Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Three -- no, four -- takes on this season's crazy, sometimes ugly, footwear

1. NY Observer
2. Jezebel
3. NY Times (I feel compelled to point out that the shoes in this slideshow are termed "creative," but that many of them fall into the "ugly" or "just plain crazy" category)
4. UK Telegraph (great video, if only for the juxtaposition of whimsical designer shoes with practical business attire)

My theory, shamelessly stolen from a Jezebel commentator: designers (Prada, Chloe, et al) are pushing the "shoe as status symbol" thing -- and an ugly, distinctive shoe effectively communicates that its wearer has dropped a lot of dough on designer footwear. Seen as a marker of wealth (not taste), an ugly shoe is just as effective as a pretty one.

The whole phenomenon's a little abstract to those of us who would die before dropping $800 on a pair of shoes. However, if you will allow me a bit of snark, this trend toward hideous, increasingly exorbitantly priced designer shoes will make easy work of separating the style mavens (worthy of emulation) from the fashion victims (worthy of disdain).

Edited to add the Telegraph TV video

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1 comment:

WendyB said...

I love love love those Prada shoes. I'm so much more into something that looks arresting rather than something that looks tame and classic. Not all of the so-called ugly shoes appeal to me but a lot of them do.