There’s an obvious bit of Shoe Deja Vu going on here between these Buffalo sandals, and Miu Miu’s polka dot platforms from last summer: the bright green upper, the crossover front, the ankle strap and the platform. Nevertheless, they’re not identical: the Buffalo version adds a blue platform, and uses slimmer straps -there’s definitely no danger of them being mistaken for Miu Miu, but I’m rather taken with them all the same, as you can probably imagine. Well, green, polka dots, bright blue – it’s like they were made just to tempt me.
While we’re on the subject of polka dots, temptation, and Buffalo, here’s another pair from their summer collection which caught my eye:
Although I’m not a huge fan of flat shoes, I always like to have at least one red pair in stock at any given time, and I wear them until they fall apart, red being one of my shoe “neutrals”. These ones are super-cute, and will add a touch of fun to even a dull pair of jeans…or shorts, or whatever else you want to wear them with.
You can click here to view these, and the rest of the Buffalo collection, at Spartoo.
One of my New Year’s resolutions for Shoeperwoman.com is to show you more pairs of fabulous flats, because even although I rarely wear them myself, flats are popular for a reason (and are very much a wardrobe staple, too).
This pair is from the See by Chloe diffusion line, and I like them, not just because of the colour combination, which reminds me of ice cream, summer, and other nice things, but because of the hidden wedge. Although flats are generally praised as a more “sensible” option than heels (which they often are, I’m sure), if they’re totally flat, they can actually be pretty bad for your feet, providing little to no arch support, and not much cushioning to the heel. By giving these ones a small, hidden wedge, the designer has retained the look and feel of a flat, but hopefully made them just a little more comfortable.
The proof of that, however, will be in the wearing, so if you want to test them out for yourself, you can click here to buy a pair from Shopbop, where they’re $275.
The “slippers-as-shoes” look has been around for a while now, and I have to admit, I’m no closer to understanding it. Of course, to be fair, these aren’t actual slippers: they’re designed to be worn as shoes, so the sole and upper will be more hard-wearing that the bedroom slippers they resemble – or, at least, I would hope so for $150!
The fact remains, though, they look like slippers: and not just that, they look like old man slippers, too. Alexa Chung, or some other painfully-fashionable person may well be able to get away with them, but I definitely wouldn’t, and I can’t help think that if I tried, I’d just end up explaining over and over again that no, I didn’t forget to put my shoes on before I left the house, these ARE my shoes.
What do you think of this style? Are they heroes or are they shoepervillains?
(If you’re in the first camp, they’re by Charles Philip, and you can click here to buy them at Shopbop.)
I have to admit, I’ve never been much of a fan of either Alexa Chung or shoes with animal faces on them, but for those of you who are, here’s Alexa wearing a pair of Charlotte Olympia’s ‘Kitty’ heels to the British Fashion Awards, where she won the British Style Award for the second year running
Alexa has been photographed in these shoes quite a few times now (and also in the flat version), so she’s clearly a fan. Are you, though? These are £455, and you can click here to buy them if you are.
It’s rare for me to find a flat shoe which makes me want to stop and take a longer look, as opposed to simply scrolling past, so when I do, I have to show you them! These ones are by Aldo, and for a style of shoe that doesn’t normally hold much interest for me, these actually have quite a few different features designed to grab the attention: the blue upper, the gold studs, the little red and white rosette, topped with a bronze button… these are shoes with a whole lot of personality, and it’s not often I get to say that about a pair of flats!
These are £40, and are also available in black: click here to buy them from Aldo.
Heel-lover that I am, for a pair of flats to catch my attention, they have to have some kind of stand-out detail to them: like a giant, sparkly brooch on the toe, say. And maybe a bow, too, for good measure.
OK, that’s not strictly true: I’m a huge fan of the simple ballet flat, and the simpler the better: think Audrey Hepburn, in a pair of black capris, and totally plain flats. Embellishments have their place too, however, and I think these ‘Dazzle’ flats from Miss Selfridge would make a really nice dress shoe for those of you who don’t wear heels. These are £29, which is more than I typically pay for flats (New Look is my go-to in this department: theirs rarely cost more than £10!), but I think these could be worth making an exception for, because they have so much to recommend them, from the pewter upppers to that bejewelled bow. And while I stand by my initial “dress shoe” assessment, I also think they could look cute with a pair of jeans.
Agree? Click here to buy them from Miss Selfridge.
Speaking of affordable shoes, I’ve been meaning to show you these polka dot ballet flats from George, which are about as affordable as it gets, at just £10. New Look sometimes do ballet flats even cheaper than this (around £7 per pair, usually), but having tried both brands, I’d say that George has a slight edge over New Look, in that their flats tend to have a slightly thicker, more rigid sole, which makes them a little more comfortable for outdoor walking. I love my New Look flats, too, but they’re fairly soft-soled, so while they’re ideal for wearing around the house (I use them as slippers), or on any other reasonably soft surface, they’re not so great if you’re planning on doing a lot of walking in them, because you’ll feel every bump in the road!
Of course, that said, I haven’t tried these particular George flats, so they may well be different from the other pairs I’ve known. I have seen them in store, though, and found the combination of polka dot upper and cap toe fairly hard to resist for £10: if I was a flats-wearer (or if I did my grocery shopping in store, rather than online), I’d almost definitely have succumbed by now!
