STYLE Shoe boot season By Catherine Berlin 1. Bally pump; 2. Fendi pump; 3. Prada “Moulin Rouge” pump; 4. Prada pump. Excuse me if I don’t fill my closet just yet with the new Harvard Yard clothing collection: plaid has its moments, but its allure is limited, and if I never ever see another hoodie in my life, I will survive. I could go with the Gucci blue cobra print pant for a season of fun, but alas I’d look less than charming in any walk-away shot. (“I heard it took seventy snakes to cover that behind” is all I could imagine them saying.) As for ’40s suiting with ’80s shoulder pads, not yet. I’m still traumatized from the last Dynasty go-round. No, I’ll save my pennies and keep my focus on what really matters: shoes. This year I’m moving my gaze down to footwear as an identity maker. Besides, shoes revamp a wardrobe, they help keep us healthy, and if I have to live another season seeing only Uggs, I’m going to be extremely disappointed in the lot of us. Before I launch into trends, however, I’d like to offer a few words about the future of shoes by bringing up a bit of my past. On my first day of design class in college, the teacher said, “I want you to create a different kind of tableware. You must make tools with which to eat, but none of these can be a knife, fork, or spoon—and no sporks, either.” I froze. I thought class was going to be about learning how to design a pretty spoon, not a non-spoon. “I don’t remember signing up for inventors class,” I mumbled, petrified into inaction. I am reminded of that class a lot lately because of the images I see: high heels without a visible heel, running shoes that disintegrate into nothingness with each mile, the kind of athletic footwear that fits like a glove (literally, by having a separate compartment for each toe), and shoes with interchangeable uppers and soles. I see these and think that some teacher of the footwear designers class of 2006 handed out an assignment to create a shoe that wasn’t a shoe, and that with this particular group of graduates, the concept stuck and their ongoing designs are now surfacing. Some of the prototypes may eventually become mainstream, but for our more immediate future, for 2010, the offerings are mostly rooted in the past, designed by updating and combining shoe parts from eras long and not so long gone. Still, one can sense the outrageous starting to elbow—or heel—into the shop floor, and it is making an exciting difference. Fendi boots and pumps feature a platform with a pencil heel and a turned-up nose—as if the entire base is a little bit lighter and a lot bit stuck up. Prada boots come at us looking like fishing waders waiting for some type of modification for the masses. These are extremely high, upper thigh boots—with space, with grace, even—enticing me at least for a moment to consider where, exactly, they just might fit into the scheme of dressing up. Chloé and Ghesquière offer up a Robin Hood/Puss-in-Boots shape that appears in the foldover of many over-the-knee boots. (Hint: do the boot or the hat, but never both unless you want to be compared with Errol Flynn and Antonio Banderas.) 5. Slouch boot from Firebrand (715 Elmwood Ave.); 6. Nomad rainboot with nomad fleece boot warmer, from Shoe Fly (801 Elmwood Ave.); 7. Boot from Firebrand; 8. Nyla leather boot from Shoe Fly. Open spaces in shoes are just fine this winter, because tights in lace or in leopard or flowerette prints are supposed to show through. It is edgy to wear ankle socks with heels, thigh-high socks with flats, and dark stockings with light shoes, and preferably all of it together. Somehow. I met Vogue’s Anna Wintour once. She was going down the stairs to the ladies room at a restaurant and I was going up the stairs, and the first thing I noticed before the sunglasses was a woman in black stockings and white shoes and I thought, “Oh, I hate that look,” and then I realized who it was and I thought, “Isn’t she stylish.” I actually got it once I realized that the point was to showcase a $700 Jimmy Choo. Pumps take on a Moulin-Rouge-to-saloon-gal bravado, whether in velvet Victorian pattern or blood red, and in gilt trim, studs, or any part of a Spartan warrior’s uniform. (Prada mimics the plumes on the helmet.) The end result is a Mary Jane on testosterone and shame, and it works. For example, put on this Bally pump, my favorite of the season, and no one will notice anything else you have on. Other women will be nice to you. You won’t have to remember names at a cocktail party. The kids will behave for the sitter. Why? Shoes this potent come with a dollop of respect, along with the extra benefit that the rest of the outfit can be simple, familiar, basic, or last year. It doesn’t matter because it is the shoe or boot that sparks. Shoes are so worth the expense this year. Another trend resembles ’40s power shoes. Only instead of the look we saw two years ago with high lace-ups and curved heels, this season the upper plunges down the top of the foot, often into a deep V, and the heels are straight and substantial, which is slimming. Want a more rugged, outdoorsy boot that doesn’t mirror a man-shoe? Consider offerings from Canada, Russia, and any northern state. Most have rubber bases that protect against snowy street muck, cozy linings, and a sophisticated exterior that somehow still cuts it as feminine. These boots are produced by companies with marketing divisions that know what women of weather want: function and killer style, or at least eclectic style. I’ve worn my J-41 suede boots through two winters, and people always ask, “Where’d you get them?” “Boston,” I reply. “I had walked by these boots in a shop window, then later walked two miles back to the store as I couldn’t get them out of my mind.” My AKA Culture Russian valenki felts stop people in their snow tracks. My daughters steal my outrageous moon boots. Booting doesn’t have to be banal. On November 1 of each year, every Western New York woman should get a voucher for a pair of stranger-stopping, must-have winter beauties. It’s an entitlement I would vote for. Hate heels? There is plenty that is breathtaking. Some use artwork to attract. Find a ballet flat with a beautiful buckle. Want to wear an over-the-knee boot without all the Victoria’s-Secret-model drama? Find a flat-soled version and you will avoid even the hint of trashy. Finally, as the temperature plummets, don’t give up your beloved and probably delightfully cheerful rain boot. Liners are the rage, and they give a rain boot a snow boot life extension for under $20. Out on the slushy, gray streets, you get to offer up a bit of sunshine simply by having a boot that says, “I’m enjoying life. Wanna join me?” We should all be so particular, and considerate. Catherine Berlin, Spree’s style editor, owns more boots than shoes, including a pair of Uggs, in pink. SUBSCRIBE NOW Back to the Table of Contents Back to Top