Tamara Mellon bow sandals, $895
Like bows? If you answered ‘no’ to that, I can only advise you to hit the back button as fast as you can, because you’re NOT going to like these shoes. At all. There are… let’s see … I’m counting at least 12 bows on each sandal, but it’s kinda hard to get an exact figure due to the angle of the photo, so there may well be some more hiding in there somewhere. Whatever the final number is, it’s a LOT, anyway: or it’s a lot for a single shoe, anyway.
Despite the proliferation of bows, however, these shoes aren’t nearly as cutesy as you’d possibly expect. If you were to tell me about a shoe with at least 12 bows on it, for instance, I’d probably imagine something by Betsey Johnson, say, or Irregular Choice – one of those very whimsical brands, which go all-out with the “girlie” touches, and don’t really care how OTT they look. These aren’t like that, though: in fact, they’re actually quite sophisticated, which is a surprise. It’s not that bows can’t be sophisticated, obviously, but I tend to think of them as “cute” or “pretty” rather than “stylish” or “elegant”, and I think these shoes manage to be both. And, in fact, the more I look at them, the more I start to think they’re actually butterflies, not bows. Well, THIS is awkward, isn’t it?
OK, I’m pretty sure they are, indeed, butterflies, but my initial assessment still stands: they’re the kind of embellishment that could easily look way too sugary-sweet, especially in such large numbers. The studs on the wings/bows, however (I maintain that they still look like bows, from a distance…) help give them a bit of edge, and the strappy shape gives a delicacy to the design, which works really well with this particular embellishment – whatever you want to call it.
I think they’re butterflies. I like them. They’d probably look like bows to other people who glanced at your feet though, which would annoy me a bit because I don’t like a ton of bows on anything.