I’m sure most of my regular readers know by now that Jeffrey Campbell shoes are not my style AT ALL. In fact, it would probably be fair to say that I’ve loathed almost everything the brand has to offer this year. (Almost everything.)
Still, even I have to admit that the man has a way of grabbing the attention, and I didn’t think these shoes should be ignored: not least because I have a feeling that they could be dangerous if angered. These fall into the category of “Shoes That Look A Bit Like Boats”. It’s a mercifully small category, and I’m sure Mr JC is probably responsible for quite a bit of it, now I come to think of it.
Anyway, these are called ‘Lotus-Met’, and they have a 6″ heel with a 3″ platform, which the brand claim is the equivalent to walking on a 3″ heel. When you put it like that, it doesn’t sound too bad, does it? Anyone up for the challenge? Anyone? Click here if you are…
While we’re on the subject of shoes with bows on their heels, last night I was whiling away the hours on the Sarenza website (as you do), when I found myself transfixed by this image on the homepage:
Now THAT, my friends, is what you call a “back bow”. And, indeed, it’s what Jeffrey Campbell calls it, because when I investigated this further, I discovered that the shoes are his (in that he designed them, I mean. I don’t expect he wears them, although nothing that man does would surprise me.)
Here’s a larger photo:
And one of the heel:
Of course, I wouldn’t actually WEAR these. Oh no. Bows or not, they’re just not ME. But they did make me say “wow” when I first caught sight of them, so I thought they were worth featuring, for that reason alone.
If you think they’re worth buying, meanwhile, you can click here to do it: they’re £98.
I can’t quite believe I’m about to write this, but I think I’ve found a pair of Jeffrey Campbell shoes I don’t hate.
I’m not saying I’d buy these, mind you: The front of the shoe is too clunky for my tastes, and much clumsier than the Giuseppe Zanotti platform wedges I love so much, or, indeed, the Alexander McQueen wedges which these seem to be taking inspiration from.
I don’t hate them, though, and I actually love the shape of the heel, so this is a big step forward for me and Jeffrey Campbell, so I figured it was a moment worth recording, even although the more I look at the shoes, the more the words “Halloween costume” spring to mind, for some reason.
What do you think of these? They’re $160 and you can click here to buy them at Nasty Gal.
You should do: God knows, I’ve shown you it often enough, although when I’ve featured it before, it’s generally been attached to a pair of Valentinos, although this particular shape has “inspired” quite a few different brands to copy it now (Yes, Paris Hilton, I am looking at you!). This time, it’s attached to Jeffrey Campbell’s ‘Garret’ pumps, which come in either red/pink or blue/turquoise: two combinations guaranteed to set my heart a-flutter!
This is the second time this summerJeffrey Campbell has given me a strong sense of deja vu. As far as I’m aware, however, Valentino haven’t released their bow pumps in these specific colour combinations, so it’s really just the shape of the bow which is the same, and, of course, the price is significantly cheaper: these will set you back just £97.89 at Nordtrom, while a Valentino bow shoe will be over £400.
I’m in love with the turquoise/blue combination: what do you think of them?
Charlotte Olympia’s ‘Bananas is My Business’ shoes didn’t exactly get a rapturous reception when I showed you them a few months ago (Although I actually tried these on last month and was rather smitten with them, I must admit), so I’m going to take a wild guess that Jeffrey Campbell’sshameless ripoff version of the style won’t be too popular either.
To be fair to Jeffrey Campbell, his Fruit Bowl Shoe isn’t exactly the same as the Charlotte Olympia version – and is significantly cheaper looking too, I think: no one’s ever going to mistake it for a Charlotte Olympia design, are they? Still, you have to admit, the placement of the fruits seems too similar for this to be a co-incidence. Both shoes feature watermelon on the toes, bananas on the sides, strawberries at the heels…. add the wooden platform and heel, and, well, it’s a poor show from Jeffrey Campbell, in more ways than one.
I think it’s fair to say that Jeffrey Campbell has gone too far now, don’t you?
These are $159.99 at Modcloth, were almost sold out at the time of writing, and will almost certainly be sold out by the time you read this, but you can click here if you want to find out.
Oh no. I was really hoping the flatform would be the one shoe trend of this season which the high street wouldn’t copy. No such luck, though: here’s Miss Selfridge’s ‘Panama’ sandals and… they’re not pretty. Or not to me, anway: you, of course, may think differently, and I’m convinced there must be SOME people out there who are just desperate to get their hands on a pair of flatforms. Or their feet on them, rather. If you wore them on your hands, that would look even stranger, wouldn’t it? (OR WOULD IT? I actually dislike this style so much that if I was forced to find a way to wear flatforms, as some kind of dare, perhaps, I think I possibly would try wearing them on my hands. Or maybe strung around my neck, like some strange kind of shoe necklace. Then, on my feet, I’d wear a pair of 5″ stilettos. Red ones. Take that, flatforms!)
Anyway, I digress. When I look at these shoes, I see a cross between an orthopaedic”granny” shoe (I mean no offence to grannys, here, by the way), and a wicker basket. Of course, I am slightly biased. I don’t like flat, ankle-strap sandals at the best of times, because I think they can look either very childish, or like the kind of shoes you’d use the word “sensible” to describe. And sensible shoes obviously have their place – of course they do. It’s just that that place is nowhere near my feet.
So I wouldn’t like these shoes even without the platform, is what I’m saying. With it, however, I have to come back to what I said when I first wrote about flatforms earlier this year. They will make your feet look like boats. Or bricks. Or both.
From all of this, you can obviously tell that I’m still not a fan of the flatform, and I can’t imagine I ever will be. I said that about skinny jeans when they first became fashionable, though, and now they’re the only type of denim I own. Will the same thing happen with flatforms, I wonder? Will I become to accustomed to seeing people stomp around with giant boat-feet that I, too, will want a pair of giant boat feet, and find myself sheepishly standing in line to buy a pair of flatforms? Well, I’ll be really surprised if that’s the case, to be honest. But I’m not ruling it out.
Anyone want to have a go at convincing me to love flatforms? Here are some more examples from the (slightly) lower end of the price spectrum, if you need some convincing yourself:
I’d be surprised if these were the ones to convince you, to be completely honest. Mind you, I was surprised when everyone in the blogosphere rushed about and bought the Jeffrey Canpbell Lita sandals in every available colour, so the continued popularity of Jeffrey Campbell is a complete mystery to me, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.
Now, I wouldn’t really describe these as “flatforms”. Not really. The platform actually slopes gently down from heel to toe, as opposed to being completely flat, as in the examples shown above. Irregular Choice DO describe them as “flatforms”, though, so I’m going to go along with that, and say that if I absolutely HAD to wear flatforms, I guess these would be the ones I’d choose, because the bright red colour and bow go some way towards making up for the “clodhopper” effect this style of shoe creates. I’m still not keen on the ankle strap, though, and while I know many of you dislike slingbacks, I think a slingback on any of these shoes would make the shape a little more elegant.
Of course, “elegance” isn’t what the flatform is all about, so tell me: what do you think of these? Would you wear any of them? Which would you choose, if so?
It’s been a while since I had a heart-shaped shoe to show you, so here’s one for you today, courtesy of Jeffrey Campbell, whose Love to Strut heels are $114.99 at Modcloth.
These shoes actually feature two of my favourite things in one, because the “studs” are actually tiny little lovehearts, which means that what originally seems to be a slightly “tough” looking court shoe becomes a whole lot softer when you take a closer look. A nice way to work the trend for studs, and a less kitsch way to wear your heart(s) on your shoes, these have a classic shape to offset the quirky upper. What do you think?
