Nothing But Shoes

FALKE, the German hosiery and legwear brand, collaborated with Hussein Chalayan to create a range of sock boots exclusively for the designer’s autumn/winter 2008-9 show in Paris. The boots, a one-off for the show, were black ribbed ankle socks turned into edgy heels. Of the collaboration, Chalayan told us: “The concept of the shoe is about turning unrecognisable elements such as socks into something elegant.” The London designer, well known for his avant-garde techniques, teamed the boots with stylish little black dresses, ranging from Ts to bubble shapes and, in the second part of the show, explored the theme of stones - either as a pattern on a dress or as supersized necklaces the models wore around their necks. The boots, that Chalayan told us were “a play on the indoors and the outdoors”, were the perfect extension of that them

Source VOGUE

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Anyone still wondering what drives fashion these days need look no further than Stella McCartney’s show yesterday. It’s the shoes, baby. When a vegetarian designer comes up with non-leather accessory ranges that cut it with fashionistas it’s a safe bet that she didn’t do it for the sheer pleasure of seeing how far you can go with a piece of faux sheepskin.

McCartney knows that shoes are about the biggest fashion statement a woman can make right now. Hers are patent wedges – either ankle boots or court shoes – or knee-high boots made from something that looked like sheepskin but can’t possibly have been.

Whether the ethical aspects of PVC and fake skins outweigh the environmental side is moot, but she’s not the only high-profile designer giving materials that used to be the stigmata of the poor a luxury gloss.

The definition of luxury is up for grabs, particularly now that Tesco sells cashmere jumpers for under £20. Does “true” luxury become ever more recherché – the solution favoured by Italian designers in the headlong flight into exotic skins and triple-bonded cashmere? Or does luxury focus on originality?

McCartney’s clothes, truth be told, are often simple: a loose, dusky-blue, velvet tunic with butterfly sleeves and a ripple of ruching at the back, big fluffy wrap cardigan coats, loose, drop-waisted dresses with puffball hems and the ubiquitous black, strapless minidress. The boiled wools and textured cocoon-shaped coats occasionally tipped from interesting to matted-looking. Then again, matted is big next winter.

With the exception of the strapless minidress, these are clothes that – in the best possible sense – bring to mind evenings at home in a draughty old farmhouse with only the TV for warmth. But perhaps that’s McCartney’s life these days. They’re not sexy in a predictable way. Yet there’s clearly something alluring about a woman who feels comfortable in her clothes and sufficiently relaxed to let her shoes do the talking.

Valentino was never confused about luxury. For him it was always the finest, costliest-looking fabrics and impeccable cutting. His successor, 35-year-old Alessandra Fachinetti, has the formidable task of taking over following his retirement after 45 years. It’s extra daunting, because she was given the same challenge at Gucci. After Tom Ford left in 2004 she produced a satisfactory first collection but floundered when it came to moving things on. She was fired a year later.

Yesterday Fachinetti produced a more than satisfactory first collection – drawing on Valentino’s bountiful archives, and serving up his beloved tulip-shaped skirts, cropped military-lite jackets, lacy chiffon blouses and a handful of strapless, high-waisted evening dresses with unimpeachable tailoring and a new, youthful lightness that should keep existing customers of all ages happy. But Fachinetti’s big test will come when she tries to reinvent Valentino for a new era.

Luxury could be a very high-spec pair of trainers. So Puma announced yesterday that Hussein Chalayan (he of the dress that turns into a table) is to become its creative director. As a reaction to adidas’s successful collaboration with McCartney, it may be a clever move. Chalayan is the ultimate techie designer. The collection he showed for his own label in Paris this week featured the usual electrodes – this time wrapped round models’ waists. I think what was intended was a statement about mankind’s self-destructive tendencies. The concept was human evolution (translation: Flintstone-type jewellery at the start, pretty black silk dresses in the middle and a finale of what looked like the latest in suicide-bomber fashion statements).

Sometimes it’s best to leave the concepts on the drawing board.

Source The Times

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Ever since our tragic middle school science teacher wore Birkenstocks with sport socks, we’ve considered the sandals-and-socks combo to be one of fashion’s biggest sins. But after watching Anna Sui, John Galliano and Rei Kawakubo send models down their spring catwalks wearing anklets with open heels, our position began to wobble.

Then Hermes and Givenchy picked up on Balenciaga’s fall tights-and-sandals concept. And a bevy of stylish celebrities — including Julianne Moore and Jessica Alba — started turning up on red carpets in open heels with opaque tights … and, then, well, we had to admit: It looked pretty good.

And that’s where things got sticky.

Just try pairing tights and sandals on your own. Patterned or solid? Black or colored? Chunky shoes or stilettos? We might as well have put on our Wigwams and Tevas and headed out the door.

So we asked Eric Daman, the costume designer on “Gossip Girl,” how to do it right. The show is the small screen’s latest answer to a fashion glossy. All season he has outfitted young stars Blake Lively, Taylor Momsen and Leighton Meester in a refined designer wardrobe that embodies the show’s Upper East Side socialite set.

(The teen melodrama’s salacious plot line is no match for its clothes, with entire Web sites — see gossipgirlfashion.com — devoted to who wore what.)

When it comes to tricky trends, Daman knows what he’s doing. After three seasons of assisting Patricia Field on “Sex and the City,” he learned to shop with future style in mind. Though he frequently matches open-toe footwear with tights and socks on “Gossip Girl,” Daman also knows the look can be a disaster in real life.

Novices should start with a simple peep-toe pump and solid opaque tight. After that, a high-heel T-strap or platform sandals work best. For formal fetes, delicate stilettos look sleek with opaque tights.

But avoid this season’s popular gladiator sandal and anything with a lot of straps. Monochromatic shoes are much easier than shoes with wooden heels. Playful knee socks are another popular “Gossip Girl” look but are a no-no with thin stilettos. “It comes off a little too kittenish,” Daman says.

Decide if you’re going for a sophisticated or good-humored look. For exceptionally grown-up protagonist Serena (Lively) and her best friend, Blair Waldorf (Meester), Daman uses dark colors and polished footwear to convey their 17-going-on-38 mentality. For a more amusing look, try lighter-colored heels matched with textured tights.

Speaking of amusing, it’s best to remember Carrie Bradshaw’s dreaded hot pants before copping a look straight from the screen; Jenny Humphrey’s (Momsen’s) knee socks and lace-up sandals don’t work quite as well in real life.

Except for trusty black on black, the sandal-and-tights trend is one that should rarely be matching. And, unless you’re channeling Nurse Ratched, stay away from white-on-white and opt for a white heel with a primary-color tight.

Personally, we pair socks only with a trusty pair of running shoes. But like it or not, sandals and anklets are on spring’s style radar. Daman frequently outfits the Jenny Humphrey character in small socks and flirty open footwear. To make the lighthearted style work, ditch the sexpot heels in favor of chunkier sandals, wedges or kitten heel peep-toe pumps “so it doesn’t come off too trashy.”

Can anyone rock this trend?

“Not necessarily,” Daman warns. Done correctly, the tights-and-sandals thing works at any age — though brighter color combinations are best left to those born post Reagan-era. However, anklet socks have no place on the ankles of those legally able to buy a keg.

With either trend, confidence is the clear key to success. “For any look,” Daman says, “it’s all about owning it and being happy with it.”

Source The Courier Journal

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Her name’s not Diablo for nothin’! Diablo Cody — the “Juno” screenwriter and former stripper is flaming hot at Stuart Weitzman for getting her in the middle of a publicity stunt she claims she wasn’t aware of.

Every year, Weitzman makes a pair of “Cinderella” shoes to be worn at the Oscars by a rising female star. This year he chose Cody, and she agreed to sport the special shoes. Then she found out they were made with 1,800 Kwiat diamonds — and worth a million-dollars!

Cody wrote on her myspace blog: “I’m actually really pissed about this, now that I think about it. They’re using me to publicize their stupid shoes and nobody asked me. I would never consent to a lame publicity stunt at a time when I already want to hide. I’m sorry if I sound like a party-pooper, but Jeebus.”

Maybe she wants to wear clear, six-inch Lucite heels instead!

Source TMZ

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Shoe-mad women will splash out more than $66,000 on footwear over a lifetime, according to new figures.

Each year, women treat themselves to eight pairs of new shoes, and with each pair costing an average of $131.76, that adds up to more than 1054 every year - or 66,408 over a lifetime.

For some that figure could be even higher though as half of women admit they buy a least one new pair a month.

A spokesman for Olay, which carried out the poll to launch a competition to win a $6,000 shoe collection, said: “It’s no secret that most women have a soft spot for shoes, but it’s staggering when you find out exactly how much is spent.”

The poll, of 1,500 women, also revealed that the average wardrobe boasts a collection of 44 shoes, including eight pairs of boots, nine pairs of trainers and 12 pairs of flips flops or ballerina shoes.

Kitten and stiletto heels then account for another 15 pairs.

But almost two thirds of women own an average of 10 pairs of shoes they have never actually worn or have only put on once or twice.

And three pairs of shoes are uncomfortable to walk in.

More than 26 per cent of hardy women admit they often wear the killer shoes though, despite it being painful when they walk, to stop their partner moaning that they were a waste of money.

Another 25 per cent of people also lie to their partners to try and stop the rows, with almost half telling their other half that the shoes were cheaper than they really were.

A cheeky 30 per cent even deny buying them, pretending they have been in the bottom of their wardrobe for months.

It doesn’t work for all women though as 15 per cent have had rows with their partner over their shoe-buying and four per cent have even broken up because of it.

Four per cent have even split up with a partner over their shoe buying.

A spokesman for Olay added: “It’s worrying to think that a few shoes can cause so much trouble in a relationship.

“But it’s inevitable when so many women are lying to their partners and keeping them in the dark about their real shoe spending habits.

“To save the agro, you could save your money and ask for shoes as a present at birthdays and Christmas - the survey also found that 82 per cent of mums would love to get a pair of shoes for Mother’s Day.”

Source Daily Mail

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They would go well with most things in your wardrobe, since few colours clash with gold or silver snakeskin.

But the sensible girl would team these shoes with a crash helmet and an instruction manual.

The 5 1/2in creations by Briton Antonio Berardi can hardly be described as high heels, since they lack the most important part - a heel.

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Pretty or painful?: Desinger Antonio Berardi thinks the shoes look ‘dainty’

Height of fasion: The heels are 5 1/2 inches off the ground
For the bargain price of £1,800, the wearer will get to totter around with all her weight balanced on a thickened platform sole.

Unsurprisingly, fashionistas are jostling to buy a pair.

Stars including Gwyneth Paltrow and Uma Thurman invested in a black patent version costing more than £1,100, shortly after they were unveiled in Berardi’s spring/summer collection in Paris.

And Victoria Beckham apparently has a snakeskin pair.

They are going on sale in Browns stores in London, where they have to be ordered up to five weeks in advance.

Lincolnshire-born Berardi, 39, said he was inspired by Latin American music and 1980s post-modernism, adding: “When you walk, it is almost on tiptoe. You look really dainty.”

A spokesman for his Paris-based fashion house said: “The shoe has a bigger platform sole which stretches back further than normal and gives support under the arch of the foot.

“When walking though, you have to put your toe rather than your heel down first and you cannot wear them for very long.

“They are not dangerous because you would have to lean quite far back before you fell over.”

Podiatrists, who have already warned about the health impact of high heels, were less impressed.

Michael Paynton, chairman of the British Chiropody and Podiatry Association, said: “The heel is there to stabilise.

“When you elevate the rear of the foot it makes you lean forward, which is bad for both the back and the foot.

“The front of the foot ends up taking the weight of the bulk of your body, which can in turn do damage to the tendons in your legs by shortening them.

“I certainly would not recommend these shoes.”

The Berardi shoes were joined on the season’s catwalks by stilt-like sandals from Alexander McQueen, Nina Ricci heels shaped like a bear’s claw and Yves Saint Laurent strappy sandals with a reed-thin metal sole.

Source Daily Mail

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Wearing higher heels - although perhaps not stilettos - may improve your pelvic floor muscles and in doing so boost your sex life, a study suggests.
An Italian urologist and self-professed lover of the sexy shoe set out to prove that high heels were not as bad for women’s health as some suggest.

The shoe has been linked to a range of problems - from corns to schizophrenia.

But in a letter to European Urology, Dr Maria Cerruto said her research showed it was time to stand up for the heel.

She said her study of 66 women under 50 found that those who held their foot at a 15 degree angle to the ground - the equivalent of a two inch heel - had as good posture as those who wore flat shoes, and crucially showed less electrical activity in their pelvic muscles.

This suggested the muscles were at an optimum position, which could well improve their strength and ability to contract.

The pelvic floor muscles are an essential component of the female body. As well as assisting sexual performance and satisfaction, they provide vital support to the pelvic organs, which include the bladder, bowels and uterus.

But they often weaken after pregnancy and childbirth, and as the woman gets older. There are exercises to strengthen them, but Dr Cerruto hopes her findings may eliminate the need for these.

“Women often have difficulty in carrying out the right exercises for the pelvic zone and wearing heels could be the solution,” she said.

“Like many women, I like high-heeled shoes,” she added. “It’s good to know they have potential health benefits.”

Gill Brook, a women’s health physiotherapist in Bradford, stressed the findings did not suggest that stilettos were a good thing for those keen on improving their pelvic floor function.

“But for women who like a slightly higher heel, these are reassuring findings - although we haven’t yet done away with the need for regular exercises to maintain what

Source BBC

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Nike Air Jordan XX3

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Who are these dreadful women?” Manolo Blahnik screams in horror as he brandishes the latest edition of a smart society magazine. An assistant points out kindly that they are four of Hollywood’s top female stars. Looking pained, Blahnik turns away muttering “Dreadful, dreadful”, before adding, with a roll of his eyes heavenwards: “I’m totally confused. I don’t even know what taste is any more. Frankly, I can’t bear to buy magazines. I just get so upset.”

It’s rubbish, of course. Blahnik isn’t just a renowned shoemaker, who single-handedly invented the shoe as a fashion item in its own right. He is the most internationally savvy designer ever produced by London, totally attuned to the latest fashion nuances from around the globe, which he frequently crisscrosses. And despite his protestations, he doesn’t miss anything that is going on in fashion.

Maybe that’s why he always seems in a fluster, like the White Rabbit, desperately sighing, “I’m late, I’m late”, although he rarely is. He is far too disciplined for that. Now aged 64, not entirely slim, white hair rigidly pomaded into place – “I couldn’t possibly be seen without my glue” – elegantly groomed and tailored, Blahnik never stops working. Shoes are not just what he designs, they are his entire life.

The process starts with drawings, a few deft strokes of his Chinese brush, in the tranquillity of his home in Bath. Blahnik lives in a perfect Georgian terrace, which is furnished like an opera set by Zeffirelli, Visconti or any of the other Italian film-makers he adores (so much so that he watches their films compulsively until the small hours in an attempt to overcome his chronic insomnia).

As he draws, he gives each shoe a name, a nationality and a personality. Often bourgeois, sometimes fat, frequently from north Africa, the woman whose personality inhabits each shoe in his imagination is as far from the vapid prettiness of most modern fashion models as it is possible to get.

After the drawing, the wooden last is carved, something that occupies Blahnik for weeks. He then moves to Italy and works with the artisans in his three small factories. He makes examples of each style, explaining all the intricacies and difficulties to the workers himself. The result is a true shoemaker’s shoe in the tradition of his hero, the 1950s French designer Roger Vivier.

It’s continuous hard work, which leaves Blahnik only a limited time to indulge his hobby of enjoying ill health. Over the years, doctors, osteopaths and a variety of other specialists have made a comfortable living out of his back, which causes him a lot of pain but also brings pleasure. “I adore talking about my medical situation,” he exclaims happily, recalling with zest the time last year when he had to be carried to hospital on a stretcher. He smiles at the drama of it all. “I love things like that,” he says with a twinkle.

And the shoes themselves? “Better than sex,” according to Madonna. Lustfully name-checked in virtually every episode of Sex and the City, they are also the only shoes ever to grace the patrician feet of Anna Wintour. No wonder women even half-interested in fashion want a pair of Manolos. And, of course, they were the footwear of choice of the Princess of Wales. For her, Blahnik would close the shop so she could come and sit on the floor next to the designer and indulge her own personal shoe fantasy. She always paid in full, with a cheque signed by her then husband, the Prince of Wales.

Blahnik’s shoes continue to win high-profile fans: Victoria Beckham is a devotee. “We often meet in airports. And she’s very sweet – not the virago she is portrayed as at all.”

As you might guess, the heavy shoes of recent seasons do not meet with Blahnik’s approval. “They don’t even look like shoes,” he screams. “It’s like talking in Chinese. I don’t understand them at all. The past few years have been aesthetic hell for me. Even Daphne Guinness has made herself look ridiculous in monstrous shoes. It’s because designers have forgotten about the importance of the harmony of extremes.”

It is comments like this that have made the shoemaker so loved and revered, as much today as when he first started out with Ossie Clark, Vivienne Westwood and Calvin Klein, and with a long line of designers – from John Galliano to Christopher Kane – ever since. Blahnik knows what fashion is about and, at the Style event at the end of this month, I shall be asking him to tell it like it is.

Source Times Online

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BROWN men’s shoes, popular with the aristocracy in the 1930s, when they were championed by the Prince of Wales and Hollywood movie royalty, are being revived in Manhattan. After World War II, the conventional black shoe returned, except among upper-class European men, who continued to wear brown suede wingtip styles with their business suits. The Italian industrialist Giovanni Agnelli popularized this Continental style of brown shoes in many shades, highly polished to achieve an aged patina. Today the shoes are worn with business suits and casual weekend blue jeans.

Source The New York Times

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