Ok folks, in the midst of fashion week madness (we’re off to Paris next) I am going to interrupt with a personal plea for a little help in the shoe department.

This is the KORS by Michael Kors Brink Boot:

They are available in very limited sizes on bluefly.com in black and brown for $237, a significant reduction from their original price of $395. These are my ideal winter boots. I absolutely love them and want to take them home with me and call them my very own. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find them in my size. They are actually from last year’s line of winter boots a la Lady Kors, so they are not easy to track down and a 9 or 9.5 has been completely unfindable.

So here is my plea: if you find them online or are in the greater NY area or even the greater San Francisco area (I’ll be there at the beginning of October) and your eagle eye spots these in black in a 9 or a 9.5, TELL ME! I know you shoe-lovers have a lot of secret hunting grounds that the average person does not know about. I am counting on you! (P.S. these boots run small, so if you do decide to pick up the remaining ones on Bluefly, be aware.)

If this post has given you an unsatisfied longing similar to mine, here is this year’s version of the boot, the Breck, also KORS by Michael Kors:

These are widely available at $425 (and unfortunately not on sale yet) in black leather, brown leather, and black patent. These are definitely awesome boots and would probably much more practical for the New York winter, but I never was a particularly practical girl.

 Thanks in advance loyal shoeblog readers!

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Do you know what I have seen a lot of this Fashion Week season in New York, London, and Milan? Snakeskin shoes. Most of it has been fairly subtle: the texture has added an extra dimension to many of fine pair of footwear, but snakeskin coloring has been relatively scarce. Well, look no more! At Baby Phat, if you are going to do snakeskin, you are going to do it all the way.

Most of the looks in the show featured either a 70s, Austin Powers feel (the Heather Graham version, not the Elizabeth Hurley) or a luxurious Egyptian Queen motif. There was a lot of gold, a lot, of sparkle, and a lot of skin. The shoes were high and they were hot. Python trimmed in gold and bright bits of color. Here are some exclusive backstage shots.

These snazzy snakeskin heels were worn by the model that I worked with backstage. (The charming Hollis - check her out here)

This model is waiting to go on (and waiting and waiting - the show was announced as “starting” 3 times over the course of an hour)

And here it some more formal footwear. I love that pop of pink!

There was a very unusual vibe backstage at Baby Phat, during New York Fashion Week. I have worked at many many shows and I usually find that the primary overarching emotions are stress and outright exhaustion, especially in the models at the end of the week. The stylists and and Baby Phat folk were certainly stressed out (if you work for Kimora, I’m betting your anxiety is off the charts right before a show), but the models were surprisingly chill. There was music, there was laughter, there were many models laughing about the sheer quantity of skin they would soon be exhibiting before the world. The backstage area was dark and strobe lights from the runway filtered through as the base reverberated through the floors causing the clothing racks to rattle. So let’s see, loud music+dark, crowded room+pretty girls in tiny clothing = nightclub. So the verdict: All in all, it was pretty cool.

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Would Borat be welcome at a fashion show? What about Ali G? Or even Sacha Baron Cohen without the costumes and with charming girlfriend Isla Fisher in tow? None of these characters were present at the Agatha Ruiz de la Prada show in Milan, but Sacha certainly made an appearance. Bruno, Cohen’s fashion-crazed, alter, alter, alter ego literally stormed the runway. He not only managed to get backstage, but onto the runway where he stomped down with the best of them before security got involved. (Given the nature of the show in question, I suspect it took viewers a few seconds to realize that Baron Cohen was not actually part of the show.

Eventually the lights in the tent were turned off and as media and onlookers called “Luce! Luce!” security grabbed Bruno and hustled him out.

But this is shoeblog, so what does this have to do with shoes? Look closely at Bruno’s self-made runway get-up. In addition to a cape and practically every piece of clothing in his closet, Bruno has tied what looks like a Mukluk to his left leg. Apparently, even he cannot escape the lure of the furry bootie.

 To check out the looks of Spanish designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada for the Spring 2009 show, go here. De la Prada’s candy-colored surreal confections are worth looking at for the sheer weirdness of them. Envision a brighter, crazier Betsey Johnson. (Difficult, isn’t it?) I’m betting that the outlandish nature of this designer’s aesthetic may have figured in Baron Cohen’s choice of ambushee.

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Donatella Versace’s dedication of her Mens Spring/Summer 2009 Collection to Barack Obama combined with her much publicized desire to dress Hilary Clinton in more feminine pantsuits might have led excited fashionistas to think a politically-themed RTW line for Versace in Milan seemed imminent. Such was not to be the case. Donatella followed up her successful Mens show with a delicate collection where much of the beauty could be found in the details.

This was definitely one of Versace’s more subtle collections. That is said with some reservation since Versace is never really subtle. It started out with some very cool blacks and whites, then the brights came flooding in, the fabulous geometrics, the zippers. The final pieces had a huge POW! effect. They were gorgeous, multi-colored collage designs featuring the Versace medusa image.

 In the shoes, the shapes, and the accessories, hearts made a huge showing.

The heart zippers led into the zippered footwear:

And bejeweled heels:

There were three pairs of the following shoes in the show. They were unlike the others in that the were wedges with the Versace Medusa logo embedded. Here’s the thing (or things, in this case):

1. They were lucite. I don’t know what to think about think. Chris Rock advises parents to keep their daughters out of Lucite for a very good reason.

2. The front reminded me of a well-known, classic toy which is perfect for expanding dexterity and learning to piece things together (puzzles, life events, outfits, ect), but do they really work in footwear? Check these out and tell me if you note the similarity to the pieces of an erector set. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s uncanny.

So the question is, would you wear these?

Do you see the resemblance? It’s totally there!

And here is the fabled lucite heel:

One finally point. My favorite part of these shoes was….the sole! OK, maybe I am easily amused, but I thought that the yellow soles were awesome. Versace craftily used a mirrored runway to show them off. They perfectly complimented the electric blues and yellows in the show. So you can see now why I called it subtle, right?

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As the onslaught of fashion shows continue, it wasn’t just my eyebrows which were raised when I saw how tall the shoe platforms were. Here’s a quick look-see.

The Japanese inspired spring collection over at Basso & Brooke brought an array of colorful prints, the highest of the platforms I’ve seen thus far for spring 2009, and obi belts that I’m dying to own. As if to signify that the heels were as tall as trees, birds and flowers were nesting on the heel.

Gucci’s spring ‘09 collection bought forth buckles, metallic trimming, and bold colors on top of platform heels.

Marni Spring 2009 shoes featured interesting striped knee high socks an array of colorful platform shoes.

D&G Spring 2009 got patriotic in red, white, and blue nautical theme clunky platform wedges.

Bottega Veneta incorporated their classic weave pattern into the platform wedge and heels. Compared to other runways, the platforms looks downright walkable.

And finally, Burberry Prorsum picked up the platform trend in autumn colors and ice-pick like heels.

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