So many shoes, so little time. Reflecting on the various fashion weeks, it seems to me that this season, with ever advancing economic issues affecting the fashion industry, clothing has been more wearable than it used to be (for the most part. We all know there have been some pretty significant exceptions. Trias, cough cough.. This is all well and good, but I think several designers tried to make up for it through the footwear they presented with their collections. Furthermore, the editrixes and general fashion crowd seemed determined to look better than ever while reviewing the collections. Is was as if they were trying to say: “Recession? What recession? So what if now I suddenly have to lower myself to taking taxis instead of having a waiting town car. So what if I am no longer permitted to purchased clothing and call it a “work expense.” So what if coffee stirrers have been cut from CondeNast’s budget? I am still a FASHION EDITOR. KOWTOW to me and my fabulous footwear. You WILL bow down!”

And here’s some more proof. I know I promised you the Cramazing footwear selection from the Worldwide Fashion extravaganza, and you’ll get it. But, you’l just have to hold on to the end of the post so we can wrap things up with a bang. To start though, here are a few odds and ends.

Know what I think will be in for Spring? Mandals. And Man Rompers (Manpers? Rompans? Mansuits?)

Yeah baby, check out those toes.

You know whose always in? Leanne Marshall. Can’t see her shoes (or her face), but one look at that skirt and you KNOW it’s her. And it was; I was just a bit far away.

You know who else was hot at NY Fashion Week? Are you guys ready for this? PAYLESS! We’ve featured Christian Siriano’s Payless collection on this blog several times, but we have yet to highlight the designer brand collaboration going on there that swept fashion week. Alice + Olivia designed a fabulous range of shoes for Payless for fall that popped up all over the place. They also have a new one a-comin’ for Spring. You guys will be getting a look at both collections very shortly!

Here are some shots of the shoes at Fashion week.

Unfortunately, the ones that were the most popular BY FAR are no longer available online, but I saw them on at least five people (and managed to snap two). They are Alice + Olivia’s New York Woman Boot.

Here’s a close-up look:

I suspect that they were modeled on something like these:

or these:

But these retailed for only $49.99 (which is like an $800 savings) and were a HUGE hit at fashion week.

1st runner up was also by A + O, the Robertson Jeweled Boot ARE still available. Huzzah!

Nicely done, Payless.

Other interesting boots at fashion week included these from the front row…

And these on a model waiting for a cab (how do they always managed to look so cute and put together when you KNOW they are running around like insane people? You KNOW! In NY, many of them get from show to show by BICYCLE and they still look fab!

Strappy heels are always a big hit. I don’t know a single woman who does have at least one pair. And in the modern era, they have multiple benefits: in addition to their having a strap (or several)  that actually physically keeps them tied t you foot, they look amazing over tights in the winter/fall. You have not known woe until you have tried to wear your favorite pair of pumps over tights and experienced the very unpleasant slippage sensation that comes from the lack of helpful strap.

With Mad Men inspiring women across the globe, this olde fashioned look was one of my favorites. Simple and classic, it really blew me away.

See if you can guess what’s unusual about this pair of legs:

I was so intent on crawling through people’s legs to get a shot of these shoes that I didn’t realize that the wearer was actually a man (with an amazing pair of legs). Way to rock those stilletos!

The weighted-ankle look (I don’t know the real word for it) was very popular too. These shoes have a wedge hell the just sort of seamlessly fuses into the rest of shoes creating the illusion of a boxy heel that somehow totally works:

Ok, ok - you’ve waited long enough. It’s time for Cramazing shoes…..oh wait - first a not from the weather channel:

Did you all know the New York Fashion Week was REALLY REALLY rainy? What does does a guy wear when he wants to be super fashionable, but not worry about the miserable weather? Break out your very own PlastiSuit. Don’t let the weather get you down! brighten things up with a fabric that keeps you dry and keeps onlookers happy at the same time! Available in Clear or the water friendly FishTastic!

Now back to our main story.

Zippers have really taken the fashion world by storm. They now bedeck basically everything. When used tastefully they can really make an outfit:

Oops. Wrong photo: I mean, When used tastefully, they look like THIS:

I Love Love Love these so much. This woman is so very lucky she got away from me with her feet fully intact. They have a bit of the vibe of those Louboutin for Phillip Lim sandals that are STILL being knocked off to this day, with a dash of that edgy zipper trend thrown in. Throw in that very now platfor and wider heel and they are a total win for me. Well, except that they are not mine. And I had to watch them walk away. And I maybe cried just a little…but that’s another story for another time!

This season’s Fashion week really turned up some amazing footwear. Here are a few more samples:

Geometry meets wooden heel. They produce offspring. It looks like this.

I do not agree with those Juicy Couture tracksuits being worn in public. I fully believe that one’s body should be dressed when on eleaves the house. One’s feet on the other hand might be a different story altogether.

Ooooohh! Tribal shoes!

Why yes, I did make this corset myself.What did I use? Electrical tape is the best invention ever! I use it for everything: boots, pants, wrist cuffs…

Simply amazing boots. Yes, they are open toed. Yes, they may have knee-high spats. But if you can’t wear your open-toed knee-high spat boots to fashion week, where can you wear them?

Remember SJP and her cloven-toed boots,

I bet you never thought you’d see a thigh-high version. The magic of fashion week is that, in the real world. This woman looks slightly nuts. But at fashion week she looks fantastic. And, truth be told, she appeared to be very comfortable and confident. In fact, I kind of wanted to BE her when I was shooting this look. I who have condemned this cloven-toed trend so vehemently in the past! Don’t get me wrong, if I saw her pushing cart at Gristedes in this ensemble, I might snicker. But this woman is a prime example of wearing exactly the right thing to exactly the right place. By the way, that sort of acid green/yellow color is really growing on me.

In closing, a special conversation:

Leather Jacket Girl: You know, I hate to tell you this, but you appear to have run afoul of some cobwebs on your way to the show today.

Cobweb Woman: I don’t know what you’re so uppity about, you appear to be wearing tights that were last seen paired with a pink tutu at a dance recital.

LJG: That may be, but at least I didn’t let the participants in said recital draw on my my arms with colored markers.

CW: Oh yeah? At least I left my black diaper at home.

LJG: Wait a minute, this is FASHION WEEK. Let’s play nice.

CW: Huh. That seems a litte counter-intuitive, but fine. You are wearing some pretty awesome booties. Even if you DID put them on over leaopard-print socks. And your jacket is pretty cute and looks buttery soft.

LJG: Thanks. You, er, hey that girl behind us is wearing florescent pink toenail polish! Look over there!

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It was grey and raining outside Band of Outsiders Spring 2010 presentation. No one was please that it was going to start 15 minutes late and that we wouldn’t even be allowed inside the main building to escape from the rain before it began. That is, we were annoyed until we walked in and saw that Scott Sternberg and team had taken a bare NY studio and transformed it into Los Angeles, beachside. Models stood in the sand, wearing the fun English childhood collection that Sternberg put together. It was awesome! There were huge sand dunes with grasses “growing” out of them. A pond with model-controlled electronic boats was next to an abandoned sailboat. One model stood above the rest, atop a huge rock, while another scanned the sand with a metal detector. A clever scene from a man who took the time to thank both Snuffaluffagus and the Cookie Monster in his show notes.

And as for the shoes, they were clever too. The men wore Band of Outsiders for Sperry custom designed boat shoes in that particularly soft nubbly grey that you find in your favorite sweatpants, though I couldn’t quite see if it was, in fact, sweatpant material. Sternberg collaborated with Manolo Blahnik on the women’s footwear making some incredibly cute suspender sandals. Straps were wrapped around the model’s feet and hooked to the other side with a suspender clip. The same patter was used in some very cool miniskirts as well.

Take a look at this merry Band of Outsiders.

The guy on the left is my favorite male model of Fashion Week: Thiago.

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Yesterday, r5bales showed you Christian Siriano’s new shoe collection, which will eventually be reimagined for Payless. His last collection was toned-down considerably for sale to the general public, so it remains to be seen what will happen to his newest heel innovation: The Claw.

To recap:

But it seems that Siriano is not the only designer to have decided that The Claw is the way to go for Spring 2010. Tomy Cohen, who showed his deconstructed collection at Bryant Park yesterday, seems to have embraced a similar aesthetic. Check it out:

Admittedly, Cohen’s Claw is not nearly as pronounced as Siriano’s (we are talking about CHRISTIAN SIRIANO here), but it still doesn’t look that stable to me.

So tell me, what do you think of The Claw? And while you’re thinking about it, check out more of Tony Cohen’s collection as well as the Larare for Tony Cohen footwear collection.

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In keeping with the theme of a lazy weekend at the beach, in 1946, we turn our eye to Rosa Cha. If you don’t know this line, you probably should; it’s an award-winning bathing suit line designed by Brazilian, Amir Slama. It has an insane following. And gorgeous criss-crossy wedge sandals set off the line fabulously.

Please excuse any fuzziness; these photos were taken whilst the girls were in motion.

I love that it kind of looks like a high heel embedded in a wedge. It’s the modern equivalent to the Roman bas relief sculpture, no? I don’t love the pantaloon tied around the food inside the shoe, but the shoe itself rocks. And the criss-crossy (I want to write the Kris Kross…remember them…Jump! Jump!) ones are even better.

On the other hand we have Jen Kao. She showed a very architectural collection paired with stunning jewelry and incredible shoes. Each model wore the same pair of shoes. Can you see why?

Jen Kao’s bathing suit is decidedly not 50s, we’re talking about 2050. The dress on the showcases several trends for Spring 2010. We have the body-conscious silhouette, the miniskirt, the pale pinks and greys, the strong shoulder, and the corset top. Welcome to the future.

Jen herself wore some leather ankle flames to her show. No, that is not a metaphor. See for yourself.

I borrowed the Jen Kao photos from style.com. Unfortunately, mine were just too blurry.

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I love Hayden-Harnett. I LOVE Hayden-Harnett. Back in February, trainingheels gave you all the 411 on this Brooklyn design company and their beautiful bags and shoes. Their pieces are interesting and unusual as well as being beautifully made and comfortable. AND I just got an amazing deal…details to come later. Anyway, their Sp2010 line of bags, shoes, and clothes rocked a distinct 50s look, especially the high-cut bathing suits that are ALL the rage right now. For real. I kid you not.

Let’s start the show:

Did I mention their show was called “Lava Fields of Love”? Wanna see why?

CLOSE UP!

Trippy.

Seriously though, as a direct result of the name of this show I kept hearing the following in my head during the entire show:

We are young, heartache to heartache we stand
No promises, no demands
Love is a battlefield

Yeah. Get that out of your heads. I dare you.

I love this model, by the way. She is from Australia and I have seen her several times. She’s super sexy and her name is Silvana Lovin. Which is so much fun to say. I deeply hope that her email address is Lovin@home, or Lovin@the beach, or Lovin@Shoeblog or something of that nature. Very sweet, too.

PS - Hayden Harnett also produced the cuffs that several of the models are wearing. LOVE!

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