THE SHOES: Rochas embellished suede pumps, £1,325
When it comes to shoes, there’s embellishment, then there’s EMBELLISHMENT. I love embellishment. I’m less sure about EMBELLISHMENT, however. In the right hands – or on the right shoes, rather – it can look absolutely amazing. These Boden flats, for instance, are about as heavily embellished as a shoe gets, and I liked them enough to declare them Shoe Kryptonite: high praise indeed for a pair of flats!
As for these suede Rochas pumps, however… well, I think these may be taking embellishment – sorry, EMBELLISHMENT – a little too far for my tastes. Every inch of the upper is encrusted with beads and crystals: so many, in fact, that the ones on the toes actually touch the floor in front of the shoe when they’re worn:
I think the embellishment on these is visually very interesting, and there’s no doubt that a huge amount of work has gone into their creation. They’re totally unlike anything I’ve ever owned or worn… and they’re unlike anything I ever WILL own or wear, because, for me at least, all of that embellishment is just a little too much. I’d love to see what these would look like in motion (I’m imagining the beads all moving together, and maybe making a soft rattling sound), but I think ultimately they’d make my feet feel at least twice their usual size. The surface area these shoes cover is much larger than the size of the vamp – if that makes sense – which creates an usual effect, to say the least.
What I think of these shoes is really beside the point, however, because at the time of writing, there’s only one pair left at Net-a-Porter, despite the fact that they’re £1,325 per pair. What do you think of them? They’re definitely unusual shoes, but are they unusual in a good way, or in a bad way?
The only thing that springs to mind is low hanging fruit. Which is not that good when you’re talking about shoes.