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The stores are talking about it, the magazines are putting it at the top of their trend lists and blogs everywhere are talking about how to wear it – rich purple hues, especially those reminiscent of berries. But what’s the most fool-proof way to incorporate any color trend into your wardrobe? Via shoes, of course!
Your feet are far enough from any visible skin (especially when the weather starts getting chilly – and with colored, opaque tights still being so big) it doesn’t matter what your skin tone. If you are in love with a color that doesn’t quite love you back, put it on your feet! Although I think purple is one color that looks good on everybody anyway.
Lucky Magazine’s Fall Shoe Guide in their September issue lists a bunch of great shoe styles (stay tuned for their complete list and other magazine’s choices in my next blog post) so I definitely wanted to mix some of those in when giving you examples of perfect purple shoes. First on Lucky’s list were Colored Suede Pumps, so I think this first pair by Nine West are fantastic. They’re also a High Heeled Mary Jane which was also on the list; Bonus! Second, I selected some Imagine by Vince Camuto heels because of the great color and crocodile texture. I want to wear these right now with black (footed) tights, a short gray skirt and a boyfriend style sweater – but that will have to wait at least a few weeks (still too warm in nyc).
In the second row, I’ve included two more hot styles for Fall according to the shopping guides at Lucky Mag (don’t worry, they picked 9): Patent Flats, mine are by Steve Madden, and Pointy Ankle Boots, below right by Nina (love that silver heel too). Happy Shopping!
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I just saw some interesting shoe info, so I thought I’d share a late Sunday post. Enjoy!
1. Copied from the ABC News article, “How High Heels Might Boost Your Sex Life” (!!!) - “In a study to be published in the journal European Urology, Cerruto presented the results of her tests on 66 women under the age of 50.
She found that if they stood with their feet at a 15-degree angle to the ground (the equivalent of a 3-inch heel) the electrical activity in their pelvic muscles was less — indicating the muscles were more relaxed with higher heels, thus improving their strength and ability to contract.
“We now hope to prove that wearing heels during daily activity may reduce the need for pelvic exercises,” says Dr. Cerruto.”
Read the entire article here and let me know what you think.
2. Next, I was so excited to get notification that the new TOMs wrap boots are now available in select stores, but all the stores I checked from their announcement list said they weren’t getting any (Whole Foods, Nordstroms etc).
But I was very happy to find some random e-tailers that are selling them online (below) !! The boots can be wrapped to any height you want, in any way you want (over pants or socks or on bare legs, etc) and were inspired by traditional Argentine polo games and the brightly colored leg wraps on the game ponies.They’re like ankle boots with a giant ace bandage attached – so simple but so brilliant! And they come in red, green, brown, black and probably more colors even I don’t know of!
And, as always, you can feel good about buying TOMs shoes since he donates a pair to a child in need for every pair purchased.
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UPDATE 11/5 – Check out this post by InStyle Magazine’s National Correspondent – Style Spy on the same Marc Jacobs mouse shoe collection I wrote about below – plus get a peek at the designer’s latest amazing version as part of a limited edition collaboration with KAWS – very limited, only 200 pairs! (and no, Style Spy and I are not related 
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I have another fabulous new trend to bring to your attention! I’m not sure exactly what to call them; maybe trompe l’oeil (french for “trick of the eye”) shoes or character shoes, but I love the ingenuity of design and the playfulness of this style.
You could probably guess that the designer front and center of this trend is the always imaginative and whimsical Marc Jacobs. His shoe collections over the past few years have featured ballet flats with varying little mouse faces! As shown in all their cuteness below, first he started with applique ears and whiskers, then did a version with the same features but this time just drawn onto the shoe. Currently, the master Marc is using a more subtle characterization in heels (a bow? no, wait. ears!) and another in flats (I think these flats would be better, though, if the bow was more whisker-like, the style is a little too subtle for me).
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But Marc Jacobs is not the only designer making shoes on this theme, and I don’t mean copycat imitations either. BC Footwear, for example, decided to make bunnies! (…) Although it would have been easy to make the same flats above and just change the animal, these bunny wedges are more situational comedy than straight fun design: fuzzy bedtime slippers being worn for everyday. I love the idea (and the ears are posable’s the little things).
Next we have Camper, who has an entire collection of shoes where the unifying concept is just that the left shoe is not identical to the right. For instance, one of these d’orsay flat shoes (below) is nothing out of the ordinary by itself, but when you put the left and right shoes together, sunglasses appear! (I actually have a pair of these rockin’ shoes that I got from SoleStruck! They have the best selection of Camper shoes that I’ve seen online – better than Zappos and Piperlime both!).
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Finally, I should mention the shoes that perhaps unintentionally fall into this category, but deserve no less glory for it. Take, for instance, these Carlos by Carlos Santana heelsthat look like they have butterflies on the toes. And maybe I’m out of the loop but Crocs really do look like smiling crocodile mouths, right? Last, I had to post these adorable Nine West flats. Draw your own conclusions!
Let me know if you find more examples, I’d love to see your discoveries!
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Just some neat tidbits to keep you up to date in the shoe world. And after a relatively cold spell in New York City this week, I thought I’d try to remind everyone that it is still August with some beachy (and numeric!) footprints. Enjoy!
After a fun collaboration with Eleanor Grosch which featured her cute animal prints and another with Nanette Leporewhich dressed up their basic flat sneakers, Keds is now joining forces with Zazzle.com to announce Keds Studio. This means that you’ll now be able to do what those designers did: take a plain classic lace-up or slip-on style and make it totally your own!
Now there are other footwear companies that currently have online customization programs; off the top of my head I can think of converse.com and timberland.com. However, the new Keds Studio goes a step further and will also allow you to upload your own graphics, text and art (as well as pre-created options, of course). We’re talking about the potential for absolutely, one of a kind shoes! So awesome. Wait, more? Now let’s say your shoes rock everyone’s socks and people are falling off sidewalks begging to know where they can get a pair… Keds Studio will also allow you to sell your design on their site and you get to name the price! Any difference between the actual cost and your price goes to you!! (I know there are a lot of exclamations in this paragraph, but honestly, I love it). Maybe I’m the only one that thinks about it this early, but Christmas presents? right?
** If you make a pair of your own, please post a link to your shoe gallery in your comment. I’d love to see how creative you are. I’ll post a picture of my shoes as soon as I make them.
I just heard about these great new shoes called The After Party Shoe. Unlike what you may have been squishing into your handbag when you know you’re not going to want walk home in those heels, these shoes fold in half and slip into a cute little carrying pouch to keep the dirt, etc out of your bag! (I have ruined the white interior of a gorgeous handbag because of carrying my shoes inside – note: if you’re ever making a handbag, ix-nay on the white interior-ay). Or, if you’ve actually been wearing those heels all night… you don’t know what you’re missing! I have not tried these on yet, but they come in a ton of cute styles that you might just want to wear all the time.
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Showing Some Love