While browsing the beautiful Te Casan website to see whether they’ve got any more news about the upcoming shoe line by Natalie Portman, I found instead a few shoes that caught my eye–both in a good and in a blah way.

From designer Niki Robinson come these Jenifer T-Strap velvet flats, $245, made with recycled velvet/suede fabrics from Oxfam GB, a global development, advocacy and relief agency working to put an end to poverty world-wide:

This style comes in a variety of rich, deep colors, and the contrast with the gold leather is just beautiful. Definitely something to wear at your favorite charity meeting or while organizing an event for said charity and you have to be on your feet all day.

 If you simply want to show up for said event, though, I recommend these simple yet stunning “Petal” pumps, $275, from Zoe Lee:

A simple, organic design, that plays up the natural curves of your foot and leg while remaining understated and elegant.

I’m not sure about this shoe, although its designer, Fay Baldock, had probably the best of intentions at heart:

 

The Finn pewter leather flat ($265) wants to be a hybrid between the now ubiquitous bootie/oxford style and a simple flat, except, it kinda falls flat at both. I’m not lying to you, at first I was attracted by its unusual cut on the vamp–too high to be a flat, to low to be a proper oxford. The more I looked, however, the proportions seemed a little off. I do, however, appreciate the contrast between the pewter leather and the green laces–I would have played up even more on this, I guess (a bolder green).