Sensible for Tuesday

Well, I'm just mean, aren't I? I just throw some unbelievably beautiful shoes up on the blog for everyone to drool over & dream about, and very conveniently neglect to inform you that they cost over $800. Now, I'm all about you-get-what-you-pay-for and quality-not-quantity and I believe that saving up for an important/expensive purchase strengthens the character and all that, but $820 is... a buncha samoleons.

So I spent a large chunk of the weekend surfing the Series of Tubes to come up with some more reasonably-priced alternatives. It wasn't easy -- there isn't much out there with the elegance and beauty of those Louboutins. But I did find a few things. Click photos for links.


Kenneth Cole in black, red, or brown. These are on sale for under $50, but there are limited sizes, so if you like them you'd better jump quick.





Very pretty Isabella Fiore. These are embroidered rather than laser-cut, but I think the effect is similar. These are not cheap shoes, but they're still only about half of the Loubies.


Taryn by Taryn Rose -- chunkier, but that's always the way with Taryn Rose shoes, sadly. On the upside -- probably very comfortable, and a great shoe for work. Those would spiff up an office outfit nicely.


These are probably the closest thing I found. They are by someone called N.Y.L.A., and I don't know this brand so cannot speak with any authority about the quality of the shoe. But they're quite literally about a tenth of the price of the Loubies, so they'd be a good way to scratch the itch. (If anyone orders them I hope they'll let me know.) They also come in three other colors, including a very nice blue.

Happy shopping!

Photos: Piperlime.com, Saks.com, Zappos.com

Shocking for Monday

Would you just look at this shoe?

Isn't that pretty? That's not just pretty -- that's downright hot! Classic black patent pump with the added fillip of the high mary jane strap -- and look at that sexysexy lowcut side and toe cleavage. Really gorgeous. Imagine those with a little pencil skirt and a tie-necked blouse -- very Naughty Secretary, very hot. This is the sort of shoe that men actually notice and when they compliment you on them they actually mean it, as opposed to reciting some line from "The Rules for Men" (if there is such a thing) in an effort to override your common sense and better judgment.

Now sit down.

This shoe is from Naturalizer!

I'm not kidding!! When I think Naturalizer, I think "sensible," I think "comfortable," I think -- forgive me -- "butt ugly." But I was shocked to see several pairs of very, very attractive shoes on that website, not to mention extremely reasonable prices (those beauties above go for a measly 79 bucks -- click for the link).

I feel awfully happy about being able to show you a really good-looking shoe for under $100, especially considering I tortured you with that Louboutin miracle on Friday, which retails for a cool $820. I felt guilty about that all weekend and I'm still tracking down some more reasonable alternatives -- I have had a long hard day slogging through the internets and I have found some things I'm going to show you tomorrow, but right now my clicking thumb is exhausted and I'm going to have a drink and watch "Bridezillas."

Photo: Naturalizer.com

Pretty for Friday

I just wanted to send you off to your weekend with something beautiful to dream about.





It's bittersweet for me, since because this is a Christian Louboutin shoe I will probably never own it (not being able to squeeze my giant mudflap of a foot into it); but just knowing this shoe exists makes me feel better about the world.

My own foot is doing pretty well. I'll probably get my stitches out on Tuesday and while the foot is sore, it appears to be on schedule. Occasionally, I sneak into my closet to peek at my motivation for healing:


As yet virginal, they wink their little crystals at me in the darkness, waiting patiently. And last night, I had a dream about running -- oh, it was bliss. It may be the first time in my entire life when a pair of shoes from Saucony excites me even more than Manolo Blahniks. (Which tells you how completely off-kilter things have become.)

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Photos: Net-A-Porter.com, Style Spy

My Eyes!!! My Eyes!!!

I'm still on the prowl for replacement booties for the Miu Mius. I'm seeing lots of great booties out there for fall, so I am hopeful; but today while I was roaming around on the Series of Tubes I came across a few pairs I wanted to warn you about. See, I saw the Harry Potter movie last night and (spoiler-ish alert) and took note of the way that Harry takes it upon himself to help his fellow students learn to defend themselves against the Dark Arts. Think of me as your Fashion Harry Potter, preparing you to ward off the likes of the following. I have provided links, God forgive me.

(Giuseppe Zanotti, who sometimes gets it right and sometimes really, really does not)

Good googly-moogly. Shoes for the unholy spawn of Victoria Beckham and the Yeti.





What the Wicked Witch of the West wears for a hot night out on the town. Because you can't always be wearin' them damn ruby slippers, girl!



Brown shoes with built-in blue corduroy ankle warmers. Golly. Why didn't someone come up with this sooner? Seriously, who does that??? Sometimes the best thing about these ridiculous shoes is the reviews that people have posted about them. Here's one for these:

"Love these, they are perfect for what I need them for."

The mind reels, trying to imagine exactly what that might be.








Shoes? Or office furniture? Who can say?




These shoes are from House of Dereon, the label designed by Beyoncé Knowles' mother Tina, a.k.a. the woman who thought that this


was a good idea. Knowing that, it's hard to be surprised by the explosion of bad going on with the shoes above. Honestly, it could be worse.

So. You've been warned. Be careful out there -- it isn't always pretty.


Photos: Zappos.com, Getty Images

Local Blogger Makes Good!

Pleased as punch to announce the addition of the lovely and hilarious Plumcake to the Manolo's stable of superfantastic contributors. Plumcake is an Austinite with a thing for shoes, just like me. She will be one of the two posters handling the duties at the newest branch of the Manolo's family tree, Manolo for the Big Girls. Go check her out -- she's great!

Hearty congratulations to one of my Shoe Sisters!!

Throwing Focus

There's a term in theater -- "throwing focus." It's when you direct attention away from something you don't want the audience to pay attention to to something you do. Since this is the state of my foot:

(Shine doesn't like it. It's too clunky & a little scary.)

I figure I need to emphasize some other part of me right now, huh? (It's better than it was -- I've managed to rub off some of the gorgeous orange Betadine that covered every millimeter of skin and I painted my toenails last night.) Don't get me wrong, I'm used to people looking at my feet, but it's usually for happier reasons.

At any rate, it's got me thinking about my other limbs, so I went tooling around online (which is the only way I could tool around for a couple of days) looking at some nifty rings. Click on the photos for links.

Nifty clear lucite -- goes with everything, and a great price!

Carved red lucite by Alexis Bittar, who does super-cool stuff. I have a glass ring that's similar:




I just love that big, bright jolt of color.



This one has my birthstone -- peridot.



It comes with the stones in other colors, also. I think I really like this, but the dangly bits might be bothersome. I'd have to try it on.




Great enamel, also comes in other colors. I also have one a lot like this, that I bought at my favorite jewelry store in Paris



called Aventurine on the rue Francs Bourgeois in the Marais. I adore this ring -- you can't see all the detail in it, but it's a beautiful example of how good French enamel is.




This one is wonderfully sparkly, and reminds me of yet another of mine:


I got this one at Agatha in Paris -- still more fantastic French costume jewelry.



This is just cooool. Classic and geometric, but still has a handmade vibe about it. It's a real amethyst, and it's also on sale!






This is by the amazing Robert Lee Morris -- the guy who does all Donna Karan's jewelry and accessories, including the bottle for her latest perfume. I adore his jewelry -- it's sculptural and sensuous and statement-y. It's also pretty pricey, so I'll be waiting a long time to add any to the collection, sadly.




Not so humongous as the others, with a more delicate feel. Also on sale.



Very Chanel-y, for a much more reasonable price. We heart Kenneth Jay Lane, he does great costume jewelry.

This next one is driving me to distraction because I waaaaaaaant it.



Enormous lucite paisley with gold. Good googly-moogly, I'm completely smitten with this.



Isn't it gorgeous?? And it's really not that spendy -- only 60 bucks! I'm thinking this may need to be a birthday present to myself...

So, this is how I've been distracting myself the last few days. Things are actually going really well with the foot, but it was a great excuse to spend hours window shopping online.

Speaking of shopping: Nordstrom's anniversary sale is on now. I gimped myself up there yesterday & bought a couple of new bras, including one by Felina that is almost exactly like the Wacoal I featured here, with the added bonus of some pretty embroidery, two other colors, and matching underpants. I highly rec. I also got a chance to check out the potential substitute boots and I've decided against them. They just aren't... quite. Ah, well. The search continues.

Photos: Style Spy, Fragments.com, ShopBop.com, RobertLeeMorris.com, LaurieSolet.com

Making Do

So what do we think of these?

(BCBGirls)

I just got the catalog for the Nordstoms sale and they were in them. They don't have quite the same feel as the Miu Mius, but they're certainly in the neighborhood, and a fraction of the price. And if I get the ones that are a fraction of the price, I could potentially also get this:

(Maxx New York)

which is also at Nordstrom and hopefully on sale as well. (Also, pretty darned cute and I have been a-hankerin' for a red patent bag.) My problem is that I've had a few pairs of BCBG shoes and while they're decent quality and usually quite cute, they've all been really rough on my feet. Also, I'm afraid they're not... quite. I may be ruined forever by the Miu Mius.

These would have done me quite nicely:

(Stuart Weitzman)

but they're only available in black or brown suede. Not what I'm after.

It is truly hard for me to believe that every shoe manufacturer on the planet has not heard my piteous wailing after red patent ankle boots and instantly responded with alternatives. I'm a little hurt, frankly. Is this any way for the Shoeniverse to treat someone as devoted as myself? I think not.

So, what do we think, people? My inclination right now is to go ahead & order the BCBGirls and see how they are up close & personal. I can always give them back, right?

A personal note (who are we kidding, this whole post was a personal note): I'm getting my foot fixed tomorrow. After about 1:00 pm, my plantar fasciitis will no longer plague me and I can wear whatever shoe I want whenever I want to. (After the first two weeks of recovery in a surgical shoe and then sneakers, of course. THAT is the part I dread. Seriously -- I have dinner plans at a nice place this Sunday. I can't believe I have to wear one of those silly things out in public. It will be infinitely more painful than the foot itself. I may have to get drunk to even leave the house...) At any rate, you may not hear from me for a few days -- evidently there are painkillers involved in this whole endeavor and I think it would be ill-advised to post while I was high.

Photos: Nordstrom, Zappos.com

The Twenty-Dollar Giggle

There are things in a person's closet that are investments. The sorts of things you know will last for years, that you will wear many times over, that form the backbone of your wardrobe and personal style. A great winter coat, for example. The perfect pair of boots. The go-to cocktail dress that always makes you feel gorgeous & glamorous. A classic handbag that smartens up everything you wear with it. These are the sorts of things everyone needs, and they are also the items you should spend a little extra money on. It makes sense, if you're going to rely on something for the next 10 or 15 years, to get the best version of it you can possibly afford.

On the other hand, there are the giggles. The goofy, whimsical, or totally of-the-moment items that you may wear for one season or with one outfit and that's it. Funny or frivolous things that are just for giggles. Like these:

(Beverly Feldman, boop-boop-a-doop)

I've been seeing them at the Neiman Marcus outlet for a while now and while they always made me smile, I just couldn't justify spending even the outlet price on them. However, this weekend I was poking around and dicovered that evidently the folks at the outlet are tired of looking at them, and they were marked down to 18 bucks and change -- with tax the total was $20.56. Seriously. Well, I think a $20 giggle is not a bad bargain. And believe it or not, I'd actually been looking around casually for something fun & colorful to wear with this little cutie-pie from DVF:


Great little crisp cotton sundress with a nice full skirt that is actually the proper length for a grown-up! I love this dress, especially when the weather in Austin reverts to its usual hot, muggy mid-July self. I only have one other pair of Beverly Feldman shoes:


which are equally, um... eye-catching and, as I recall, which I also bought waaaay on sale. (Although I truly love these boots and wear them with surprising frequency -- they went to Paris with me last winter. Parisian women admired my boots! So there!) Ms. Feldman's shoes are usually pretty over the top; sometimes wonderfully so:
and sometimes not so much:
Ya know, I'm a pretty adept stylist and I just can't think of a single thing... It's like these were made at some Pole Dancers' Quilting Bee. I just don't get it.

I wore my new $20 giggles to a Bastille Day celebration Saturday night (Vive la France!) and they seemed appropriate somehow. I can't help but feel people should call me Fifi when I'm wearing them, n'est ce pas?

Photos: Style Spy, BeverlyFeldmanShoes.com

More Things I Didn't Know I Needed

Continuing on with my avaricious coverage of the Fall 2007 Couture Collections, I bring you a few more things I may or may not (probably not) be able to live without:


#1: A patent leather beret.

(Also, Helena Christenson's cheekbones & cleavage wouldn't hurt)

This is from Dior. I do like hats, I wear them, although they do regrettable things to my curlycurly hair. (If you're me and you put on a hat, you're committed to the hat for the duration. Because when I take off the hat, my hair behaves as though it's still wearing the hat. Someone with stick-straight hair was complaining to me the other day about how she can't wear hats because her hat head is so terrible and I looked at her like she had three... well, heads. Was she kidding me?? How could it make any difference? Me, on the other hand -- I look like some weird topiary shrub after I've worn a hat for a while. But I digress...) I'm very taken with this hat, I think it's adorable. I also love pretty much all things patent leather, although I predict this little chapeau may mark the apex of the patent leather trend -- there's pretty much nothing left to make out of it, so I think the pendulum will swing back in the other direction. This means snap up all the patent you can find while it's out there, because it won't be around forever.


#2: This dress

(Lefranc Ferrant)

I just love this. (But not the puffball headgear.) I love the idea of a long, easy shirtdress, that skirt whipping around your feet as you waltz around your fabulous penthouse apartment making sure all your friends' wine glasses are full. So elegant, so cozy.


#3: Long leather gloves

(Lefranc Ferrant)

Because they're just cool. Admit it, there's something very sexy about an elbow-length glove, especially a leather one. Also, since I think the bracelet-sleeve coat is still going to be around this winter, they're practical. I picked up a black pair last year and I really love them, but this year I think I need them in colors:

(Valentino -- gloves AND feathers! Heaven!)

(Dior)

I'm still eating my heart out about the gray patent leather ones I saw on sale at Saks last winter and didn't buy. Look at these with all the fabulous buttons:

(Nicolas le Cauchois)

#4: A gorgeous little jeweled evening minaudiere. I just can't think of anything more glamorous. (These are all from Valentino. Mr. Valentino is responsible for quite a lot of acquisitive impulses on my part this season, and I suspect I won't be alone in that.)









#5: I'm really not at all sure what's going on with these but I love them anyway

(Jean Paul Gaultier)

Wow.


And finally, since I'm asking for stuff, how about this guy:



He closed the show at Dior. I feel he would be a lovely addition to my wardrobe, don't you?


Photos: Elle.com, Style.com

Wonder Drug

The shoes below are all from the Fall 2007 Valentino Haute Couture show. (This show, by the way, was absolutely stunning. It's a celebration of Valentino's 45 years of designing, and the entire thing was beyond beautiful. Be sure to check it out.)

These are the sorts of shoes that should come with warning labels and lists of potential side effects.


Warning: may cause sashaying, seductiveness, rampant flirtation, and uncontrollable giggling.




Exposure to shoes may bring on sudden, intense fits of envy which may be followed by delusional conspiracies to commit crimes against person wearing shoes, or absentmindedness characterized by persistent daydreaming about a relationship with shoes.



Do not attempt to operate heavy machinery, light machinery or even open the door to a four-star restaurant while wearing shoes.


Exposure may cause lightheadedness leading to intoxication and euphoria.


Best administered with champagne. Valet parking required.


I'm pretty sure that when my podiatrist told me to wears heels as much as possible he was talking about these, and yet they do not appear to be on my insurance company's list of approved drugs. I'm going to need to speak with someone about that, stat.

Photos: Style.com

Things I Didn't Know I Needed

Okay, I've been going through the Couture collections and it's been brought to my attention (ahem) that there are a few items out there that Style Spy is desperately in need of for her wardrobe this fall. All I can say is, thank god for fashion journalism, because otherwise I would never have known I needed these things. (A narrow escape, that!)

#1: GINORMOUS beaded necklaces:

(Both from Christian Lacroix)

Especially the second picture -- the glass or pearly ones. I really love a big, statement-y piece of jewelry, as I think I've mentioned before. Typically, I only do one at a time, which is a more real world-friendly way of wearing them, I think. But the magic of a good piece of important jewelry is that it snazzes up the most basic outfit & turns it into something wonderful. I'm imagining that oversized pearl necklace with a black cashmere turtleneck and a black leather skirt, along with black suede boots and some sort of great long jacket -- my hot pink velvet one, maybe. I can't resist (most of the time) a bit of well-chosen whimsy in an accessory or garment, and there's something a little Through the Looking Glass about the enormous scale of these necklaces that I'm completely charmed by.

(Important note: If you're petite, do not try this at home. I'm 5'6". If you're much shorter than that, these things are going to overwhelm you. Go with something that has the same idea but on a smaller scale.)

#2 Fabulous over-the-knee boots (all of these are from Chanel):



Ohhhhhh, I just love the way these look.


How's that for a way to sex up a tweed suit?

If you look closely, you can see that these aren't boots, they're actually spats over shoes.



Look! Crazy-gorgeous jeweled fabric ones!!! Oh, I could faint!

KL's been working this over-the-knee boot thing for a few collections now, and I've yet to get tired of it. It does make for a wonderfully long lean legline. Which, of course, is the source of the main problem about this look, at least for me. I have very-well-developed calves and have trouble as it is finding boots that zip over them. Factor my even more generous lower thighs into the equation and I may be talking about a complete pipe dream. But dream I will, because I love this look.

Speaking of gorgeous jeweled things, apparently I need some glittery, gem-encrusted sunglasses:

(Chanel)

These are so very, very not me and yet I'm completely in love with them.

#4: A skirt made of feathers:

(Valentino)

(Givenchy -- I think this is actually made of something like Mongolian lamb, but it reads like feathers)

I know this is going to give a lot of people pause, but I just love the way it looks.

(More Valentino -- how could anyone not love this???)

I'm also a big fan of skirts made of things like tulle & whatnot -- I really love the tutu effect. And the feathers (technically marabou -- the soft, fluffy bits that feather boas are made from) flutter so delicately -- I adore clothes that have movement in them. I already have a skirt that's made of shredded tulle and paillettes that has a similar effect to this one, although not nearly as good:

(Prada)

I've had a sneaking suspicion that this was something I was going to fall in love with since I saw that, and it was confirmed when I saw Miuccia Prada at the Costume Institute event:


I know a lot of people hated this, but I loved it. I don't think this is actually feathers, I think it's plastic strips, but you get the idea. Why do I love it? Because it's fun, because it's whimsical, because it's almost fairy-princessy.

(Givenchy -- This one, however, is full-on Swan Lake and may be a bit much.)

If you can't do the full feather, how about just a little:

(Valentino)

I defy any woman to put on that dress and not feel like the Prettiest. Girl. In the World. Oh, that honestly makes me a little week in the knees.

One more thing I need and then I'll stop (for today) -- these booties:

(Christian Lacroix)

I don't really have to explain why, do I? I just... neeeeeeeed them. Because they're wonderful.

Stay tuned -- more fabulosity coming soon! Did you see anything at the couture shows you can't live without? Tell me all about it!

Photos: Elle.com, Style.com

"Beauty Feeds the Soul"

Texas lost one of our treasures today.

Lady Bird Johnson personified so much of what I love about Texas: graciousness, grit, warmth, generosity. She was indeed a lady through and through, an accomplished woman in her own right as well as the paragon of a political wife. Her legacy is found, among other places, scattered along the highways of Texas (and the entire nation) and in Austin's own beautiful Wildflower Center. She will be greatly missed.

Tomorrow I'm going to pick up a wildflower bouquet in her honor, to remind me of something I heard her say in an interview once: "Beauty feeds the soul." Words to live by.

Take a moment to appreciate something beautiful in honor of this great lady. You'll be a better person because of it, as we are a better country because of her.

My Spidey Sense is Tingling

Fashion, they say, is a young man's game. (Oh, surely someone has said that -- they say it about everything else!) So young, evidently, that some of them are still reading comic books and collecting superhero dolls. (Oh, I'm sorry -- action figures. Very important distinction.) Here, take a look:





And here's the creator of these sophisticated ensembles:

What is he, 16???

Actually, he's 32 -- that photo happens to make him look particularly young. His name is Felipe Oliviera Baptista and he's a Portuguese designer who showed the above looks at the Fall 2007 Couture shows in Paris this month. You can see the whole collection and his previous collections here. Based on the t-shirt he's wearing and a few other looks from the show, he appears actually to be taking his inspiration from luchadores. (Trust me, this is not better than superheroes.) I'd like to say this is a flukey season from someone with a lot of promise, but I'm not prepared to go that far. He seems to have some... interesting ideas about shape and proportion, but is a little ham-handed in the execution of them. Not to mention some rather distressingly literal interpretations of what was evidently an equestrian theme in a previous collection:

Seriously?

Also, he appears to have a penchant for covering his models faces when showing the clothes. This is probably a device to throw focus to the garments themselves instead of the girls wearing them, but still... it gives me a bit of the willies. I find it a little dehumanizing.


Not that I'm positive he's all that interested in humans anyway:

(Still trying to work out how this fits into the collections with the horsey bits. Not having any luck with that.)

Ah, couture. Sometimes sumblime, sometimes... not so sublime. Still, I'm glad there's a forum for folks to indulge their flights of fancy, even if said flights are punctuated with the clip-clop of hooves.

(Will be showing you some of the sublimer parts in the next few days -- stay tuned!)

Photos: Elle.com

Conversion Experience

We all have our little soapbox things -- the topics about which we find ourselves being a bit evangelical or strident. (Crocs, for example, in my case.) For my friend Sian, it's bras. Sian feels very strongly about women wearing the wrong bras, and advocates actively for getting fitted by a proper bra specialist. (May I qualify this by saying that "soapbox" is rather a strong word for anything ever done by my lovely, soft-spoken, porcelain-skinned English Rose of a friend, whom I cannot imagine being anything close to strident even if her hair were on fire.)



So, this weekend, in the spirit of sisterhood and fashion research, I hied myself to Nordstrom's and had a fitting.

Well. Whaddya know. Sian's right.

There's an oft-quoted statistic that 70 -80% of women are wearing the wrong size bra and as it turns out -- I'm one of them. For pretty much my entire bra-wearing life I have been wearing a 34 A. I should have been wearing a 32 A or B, depending on how the bra is made. I'll be damned. I think a lot of why this might be happening so much is that women are embarrassed by the idea of a complete stranger standing next to us in a dressing room while we are nearly naked from the waist up, examining us and our... accessoires. But honestly, the SA at Nordstrom's (whose name I did not get, much to my chagrin) was so frank & funny & matter-of-fact that it was a real pleasure dealing with her. Not even remotely embarrassing. She measured me and then trotted off, bringing back with her a lovely selection of bras that fit me really nicely. Several that I was willing to purchase, as a matter of fact, because they looked so nice and felt so good. But then I put on this one:

(Wacoal iBra 85780)

and the clouds parted and the angels sang. Honest to goodness, ladies, this thing is fantastic. It's seamless, tagless, all one piece, perfectly smooth, made of the softest fabric (that Tactel stuff), lays completely flat against my ribcage, and the nude color is perfect -- nice & light for us fair-skinned girls. (I have a real grudge against a lot of bra makers, whose so-called "nude" shades are nowhere near nude if your skin tone is anything like mine. And nothing toasts my waffle like wearing a "nude" bra that shows under a white shirt -- something I wear a lot.) They also make it in a color called "suntan," which would be better for someone with darker skin. It's wonderfully comfortable, I really love it.

This is not a fancy bra, no lacy pretty girly bits to foof it up, but I gotta tell ya -- my girly bits? Look like a million bucks in this thing. If I'd had one of these bras when I was 15, I would have had a completely different self-image. I honestly want to walk around shirtless.




And one of the reasons is that this baby is a push-up bra. Oh, I resisted for years the blandishments of the push-up bra. I am very small-busted, I always have been. And I'm really perfectly okay with that; it honestly has its advantages and once I got past adolescence (which is not fun no matter what your body is shaped like, let's face it) I really liked my pert, perky, petite ones. But it is very, very difficult to find a small-sized bra that is not loaded with padding. On the whole it annoys me because it always seemed that the lingerie industry just couldn't wrap its head around the idea that I didn't necessarily want to be an entire cup size larger, I just wanted to properly support what I had. When I was young, I was okay with a soft cup bra -- one that has only a layer or two of fabric -- but as I've gotten older & more sensible I've become more sensitive to the subject of, er... protrusion and now I prefer a "contour" cup bra that presents a nice smooth surface under the clothing. Some padding, yes, but I didn't want to become Anna Nicole Smith. (Heaven forfend!) Didn't ever want to be accused of false advertising. It seemed like wearing a padded bra was admitting that I wasn't happy with the body I had and wanted to change it.



Well, I am officially over that now. This bra has what the SA charmingly referred to as "a little bump-up." Not a huge, Frederick's of Hollywood one, but it definitely has some padding in the bottom of the cup. And, turns out a little bump-up was exactly what I needed. Is it artifice? Yes, a little bit. But. I also color my hair, wear mascara, and shave my legs -- artifice all. If you are not in need of this particular bit of technology, they make this bra in a couple of different versions, and without the bump. But I'm enjoying mine. This is as close to cleavage as I think I've ever gotten.

This is not a cheap little piece of lingerie -- this bra retails for $53, which is far and away the most I've ever spent on one. But I'm telling you -- I'm going to get more. I've had my conversion experience, I'm a member of the Proper Bra Flock now.

Any other good bras I should know about? Let's hear it!

Photo: fashion-Era.com, BareNecessities.com, Wikipedia.com

Crushed!

The lip, it quivers.

The eyes, they glisten with tears.

I am crushed. Devastated. Gobsmacked. How can this be? The people at Miu Miu have pulled a bait & switch on me! I feel like a toddler whose favorite stuffed toy was just yanked from her hands and tossed out the car window. Bye-bye, Mr. Bear!!!

I just received an e-mail from Lizette in Customer Searches at Prada. She sent me the product number for these boots that I have been daydreaming about for weeks now:




along with where I could buy them in black (Nieman's, Saks, Nordstrom) but, but, but...

"I am sorry to inform you that red is not available."

WHAT?

WHY NOT??

Why not available to Style Spy -- they were available enough to the people at Vogue, who got a picture of them and splashed them right there across the page for sensitive, loving souls such as myself to fall in love with!! Are you kidding me? -- I've already mapped out the trajectory of our relationship -- I have outfits planned!!! (Sadly, no, I am not kidding. My friends, this is who I am.) I was thinking I would take them with me to Paris in November -- how cute would I have been, sitting at a café, my black velvet stole wrapped nonchalantly around my shoulders, enjoying my verre de vin blanc, legs daintily crossed, with my red patent leather bootie dangling several inches above the cobblestones of rue de Buci?

Pretty damn cute, that's how cute!!

But no, it is not to be.

Honestly, I really feel quite hurt. Why would they do this? Obviously, if you show a boot as fantastic as that one a lot of people are going to want it. Why would you have a photo of it if you're not going to make it available? Why would you tease me like this???? I'm confused, I'm stung, I'm disillusioned. Next thing you know, someone is going to tell me there's no Santa Claus. Or Shoe Fairy.

Someone pet me, please. I feel like I might cry. Maybe I should go put on my new Manolos for a few minutes.


Photo: Vogue

Confession and Confusion

I stand before you, my head hanging low in shame.

I have violated my No Buy.

In my defense, please look at them:

(Manolo Blahnik Prisca)

If that's not enough for you, consider this: 75% off. Yeah, you heard me. So. Yes, I broke my No Buy. But I feel that unthinking orthodoxy in any belief system leads to fanaticism and you don't want me to become a fanatic, do you?

I didn't think so.

Seriously, this was the sort of gift from the Shoeniverse that it would have been wrong -- and potentially dangerous -- to walk away from. When the Footwear Powers That Be toss you this sort of goodie, you dare not say no. Because the Shoeniverse might then decide that you are unworthy of its gifts and withdraw them (insert ominous organ chords here -- dun-duh-DUH!!!!!) forever. It was a test -- a test to determine whether my devotion to shoes outweighs my common sense.

I'm happy to report that it does.

Look! Look at them!



Tiny adorable sparkling crystal flowers! The merest slivers of shiny, warm golden leather! Swoon!!!

And a further confession -- my shoes appear to be smarter than me. I'm not exactly sure how I'm supposed to wear these little beauties. The straps on the back lend themselves to a variety of configurations and I can't quite decide how I'm going to work them. There are long cords that are obviously supposed to be ties, but there are also loops that are either supposed to function as slingbacks or as halters that go across the top of the foot. I'm not quite sure of how Maestro Blahnik envisioned these. So tell me what you think. (The black tights in the photos are a device to make it easier to see the straps, not -- I repeat, NOT -- a fashion statement.)

(Also, a warning. The rest of this post, unless you are as shoe-focused as I am, is going to strike you as meaningless, blithering gobbledegook. Unless you, like me, are the sort of person who can spend a good chunk of time tying and re-tying a scarf, adjusting the length/configuration of a long strand of beads, or fiddling with the placement of a brooch on a sweater, well... the following is probably just going to make you want to smack me. Just so you know, I'm actually a fairly well-rounded person -- I can talk politics or literature or food & wine... but this is my style blog, dammit! And here we talk shoes!!)


Halter across the back, tie around the ankles once with a bow at the back. I find the bow a little floppy and annoying.



Same thing, but wrapped around twice and knotted in the front. I think this is a nice neat option, but I'm not convinced I love the whole ankle-tie thing. I also did this in reverse -- halter across the front, wrapped twice and the small knot in the back. I think that's my favorite of the ankle-tie options.


This is the halter at the front and the ties wrapped once and bowed in the front. That bow is way too big.


Here I've got the halter across my instep and the tie knotted at the back of my ankle, without wrapping it around. Now, the length of these ties makes it obvious that they were supposed to be wrapped around the ankle at least once, but I'm kind of liking the bareness of this option -- this is about as little strappage (I just made up that word) as you can get and not have it be a slide. Very bare, especially on a naked leg, and that is always sexy. However, if I choose to do it this way, I'll definitely have to cut the ties so that they're shorter because that bow is out of control. And who am I to destroy the work of the Maestro?


This is the same thing in reverse -- halter at the back, tie on the front. Ditto comments about cutting ties.

So, what do you think? Or did you tune out four photos ago?

On a practical note, these are going to be my birthday shoes. I'm having a procedure on my foot to finally fix this endless plantar fasciitis foolishness on July 20, which will require me to wear (oh, I can hardly say it) one of those surgical shoes and then sneakers for something like two weeks. By the time my birthday rolls around in mid-August I should be cleared for high heels again (not to mention being able to wear flats without weeping -- hurrah!!!) and these seem like the perfect way to celebrate both my increasing stock of wisdom and maturity (::ahem::) AND my good-as-new, no longer painful, no-more-limping foot. So if you see me out & about in Austin in mid-August wearing these shoes and enjoying a crème brûlée, wish me joyeux anniversaire!

Photos: Style Spy

A Style Reminder

For the record:

This is jewelry.

This?

IS NOT!!

Oh. My. God. These things enrage me. I want to yank them out of peoples' ears and shove them up their noses while seething, "Can you hear me NOW????" Not only are they horrifying to look at (What are you? The Borg?), but they are the very height of self-involved rudeness. "I am SO important that I must at any moment be ready to ignore you in order to listen to the voice in my ear." People are actually wearing these things while they're out socializing with their friends -- I see people in bars with these giant silvery cockroaches glued to the sides of their heads while they drink beer & talk to their buddies. (These are even worse -- far worse -- than having your cell phone clipped to your belt like some sort of geeky high-tech weapon in the Wild Wild iWest.) My response, whenever someone speaks to me while wearing one of these wretched devices, is to look puzzled and frown and not respond until they have to repeat themselves and then I say, "Oh, I'm sorry. Are you talking to me? Or someone on your earphone? It's hard to tell."

I understand the convenience of them, and I really don't have a problem with someone in an office using one of these to talk while leaving her hands free. It is a useful tool. But it is exactly that -- a tool. It is not an accessory, it is not a decoration. So please, I'm begging you -- take these things out of your ears. They're awful.

And besides -- they distract from your earrings.

Photos: Saks.com, motorola.com

Be Careful What You Wish For

You know the leopard print thing I've been having? This might be enough to cure me:

Ricardo Tisci for Givenchy Couture

Wow. That's... a lot of kitty cat. Way more kitty cat than most anyone needs, if you ask me. You wear that outfit & someone's liable to give you your own litter box. Me-ow. (Of course, this is from the runway of a couture show, so it's all about over-the-top and not necessarily how you would wear things in real life.)

This jacket, though, is pretty fantastico:


I've always somewhat irrationally loved ombré effects, and that's a pretty damn cool one. I'd prefer to see it worn with something a little simpler (I'm of the philosophy that one animal-print item per outfit is probably plenty), but imagine that jacket with a good pair of black slacks (and without the riding hat) and a black cashmere turtleneck. Pretty fabulous.

Okay, so maybe I'm not cured after all. Purrrrrrrrr...

More about the couture collections (which are happening as we speak in Paris and ONCE AGAIN I am not there, much to my chagrin) soon. Get ready -- there's some intense fabulosity going on in Paris right now.

Photos: Style.com

Bags and Baggage

This is my Longchamp Le Pliage bag:


It's a fantastic fold-uppable travel bag made of very sturdy nylon with beautiful leather trim. I've known of the existence of these things for years, but when I went to Paris for the first time I realized they are nearly ubiquitous -- it seemed like every Parisian woman I saw was carrying one. After I bought one, I realized why: they're brilliant. This thing is like the clown car of bags: you cannot believe how much stuff you can get into it. It's genius. It instantly became my carry-on bag for air travel: you can fit all your traveling needs: potions & lotions (in less-than-one-ounce containers, sealed in a ziplock!), your makeup, antihistamines or nausea medicine to knock you out so that you sleep through most of the flight, your iPod, a couple of energy bars & pieces of fruit to offset the nearly-toxic qualities of typical airline food, a neck pillow, a cardigan, some books & (fashion) magazines, a bottle of water (bought AFTER you clear security, thanks very much), and a partridge in a pear tree. It was also great for wandering around Paris itself, happily swallowing the odd perfume purchase and Eiffel Tower-shaped trinket, plus a palmier from Ladurée to take back to the hotel for a late-night nibble. It folds up nice & neat:


and manages to be chic and functional all at once. How many items in the world can you say that about? My red one is the "Sac Large," which measures about 19" x 12", and I have the long handle drop. You can order them online from Longchamp, but even more exciting, you can customize them -- choose the colors of nylon, the hardware, and even have your initials embossed in the leather. Of course, I'm dying for a customized one now...

They sell them at a few different places here in the states, including Nordstrom & Saks. (What I really suggest, though, is going to Paris and buying one there. I've never felt so chic and in-the-know in my entire life as when I strolled down the rue Saint-Honoré with my Longchamp shopping bag in my hand. I stopped and had a glass of wine at a café in the Palais Royal gardens, with my bag cuddled up next to my feet, just to extend the moment. Oooooooh, November can't get here soon enough...)

They have a few on sale on the website right now, in seasonal colors. I can't recommend these strongly enough -- with summer here, everyone needs a good, sturdy, non-Disney-character-embossed totebag for beaches & picnics & vacations, and what with the dollar slowly making its way into the Inner Circles of Economic Hell, they aren't going to get any cheaper any time soon.

Longchamp makes absolutely stunning leather goods. (Check out their website here, although be warned about the slightly annoying music that accompanies.) Their bags are not cheap, but they're not overly trendy, either. They make the sort of beautiful, classic bag you can carry for years and years, not worrying about if it's "last season."


See? That is a bag you could carry absolutely forever. So fab. That being said, here's the little beauty that inspired me to talk about Longchamp in the first place:


This is called the Legende and it was supposedly inspired/co-designed by Kate Moss. Much as I don't usually trust the design instincts of cokeheads, I really, really love this bag. It's a beaut, and evidently it has a bright red lining. (Ms. Moss' contribution. Much easier to find things, like your stash, when the lining of your bag is a bright color.) It's supposed to be available in July, and it looks like it's going to be going for around a cool $1400, so I don't suppose I'll be picking one up, but it did make me go "ooh." For now I'll have to make do with my Pliage (which means "fold" en francais, by the way) and dreams of Paris. They've gotten me this far...

Photos: Style Spy, bagshop.com, Longchamp.com