Month: November 2007

Honey! I’m home!

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

So, we’re back from the land of happy grins and too much sunshine. After a very long 9 hour drive home, we’re here unpacking and I’m trying to find time to catch up on all my work before I go to work tomorrow.

I did get lots of compliments on the shoes I wore to the wedding, was comfortable and had a bottle of Champagne so, all in all being in the wedding was a success.

Other than that it was a pretty uneventful trip. I wore my red Converse Chuck Taylors almost the entire weekend and came home to new shoes from Saks so I’m happy to be home!

Designer Focus – Olivia Rose Tal

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

When we visited Asheville, I found a small shoe store which I didn’t know existed (I’ll feature them later) and something amazing happened. I found out about a designer that I had never heard of! I was so intrigued and excited.

This store had a large number of shoes from Olivia Rose Tal who is a designer in New York. She too seems to have a passion for embellishment and fabric, a passion I share. I liked a number of the shoes that I saw there and it was hard to decided. I ended up purchasing these orange and brown silk mules with jeweled buckles.

They are very sparkly and richly colored in person.

In the store and on the site there are a number of other styles that I would love to have. Here’s a small sampling:


Snakeskin and striped silk.


I love this brown, blue and cream silk buffalo check with a contrasting fabric insole and soft bow. I almost bought these.

These charcoal, grey, blue and silver silk mules have an amazing crystal embellishment. I really really was torn about buying these and the ones I did get. We’re going back December, so if they still have them, I may get them.

The shoes run about $200+ and are really comfortable. The silhouette are reminiscent of early Kate Spade mules. They are great with pants and long skirts, like my bridesmaid outfit. Some of the styles are a little older skewing but the richness of the materials makes them stand out.

On the road again

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

So I’m going to the home of the Happiest (or scariest) Place on Earth this weekend for that wedding I talked about so long ago.

So posting may be a bit sporadic, but I’m sure I’ll have all sorts of good shoe stories to talk about.

Oh, and remember the bridesmaid outfit….

I ended up with none of my options. I’m actually going to wear these which have a low heel and should be quite comfy. They are by a new designer. I’m going to do a whole post dedicated to her so stay tuned!

The one that got away

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

If you don’t believe that a pair of shoes can inspire endless longing, faithful love and ceaseless regret, you just have to look at this pair of heels to get an insight into my soul.

These Viktor & Rolf glitter heels were from Spring/Summer 2004. Like a blurred photo of an old love this image doesn’t capture the true beauty of these heels but is just a whisper of how amazing they are.

They actually had these for sale at Net-a-Porter but they didn’t offer them smaller than a 36, so I didn’t risk it. Oh, how I regret that decision.

Candy apple red glitter, slight internal platform with a curvaceous heel, accented with ruched red leather tied in a knot – severe to temper the excessiveness.

They still haunt me. Sigh.

UPDATED: Here is a better image of these lovelies

Black and White

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

I have previously expressed my love for contrasting heels, especially for one of my favorite shoe buys this year – my YSL Tribute slingbacks. They are so elegant but with a touch of the unexpected in the white heel element.

And they aren’t trashy looking like the more popular platform ankle-strap version below. Ugh! It’s amazing what a few details can make.

Now I have a new love that I want to make room for in my wardrobe of black and white heels – these lovely white pumps with black heels by Gucci from their resort collection (Loving Resort this year!)

I know white shoes can be challenging, but Gawd, I love them!

Wha’ Happened?

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

Have you ever seen an item in a commercial or on the runway and were instantly smitten? You MUST have that item, you wait, pining away for months until it finally makes its way towards your grasp only to be sadly disappointed?

That’s how I felt about these Anemone ribbon heels from Monsieur Louboutin.

Look at them taunting me with their skyscraper heel, delicate silhouette and the luxurious creamy and inky satin ribbons looped artistically on the heel like the delicate sea-creature they are named after (or is it the flower it’s named after?) When I saw these on Style.com months ago as you see them here, I instantly loved them.

I was thinking aobut them just yesterday and had not seem them on any of the usual sites so I dropped a note to one of the CL boutiques to check on availability.

They were in stock in my size (amazing!) but sooo pricey, of course, so I was tormenting myself about them all last night. Should I, or shouldn’t I. Electric bill or amazing shoes. Decisions, decisions….

Then purusing my usual online reading I saw them featured on Shoewawa. But they didn’t look quite like the picture I had seen. Hmmmm…. So I clicked through to Net-a-Porter to get a better look.

They had more pictures and this is what I saw. Okay, here they look similar. The ribbon is slightly different but still within the realm.

Then I looked at the back view. WTF?!?!? The look like someone made a bad bow with a Bowdabra and glued them on the back of the shoes! Aaackk!



They’re just hanging there limply like over-cooked spaghetti. I sent an email to the CL boutique asking for clarification. Did I almost sign a contract agreeing to BUY these? (I was only thinking about, seriously honey, we will still have electricity so you can play Halo this weekend on the X-box).

They even tried to hide them by stuffing them under the pant cuffs. Or they pinned the ribbons to the pants. Cause you know those ribbons are going to be dragging the ground all over town.

So now I’m sad, disillousioned and am still going to be subjected to Halo all weekend.

"Pure Sex"? Yawn.

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

When I first heard that Agent Provocateur was going to develop a line of shoes, I was actually very interested and intrigued. I’ve always admired their lingerie, the extensive storylines for each of their collections and their playfulness. Although I find their prices a bit high, I used to have a real “thing” for glam lingerie, so I could see how they were worth it.

And they just signed Maggie G. as their new temptress. She’s great! Sexy, yet quirky. Unique.

But I’m so disappointed in this line, called “Pure Sex” by Kurt Geiger. AP already had darling retro heeled slippers with feathers and bows, which I can’t seem to find on the site now, and they have replaced them with this line of incredibly obvious and, I think, boring bordering on tacky shoes.

Black strapped patent platforms? Yawn! YSL did this better with the Tribute earlier this year. I don’t even find these sexy. They’re just so expected and better suited to Frederick’s.


Jennie

And they are expensive too. All of these are $495, except the boots which are $570!
These are supposed to be work-wear. They look kind of cheesy to me.


Peep

These come in black too. They look okay on the model, but, to me they look very uncomfortable and I know I would have strapmarks all over my feet.


Belle

These are getting better, but don’t look like anything that special. They come in black too.


Misty (I mean, seriously, who came up with these stupid names??? Misty? Blech!)

These have to be the best of the bunch, and I don’t even like booties. I think I only like them because they remind me of a Louboutin pair. They have a good heel on them.

Maybe there will be more designs for the line in the near future, but as of right now, I’m unimpressed.

Thank goodness the rest of the site is more “interesting” to look at.

Sassy, Elegant or Smoking Hot!

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

It is so not fair that I can’t have all three of these Manolo Blahniks! I love Resort collections almost as much as Fall. They usually have such a great sense of humor.

I love everything about these Sequin Pumps. I just have to decide which persona I want to be. That’s why it’s so hard to choose. They all feel like me and they’re all so wonderful!

A little Barbie-esque, girly sass in fuchsia.

Cool and elegant in the light pink-gold Oro.

Or classic Dorthy/Jessica Rabbit/Sexpot in crimson!

One of each please!

Designer Focus: Roger Vivier

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

I know Roger Vivier is an iconic designer and has been around for years and years, but most of the time I find his designs almost too simple and classic. I love his iconic buckle shoe,

but I’ve seen it interpreted so many times (including my Aerosoles in claret and black – not that I new they were channeling Vivier at the time) that they have lost some of their specialness.

The latest line of Vivier shoes, led by Creative Director Bruno Frisoni, are gorgeous. I can totally get behind these feather shoes…

For this latest collection he is focusing on the Fifties and Audrey Hepburn (ala Breakfast at Tiffany’s, if you ask me). I’m dying to get my hands on these gorgeous, colorful heels!

If you aren’t familiar with Roger Vivier, here’s a quick overview:

As Claire Wilcox, curator of the V&A’s current show The Golden Age of Couture, puts it, “Vivier’s shoes are like pieces of jewellery setting off the clothes they are paired with. He was traditional and at the same time incredibly modern.”

Vivier died, aged 90, in 1998. But his spirit lives on in a brand that is now stronger than ever, thanks to creative director Bruno Frisoni. In 2001, Frisoni was asked to inject modernity into the rich heritage of the brand. First came sightings of the Belle Vivier buckle pump in fashion magazines. Then, new stores created a frisson of excitement, in Paris in 2004 and London in 2006.

“Our ambition,” says Frisoni, “was to create a brand, not to set up another shoe shop.”

An art critic recently argued that Vivier shoes are high art, on a par with a Picasso or a Canaletto.

For Frisoni, who cites Cate Blanchett and Isabelle Huppert among his muses, “They are like jewels for the feet. They are a subtle and powerful luxury. Sexy, but never garish. The shoe is an accessory of seduction. Seduction is the watchword of my designs at Roger Vivier. The lady who wears these shoes is alive, she’s spontaneous, she is very intelligent but she can laugh at herself too. She’s energetic and glamorous all at the same time,” smiles Frisoni.