Now, you all know Brian Atwood is a shoeperhero of mine. And you may also know that I can be partial to a bit of raffia on a shoe – it reminds me of summer, and really, anything that reminds me of summer gets the thumbs up from me right now. Almost anything, that is.
These shoes, though? These shoes make me want to get the scissors out and give ‘em a haircut. And trust me, I’m really, really bad at haircuts.
I don’t want to just dismiss them out of hand, though, so I’m placing the decision in your hands, shoeper readers. Are these shoes Shoeperheroes or Shoepervillains? Tell me!
Before you roll your eyes and click away, muttering, “Not another pair of raffia shoes!” though, just take a proper look at these:
Is anyone else reminded of a ship?
I know the massive platform on these means they won’t be to everyone’s taste, but I think they’re amazing, and totally the kind of shoes I’d want to put out on display if I was lucky enough to own them. The fact that they’re $823 means that’s never going to happen for me, but if it can happen for you, just click here to buy them!
These shoes have their backs to us, not because they’ve done something wrong and been sent to stand in the corner, but because the heels are the most interesting thing about them. Don’t believe me? Oh, OK, here’s the side view:
See? They’re not bad shoes, but the white uppers are a bit… well, bland, really. The purple heel and sole, however, are a different matter, and while I wouldn’t buy them myself – and certainly not for £539 – they did make me stop and look, and if a shoe has the power to make me stop in my tracks, well, that’s normally enough to make me want to show you it.
These have woven heels, just like almost every other pair of shoes I seem to find right now, which have been dyed a deep, vibrant purple. And that’s about all I have to say about them. I’m off to look at those Miss KGs again now: you, meanwhile, can click here if you want to have a better look at these.
I know what you’re thinking: RAFFIA? AGAIN? Yup, it’s the fabric (if “fabric” is even the right word for it) that just won’t quit right now, isn’t it? I actually didn’t realise these shoes were raffia – or that the heels and sole were – until I read it in the product description, but having zoomed in on the image on the Dorothy Perkins website, I think this is a really nice use of raffia, which really adds something to the look of the shoe.
These are also available in black, but the red version was the one to catch my eye and steal my heart. These are £38, and you can click here to buy them.
Raffia and suede is a combination I don’t think I’d ever seen until this year, and suddenly it seems to be everywhere. It’s a bit of an impractical combination here in not-so-sunny Scotland, unfortunately, because those are two easily-ruined fabrics, but the bright colours and cute shape still leads me into temptation. Predictably, my favourite is the bright green version, but the orange is also great, and is currently very much “on trend” (I can’t type that without the inverted commas, sorry), if you care about such things.
I’m a little bit obsessed with yellow right now, and that’s the main reason these sandals stood out for me on the Dorothy Perkins website. Well, a colour like that is hard to ignore, isn’t it?
Quite apart from the colour, these have a bit of a 70s feel about them which helps them fit in with some of the season’s other trends, but which isn’t so “trendy” it’ll already look dated this time next year. I like the buckles on the vamp and ankle strap, and the obligatory raffia (it seems to be popping up everywhere I look right now) on the platform and heel.
As lovely as their shoes are, Monsoon isn’t a brand I tend to associate with the kind of shoes that come close to being kryptonite. This time, though, they’ve really pulled it off: as soon as these appeared on my screen, I gave a little gasp at the sight of them!
I say “close to kryptonite” purely because raffia and suede seems like a bit of an odd combination to me, but these are such cute shoes that I think I could probably overlook that, if only they weren’t £65!
If you can overlook it too, click here to buy them.
Raffia is big this season. No it isn’t, I just made that up. I have spotted a few shoes with this distinctive (and, I would imagine, fairly fragile) upper, the latest being these Roger Vivier court shoes. Rather than going for the traditional summery sandal, to which raffia lends itself rather well, these are actually in the classic Roger Vivier style, right down to the buckle on the front. It’s a slightly odd pairing on paper, but I think it works rather well: just not well enough to make me want to spend £659 on shoes I’d be sure to ruin on their first outing.
