Designer Shoes

Archive for August, 2009

So you know how Nike shoes are generally pretty expensive for what they are, even considering the fact that what they are is designer shoes of a reasonably high standard? Well, consider the price of a pair of Nike Air Force 1, Supreme Max runners normally around $225…and then add 11 carats of diamonds…

Yes you read that right; 11 carats of chocolate-coloured diamonds line the Nike-ticks of this exclusive design of basketball shoes thanks to the combined genius of Ernel Dawkins and Rita Patel (owners of Laced Up and C Couture respectively). Humorously, the first pair were presented to Outkast’s Antwan Patton (ironically featured in Killer’s Mike’s song A.D.I.D.A.S.), apparently because Dawkins considers that he “represents style and affluent flavour”. In other words, he’s the kind of guy that idiots with too much money look to for fashion guidance.

If you are one of the aforementioned idiots, you’ll be pleased to hear that it only takes about a month to complete the jewellery work on these shoes and they’ll only cost you a trifling $50k – that’s only $49, 775 more than the non-diamond encrusted version!

I suppose the only question remaining is; what’s cooler than being cool? Fifty grand Nikes? I can’t hear ya, I said – what’s cooler than being cool? Fifty grand Nikes! Alright alright alight alright alight alright alright alright now ladies… You get the picture.

Another Weitzman entry into Fantasy Shoes; his Ruby Slippers were created to be worn at the 2003 Academy Awards. Literally made of 642 rubies, these super-shoes total 120 carats and are worth $1,600,000. Predating his Cinderella Slippers, these shoes are evidence of Mr. Weitzman’s fondness for taking impoverished fictional characters and creating shoes they could never have afforded in their wildest dreams. Somewhat ironically, these shoes are over twice as expensive as one of the four remaining pairs of the original Innes Shoe Co. Ruby Slippers worn in The Wizard of Oz – the last of which sold at auction for £666,000 in 2000.

When it came to it, the Ruby Slippers were never worn at the 2003 Academy Awards. Mr. Weitzman claims that he pulled them out of the show “out of respect for those fighting in Iraq.” … I’m fairly sure the people fighting in Iraq in 2003 couldn’t have cared less whether his insanely expensive designer shoes were worn at the Academy Awards or not – what with being shot at and everything. It would have been more thoughtful to send them to Bin Laden as a peace offering, or at least give them to each soldier in turn and let him wish his way home…

Has anybody else noticed the wonderful new recent trend for fetish footwear? I don’t know how any shoe-lover could have missed the abundance of straps, crazy heels and metallic bits in the modern style; even J K Rowling has bought into it! (Though that doesn’t surprise me…) As a lover of both witches and sexy shoes, I was thrilled to see her strutting around in the style of the season at the Half Blood Prince Premier!

However, ever since Christian Louboutin’s Differas hit the market this season, there has been a steady surge of saucy shoes; until now you can pick up a rip-off style in just about any old shoe shop! I thought this would be a good thing for me, seeing as how I love the whole bondage-style shoe thing; but it turns out that it just isn’t working for me. You see, mass produced extreme-sexy shoes are effectively missing the entire point of saucy footwear. Sexy shoes shouldn’t be commonplace, everyday sightings – they should be reserved for special occasions! It’s not that classiness demands that they are designer shoes costing £800 (yes, JK paid around that much for hers) but, when it comes to kinkiness – cheap and cheerful just doesn’t turn me on.

In my opinion, part of the allure of sexy footwear is the extravagance; the decadence is all part of the pleasure! Expensive sexy shoes focus on pure gratification, communicating that pleasure is of utmost importance; cheap knockoffs from Shoe Express communicate that, whilst pleasure is a good thing, you’ve still got the kids and the mortgage to worry about as well.

My conclusion? This new trend of shoes says a lot about you; truly naughty people buy truly naughty shoes. Cheap, wannabe-naughty-because-it’s-fashionable people buy cheap, wannabe naughty shoes – and it shows.

Today’s entry into Fantasy Shoes is designer shoes guru Stuart Weitzman’s $2,000,000 Cinderella Slippers! For anybody unfamiliar with the story of Cinderella, the relevant part is that Cinderella’s fairy godmother created some delicate glass slippers for her to wear to a ball.

Although Weitzman’s slippers aren’t made of glass, they are set with 595 platinum-set Kwiat diamonds, including one 5-carat amaretto diamond worth a million dollars. Literally. They were worn by Oscar nominee Alison Krauss, of whom Weitzman’s daughters were fans. She wore them at the 2004 Oscars, prior to which she declared that she wanted her friends and family to be able to say “She sang in tune and didn’t forget the words. And she didn’t fall off them shoes.”

Whether she sang in tune isn’t for me to say, but what is for sure is that if “them shoes” are an accurate reflection of Cinderella’s slippers, it solves the mystery behind why the prince in Cinderella decided to choose his bride based on her shoe. He must have thought she was loaded!

There are plenty of obvious reasons why I love shoes; so obvious that they need no explication. Today, however, I thought I’d explain a couple of less obvious reasons why I love shoes – consider it a deeper insight in an otherwise inexplicable passion…

Shopping for them!

Many people see shopping for shoes as a means to an end; I see it as an end in itself as well! Of course I am there to find some gorgeous new shoes for some event or another, but the actual process of shopping for the shoes is enough of a pastime on its own! Sometimes, whilst buying shoes for a party, I wonder whether I’d actually enjoy myself more if didn’t bother going to the party and spent the equivalent hours buying more shoes instead! Don’t get me wrong; shoe shopping on a time and money budget can be exceptionally stressful indeed! As a method of relaxing, however, shoe shopping takes a lot of beating…

The way they look…off!

As amazing as a classy pair of designer shoes look as you strut down the street, many people forget the joy that you can continue to take from the way your shoes look when you’re not even wearing them! Whether they be in a vertical rack, a horizontal rack, in lines on the floor or on shelves; anybody with a sizable collection of shoes has some method of storing them that probably shows off each pair in their full glory. After all, how else can you decide which pair to wear if you can’t examine them all closely first? As much as I love wearing every pair of shoes that I have (not at the same time, obviously), I also love the process of choosing which pair to wear because it gives me an opportunity to relax and bask in the beauty of every pair I own.

So there’s two unconventional reasons why I love shoes. Can you think of any more for yourself?