Nicholas Kirkwood ruffle-heel pumps, 645 EUR
This isn’t the first time Nicholas Kirkwood has used the heel ruffle (TM) to create this particular effect on a shoe, but I have to be honest: I think it’s the first time I’ve actually LIKED it. In the past, when I’ve seen this done, it’s never failed to remind me of a jellyfish. And no one wants to be reminded of something that can sting you every time they glance down at their feet, now, do they?
This time, however, as I scrolled through page after page of shoes, these were the ones that had the power to make me stop in my tracks, scroll back up to them, and take a closer look. They practically jumped off the page at me, and I’m not sure whether that’s something to do with the shoes themselves, or whether it’s just that there’s so much BLACK around at the moment (Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of black shoes, but when that’s the only colour you’re seeing, it does start to get old after a while) that anything even remotely different becomes a welcome relief, but… I like them. I think they’re delicate and exotic looking, and I even like the gold heel. which adds an additional point of interest to an already unusual shoe.
Red is always my first-choice when it comes to heels, but these also come in the ubiquitous black, if that’s more to your taste.
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I’m still not feeling the ruffle, but I love the actual pump.
The ruffle looks like an afterthought to me.
While I can kind of understand the appeal of a ruffle on the back of a shoe, this particular example looks “stuck on” to me, and also like it would get caught on everything, and also like a tail, and also visually distracting.
And the ruffle itself looks “spidery” to me, which is the best word I could come up with to explain why I find it kind of ugly.
But hey, it is definitely not a fashion crime (certainly nowhere in the neighborhood of crocs and hairy hooves) and if it appeals to you and you have the money – enjoy!