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Average Woman Looks at Springtime Shoes (and what they say about you)

26 Mar

Spring is here!  The weather’s getting warmer, the trees are budding and the forsythia is in bloom!  Which means it’s time to put away the suede shooties and shearling booties (mostly) and start thinking pedicures and peep-toe pumps.  That is, if it doesn’t snow the first week of April….

On the Spring 2012 Runways we saw a lot of what we’ve been seeing and wearing: sky

gorgeous Meredith platforms available at charlotteolympia.com

high-heels, chunky platforms, and barely-there flat sandals in every color of the rainbow (almost) including color block.  This is definitely one of the most exciting springtimes for shoes I’ve seen in years!

But let’s face a few small facts:  it’s hard to get around town in sky-high heels.  Chunky platforms on over 40 legs aren’t always fun, let alone attractive.    So what’s a woman to do?

Christian Siriano "Michelle" ballet flat at payless.com has a trendy keyhole peep-toe.

My favorite fashion guru, Bill Cunningham, recently noticed that women in New York City (a place where it’s important to be quick on your feet) have put the huge heels in their tote bags, and are traversing the streets in ballet flats.  If you have to move fast, nothing beats a good-fitting ballet flat!   I have several inexpensive pair that I use for kicking around in the spring and summer, esp. when I don’t have heavy-duty walking ahead of me.  That’s the great thing about ballet flats:  you don’t need an expensive pair to look great.

That’s not to say that heels and platforms will go by the wayside.  Not at all!  And if you want to wear them, by all means do!  I’m so looking forward to getting into my 4.5 inch red Guess platform sandals that I bought last year, even if I don’t wear them while traipsing through the streets of New York City or to the local grocery store — although the latter can be lots of fun, esp. if I want to turn a few heads…

Which leads me to another reason why you might want to wear some high heels every now and then.  Not only can they lengthen your legs, but they’re great eye-catchers.  Yes, even if you have a husband or a boyfriend, please just admit that it’s great fun to catch some good-looking guy eyeing up your shoes.  It’s a thrill!  I find it even more fun when the good-looking guys are a whole lot younger than myself (shoes are one of those things that are, well, ageless if you let them be.)   This cute little feature from Glamour.com let’s you in on what goes through the brains of men when they’re looking at your shoes.  Totally darling!

For Fun:   Check out Bill Cunningham’s latest on the beauty of springtime in Manhattan  and my Pinterest “Shoe Fetishist” pinboard of cool, beautiful shoes.

ShoeDazzle.com Update: 3 Reasons why I haven’t ordered yet

28 Dec

I joined ShoeDazzle.com back in May, and have yet to place an order.   There are 2 reasons for this and most of them came to me well before the rumors of a Kardashian sweat shop in China and child labor cropped up.

First, consider the $39.95 price.   After over six months of reviewing a variety of styles, most of the shoe materials are “man-made.”   When photos of products are enlarged to view them better, the quality of the workmanship appears to be comparable to a $24.95 pair of shoes from Payless.

Second, many of the heels are either incredibly high or incredibly frumpy.  It’s not that I’m such an “old lady” that I don’t wear high-heeled platforms.  In fact, I have several pairs of well-made, high quality platform shoes with 4.5 inch heels.  I’m not about to risk my ankles to a pair of high, high heels when the surface workmanship doesn’t appear to be all that stellar. And order a lower heeled shoe?  Have you seen them?  Many of the lower-heel styles look like they came from the back of my closet–in the 1980s.  I will make an exception for the flats, some of which are rather cute, but the site does not offer a view of the interior of the shoes.  With flats, I like to see how they are stitched and what the insoles looks like.  I may, however, take a chance with a pair of flats.

Third, many of the styles are downright ugly or appear more than once under different names.  Just look at Rika and Mayci.  Same shoe, different material. 

I’m less than impressed…..

As for other products on the ShoeDazzle.com site, well, the one purse that I thought I might like to order, a small evening bag with a skull clasp that resembled this Alexander McQueen skull clasp bag sold out in no time flat.  All the other styles of bags and jewelry have left me feeling, well, kind of flat.  Not anything I would necessarily carry nor wear.

Bottom line:  I’m not all that thrilled with ShoeDazzle.com, and my expectations for its products are not real high.  That being the case, perhaps I won’t be too disappointed.  Except perhaps by the price.

YSL gets green light over Louboutin to use red soles

11 Aug

sky high Louboutins

According to a report in the New York Times a court has refused to grant a preliminary injunction against the Yves St. Laurent company.  The preliminary injunction was requested by the Christian Louboutin company, which alleged copyright infringement for the use of red soles on shoes.  The decision clears the way not just for YSL to continue producing shoes with a similar red sole, but also appears to grant permission to other shoe manufacturers that might want to use red soles.

“Because in the fashion industry color serves ornamental and aesthetic functions vital to robust competition, the court finds that Louboutin is unlikely to be able to prove that its red outsole brand is entitled to trademark protection, even if it has gained enough protection in the market to have secondary meaning,” the court ruled.

While the court acknowledged Louboutin’s originality, for Louboutin to copyright a shade of red would be like  Monet copyrighting a shade of blue….

Or QVC wanting to copyright the letter “Q” ……

Or Fox News wanting to copyright the phrase “fair and balanced”….

Granted Louboutin’s red soles are original, and there is probably a proprietary process for their manufacture, let alone a uniqueness of  color shade.  This will always make Louboutin’s red soles unique.

Frankly,  I’d *love* to see other shades on the soles of shoes.  I’m particularly fond of pink (as they are using on some ShoeDazzle shoes, and I think [pink shows up on Paris Hilton’s shoe line) but from what I understand, with many lower-price shoes, the color is easily scuffed off.  Too bad.  Colored soles certainly make a statement.

 

Photo courtesy of Viva Fashion

ShoeDazzle.com Update…

24 May

I’ve decided to wait to see what ShoeDazzle.com recommends for me for the month of June. There were some great styles for May, but thought I might give it a month or two–or wait for something that really strikes me–before I place an order. When I do, you’ll hear about it!

Fashion Find: ‘Atessa’ sandal is a designer look for a fraction of $$

16 May

If you have an eye–and photographic memory–for fashion and design,  you will come across amazing finds in unusual places….

Take, for instance, my local mall (Holyoke Mall off Rt. 91).    We’re not a fashion bastion out here in the Pioneer Valley, so imagine my surprise when I spotted the Worthington ‘Atessa’ sandal at JC Penney.  It has the look of an expensive designer “cage” sandal for the fashionably frugal price of $39.99.  Here’s a quick pic I took wearing the shoes this afternoon:

So similar to what I’ve seen in Alexander McQueen, BCBG, and other collections!

They sport a 4- inch heel (ok, 3 5/16-inches.  close enough to 4) with a nice padded footbed.  All stitching is trimmed nicely so there is nothing poking on the inside.  Beautifully finished, man-made embossed snake-skin that feels and (so far) wears like leather.

Would I wear these out to an important event?  Yes, indeed.  The heel is the right height to be contemporary and non-”menopausal”, and as long as I don’t beat them to death (I can be tough on shoes) they should maintain their shape and shine.

That is, unless everyone at the event will be wearing high-end labels.  Then I might have to break the budget for a pair of Jimmy Choos.

A quick note on buying good budget-conscious fashion:  materials in budget fashions don’t need to last forever.  A good budget fashion piece should last at least to the end of the season.  Sometimes, depending on how many times it’s worn, a piece might last longer.  If stored properly, it can even be used into the beginning of the season of the following year.  Unless you are buying “fast fashion.”  In that case, you definitely get what you don’t pay for.  If it lasts through one washing, you’re lucky.

Trying ShoeDazzle.com on for size

29 Apr

Never thought I’d see the day when I’d be interested in joining a site started by Kim Kardashian.   But bring to my attention that the site has something to do with shoes and you’ve got my attention.   Thus, I decided to sign up for ShoeDazzle.com….

ShoeDazzle functions a bit like Google’s Boutiques.com, where you take a “fashion survey” to help discover your style.  Once you discover this, there is a recommendation engine that will cull information on the types of shoes, bags, and jewelry that correspond to your personal style.  The style questions flow quickly, are easy to answer, and fun.  Here’s a screen shot asking for my thoughts on which designers, makeup, and brands I either use already or like the best

click your pick!

The age range goes from 18 to 45, with a category for 46+ (hmmm….curious…is 46 the age we cease to care about fashion?) with size ranges going from 0 to 18+ .  I was happy to see 14-16 in the same range, as this is where I usually land, with the larger size on the top–I’m one of those “top heavy” or “chesty” women.

Once I’ve done this, ShoeDazzle’s stylists should recommend, on a monthly basis,  shoes, bags, and jewelry that I might care to purchase.  I can purchase these through ShoeDazzle for $39.95.

How did I turn out?  Well, according to the ShoeDazzle survey, I’m Refined-Cultured-Classic, with colors navy, gray, cream and camel.  It’s not too far off, actually, as I find myself going in that direction as I’ve gotten older (with the occasional fashionista punch in shoes or some other kind of accessory.)  Here’s my Results page:

Classic and Cultured!

I can always re-style, too, just in case I decide that I can dress like Gwen Stefani and not look like an aged Wednesday Addams ;-)

There are more perks to using the site–such as earning points on purchases and for recommending friends–so I have more to explore here….

The first group of items offered are definitely the types of shoes and accessories I would pick out to try on–red Ralph Lauren pumps, Janine military inspired platforms, a great  Bizen quilted faux leather bag with a chain handle.  Quite frankly, if I were indeed looking to buy new shoes, I might buy a pair of the ones suggested.  However, right now, I’m looking for only one item to complete my summer wardrobe–a khaki pencil skirt–and,well, maybe a pair of red peep toe pumps as I seem to have “outgrown” my favorite pair.  Strange how, for some of us, our feet tend to grow out like our waistlines!

I’ll be keeping an eye on what ShoeDazzle recommends for me each month, and looking forward to my first purchase.