring collaboration with Christian Louboutin (we wrote about it!)? Well now you can get your own pair. Britney Spears already got hers (in the red, heeled version). She’s got them on in her video for “If You Seek Amy.” The people dressing her are really working hard these days. Check out the Christian Louboutin “Adona” Sandal, $1265 at Saks.

CL also shows us what would happen if a disco ball was reimagined as a shoe. The Very Galaxy Platform Pump is available at Saks for $1295.

Brian Atwood gives us a cool Gold Wedge Sandal ($1870, but only available on request).

Prada has a Christmas wrapping type lace up sandal.

Pierre Hardy gives us geometric sandals in both silver and gold. Available on www.pierrehardy.com.

And let’s not forget the shoes we saw on the runway at NY Fashion week 2009. These suckers won’t be available for a good long while and are oficial part of “Fall,” but designers this season seemed a bit confused about what is constitutes Spring and Fall, so bring them on.

I remember when I saw this armored gold bootie at the Karen Walker shoe, I nearly fell out of my seat. It’s even more gorgeous in person than it is in photos.

And Costello Tagliapietra’s models rocked the runway in these and these:

Johnathan Saunders shone when he showed these:

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Do you know what new trend in shoes fascinates me? It’s the open-toed heel over tights and/or socks look. It was all over fashion week and it is certainly prevalent on the streets of New York.

Let me tell you a story.

Many years ago, when I was young and carefree, I attended a rather uptight, brick-walled college just outside of Boston. The students of said college were rather….tighty-laced. OK, not all of them. No stereotype works for everybody, but some were. At any rate, I’ve always had my own ideas about fashion and adapted them to suit me. I rarely take things like “weather” and “comfort” into account, but when you go from California to Boston and winter hits you hard, you kinda have to adjust just a little. That first winter at school, I decided that the logical way to deal with winter would be to pair my open-toed shoes with tights and thereby avoid having to spend either of the two pennies I had to rub together on new dressy shoes (broke college students of the world….HOLLLLLAH!). I could also combat the frosbite that was threatening my toes this way. Good compromise, yes? The resounding answer, in the late 90s, was a resounding NO. I eventually caved to peer pressure and horded my work-study money for new shoes, but I was not a happy camper.

The modern equivalent shoe from my sad little story is a hell of a lot better than my attempt at schoolgirl pumps with tights. This look works much better with the modern bootie or multi-strapped sandal and the wide variety of fully-opaque tights that are now available. (In my day, the opaque tights were wore by 6-year-old ballerinas. I had to make do with dark pantyhose. Eek).

Here is one of my favorite looks from fashion week.

I totally guerrilla shot this photo. I am pretty sure she is an editor, what with the whole fashion-forward thing. See the thing socks OVER the skinny jeans INSIDE the open-toed booties. Frankly, I think this whole outfit is cute, but it’s the footwear that makes it. To be honest with you guys, when I first saw open-toed boots and booties, I thought they were the worlds dumbest invention. Honestly, if it’s cold enough to wear boots, it is probably too cold to expose your little piggies to the elements, but this compromise make anything possible.

Another fav was a look I already mentioned to you guys in my earlier post about Band of Outsiders and their collaboration with Loubotin. But to refresh the memory, here is another photo.

The lace-ups look great with the tights. The deliberate contrasting toe works really well with the look here.

I am including this last example just because the shoes are very cool. I know we saw them on the runways last year, but I can’t remember where. At any rate, I think the burnt yellow and purple here works well together. It’s a less-trendy look but still good. Killer heels too.

I guerilla shot another girl in an airport wearing the wide strappy white sandals over black tights. The photo was TERRIBLE, but the look was AWESEOME, so you will have to use your imaginations.

Picture THESE shoes (in white) crossed with black tights and a minidress. The look was awesome!

If you like these shoes, by the by, they are available on Net-a-Porter for $870, courtesy of Bottega Veneta.

I feel that this trend is evolving. I think it actually started out last year on the Spring 2008 runways. I was looking for good examples online and came across this melange from PeoplesChronicle.com.

Despite having admitted that I have done it myself back in the day, I am still not a big fan of the pantyhose with open-toed shoe look. In life, it may save you from frostbite, but on a runway, it’s just lazy. For shame Calvin Klein, Burberry Prorsum, Donna Karan, and Valentino! (photos from those runways.)

What do you think? Are socks with sandals OK in your book?

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I am seriously falling in love with the whole L.A.M.B. shoe line. Admittedly, some of the styles tend more toward trend-following rather than trend-setting, but there is always a decidedly fun and sassy spin added to the styles to keep them from feeling too derivative.

So, I popped over to Shopbop today, and noticed that they continue to put large numbers of items on sale; here’s to holiday shopping joy.

In the L.A.M.B. corner, here is what I found:

Rosebury Hidden Platform Button Bootie $520 $364.00. I do love that muted color-blocking take on the classic granny boot.

Fen Square Toe Pump $395 $276.59. This is simply one stylish, cute, and sexy pump.

Essex Plaid Ankle Bootie. $475 $332.50. Let’s see: Plaid, High-heel, Platform, Ankle Boot. How much more on trend can you get for this season?

If you prefer less ankle and more boot, how about the Rose Plaid Lace-up Bootie $515 $360.50 instead?

If you’d rather forego the plaid and stick with a subtle grab for the Zippers trend, you can give the Mika Hidden Platform Two-Zip Bootie a shot ($390 $273).

Now we come to a boot that makes me swoon, even though it screams of Sgt. Pepper’s and Rhythm Nation all rolled together. While I’m afraid I’d be playing right into some bizarre majorette fantasy, I can’t stop drooling over these Belgrave Multi-Strap boots $725 $507.50. . . . . . So incredibly hot.

If you aren’t loving the super-strappy buckle boots (well, I obviously don’t identify); The Vincent Hidden Platform boot is still pretty much smokin’ hot while holding to a mere hint of the buckle-love ($625 $437.50).

Next, we are back to a style that almost always owns my heart: mary-janes. Do you adore this Finsbury Criss-cross Maryjane pump ($400 $280) as much as I do? I Swoon.

Back to one final trend: Fringe. Two Booties and a Sandal. What I do like about these is that they are not ‘Frontier Fringe’ styles and will in no way be mistaken for casual Renaissance Faire garb.

First, the Camden Scallop Open-toe Bootie $430 $301. I can’t help it, I think it’s growing on me.

Next, the suede version (which is a bit less scallop-intensive); the Norland Scalloped High Heel Bootie $425 $297.50.

The final fringe contestant is the Yoyo Chainmail T-Strap sandal $390 $117 final sale (Size 10 only). The ombre effect of the multicolor, layered chain is a rather nice effect.

And, finally, a throwback to summer’s gladiator sandal frenzy (which was, quite possibly, the most ubiquitous shoe of the year): the Ely Shield Sandal $345 $241.50. This certainly is a more feminine and flattering gladiator than many that I encountered this year; the multicolor straps also look like they would allow more coordination within one’s wardrobe than a straight brown sandal would.

As always, Happy Shopping. And remember, we all love too Ooh and Aah folk’s new additions to their shoe collections over in our Forums (No need to be shy).

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