I’m sure you all know by now how much I love retro fashion, but what you may not know is that I also have a big ol’ soft spot for retro cars. That’s why Prada’s Spring 2012 shoe collection, which draw inspiration from the fabulous fins and stylized taillights of the 50s almost made me give a little, girlie squeal of pleasure. I absolutely LOVE this collection, and while they’re definitely not the most wearable shoes you’ll ever come across, if you take away the fins, you’ll see some seriously beautiful shoes underneath.
Take a look at the gallery below to see what I mean: I’ve also included a couple of clutch bags from the collection, because they were just too cute not to!
I seem to have been mostly showing you boots today, so here’s a pair of shoes to balance things out, although, as you can see, I’m still sticking firmly to my unintentional “red and black” theme.
These shoes are by Prada, and you can find them at Nordstrom. I have good news and bad news about that, though:
The good news is that Nordstrom is now shipping to the UK: yay!
The bad news is…that Nordstrom is now shipping to the UK. And if they persist in carrying dropdeadgorgeous shoes, which cost no less than £533, well, that could get expensive.
Actually, though, the high price tag on these is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a curse for obvious reasons: it puts the shoes far out of my price range. But that’s a blessing in a way, too, because they’re SO far out of my range that there’s no point in even thinking about them, is there? In this way, I find the REAL menace comes from all of the mid-price shoes: the ones that are still expensive, but which you COULD just stretch to if you were to cut back on a few other things that month. Those are the shoes that torture me. These ones: well, these ones just make for some truly beautiful eye candy for me. If they’d make beautiful footwear for you, however, you can click here to buy them. I’ll only be a little bit jealous. OK, a lot.
You’ve probably seen these boots before. They got a lot of publicity when Prada released the leather version earlier this year, and I have to admit, I’m a bit horrified to see them now available in suede, too.
I hate boots like this. If you’re a reader of The Fashion Police, you’re probably already aware of my deep-seated aversion to boots-pretending-to-be-shoes, but these are particularly alarming to me given their resemblance to a prosthetic leg. I can’t help imagining what they’d look like lying on the floor when you’d come home and kicked them off: pretty frightening for the next person to walk into the room, that’s for sure.
Also: what if your legs aren’t exactly the same colour as the “flesh” part of the boot? Won’t that look even stranger?
For those of you who’ve managed to remain blissfully unaware of these boots up until now, here’s a quick reminder of what the leather version looked like:
I like the “shoe” part of the suede ones more, purely because of the higher heel and less clumpy shape, but at the same time, at least the leather finish looks a little bit like human skin, while the suede just… doesn’t. Unless you have slightly furry skin, in which case… yeah.
What do you think of these, folks? Do you need a pair of fake prosthetic legs in your life? Seriously? OK, up to you: they’re $1,400 at Saks, and you can click here to buy a pair.
For me, these shoes fall firmly into the “look but don’t touch” category: I can’t seem to stop looking at them spin round (and round and round) on the Saks website, but I don’t really want them anywhere near my feet, because they’re giving off an “Austin Powers” vibe that’s just too strong for my liking. Oh, and the £600 price tag is a bit strong for my liking too.
These definitely aren’t your average Mary Janes, though, and if you think you can make them work, they could make a really interesting addition to the ol’ shoe closet. I’d be tempted to carry on the 60s theme, and wear them with a little white mini dress: what would you wear with them?
Well, Prada have definitely jumped aboard the colourblock trend, haven’t they? And, what the hell, might as well add one of those gigantic platform wedges everyone’s doing right now, hey Prada?
These are just two examples of Prada’s current Spring collection, but they give you a pretty good idea of the look the brand is going for right now: lots of bright colours, bold shapes, elastic straps, and maybe a bit of a rugged sole thrown in for good measure.
I just can’t resist the colour turquoise, and Prada have made it even more delectable than usual by using it on the uppers of these chunky platform sandals. This shape is certainly very “of the moment” right now: it’s a whole lot clunkier than the kind of shoes I normally go for, but that whole “adjustment of the eye” process has been going on here, and having spent a summer gazing at big shoes from the likes of Miu Miu, Jeffrey Campbell and Jessica Simpson, I think I’m ready to accept that it’s here to stay – for a little while at least.
These have the same shape of heel as the tan Pradas I showed you last month, are also available in black, and are $795 at Neiman Marcus. Click here to buy them.
I know the sheer height of these shoes will make them look a trifle ridiculous to some of you, but me? I love them. They’re like a little slice of summer, with their cork heels and their tan leather uppers, and I can’t think of a single item in my summer wardrobe that wouldn’t look infinitely better with them. Sundresses? Check. Faded jeans? Check. Shorts? Well, maybe only if I was feeling really brave… I guess you got me there.
My point remains, though: these would work with (almost) everything, and would allow you to briefly experience what it must feel like to walk on stilts. Shame they’re £468, really…
Milan Fashion Week has been underway for a few days now, so I thought it was time I took a look at some of the footwear from the runways, kicking off with Prada’s Spring 2011 collection.
The first thing to note here is that those brogues I was talking about earlier today are back for Spring, only this time they come with a huge, built-up creeper-style platform heel. I like them even less than I like regular old lace-up brogues, but I must admit, I’d love to see the mirrored platforms shown above in real life, if only for giggles.
The rest of this collection is pleasantly summery, with woven uppers and a nice mixture of colours. Take a look at the gallery below and tell me what you think!
