Fresh From The Racks. Voxfrock’s series of spring wraps continues with everything you need to know about shoes…
(This story first appeared in The Sunday Age and Sunday Sun Herald.)
The Mode Collective ankle strap sandal, $279, www.themodecollective.com
CHIC FIRST
Flats are back with a vengeance for spring/summer 2015 but glamour is still exclusive to the season’s ultra-feminine slim-toed pumps and stiletto
sandals.
They’re invariably less comfortable to wear but, as centuries of fashion history attest, women will pay with pain for the beauty and flattering illusions (slimmer ankles, longer legs) of a particularly lovely pair of high heels.
Spring’s offering of dress-up shoes is precisely that; elegant kitten and high-heels in silvery metallics, burnished golds and paintily graphic and floral patterns, pearly surfaces and delicate hardware and fringing details.
Nine West, Martina floral print stiletto pump, $139.95, www.ninewest.com.au
Many of the season’s stiletto sandals are also absurdly feminine, some so dainty they appear to cling by the flimsiest of spaghetti-thin straps
to the toes and ankles.
Forever New ankle strap stiletto sandal, $70, www.forevernew.com.au
Height with at least a modicum of comfort comes in spring’s wider-strapped, slab-soled and block-heeled sandals…
Novo Lyla block heels, $99.95, www.novoshoes.com.au
…and versions of the glamorous gladiator that grips the foot with a robust “cage” of crossed straps.
Nine West Sari cage heel in gold faux snake, $189.95, www.ninewest.com.au
For a chic compromise between pain and gain, in other words, the high heeled gladiator cage is the shoe for you.
OR DRESS DOWN FROM THE FEET UP
With a cool $700 you could secure a spot among the coolest fashionistocrats on the planet, in a pair of Lanvin low-top sneakers. Or, for a few hundred more, a pair of Buscemi, Balenciaga, Golden Goose high or lows, or the insanely cool Yeezy Boost 350s by Kanye West for Adidas might be more your speed.
Fancy a pair of Yeezy Boost 350s? Join the queue. The insanely cool Adidas lows were designed by Kanye West for Adidas and are going off in the Sneakersphere.
The “right” street sneakers are hot ticket items on shoe racks right now. But, there are many marvelous alternatives pinging the same high fashion notes without the same fancy logos. Consider K-Swiss, for example, a right-royal brand among many low-brow, high-cool affordables.
K-Swiss Classic Core sneaker, $129.95, Stockists 1800 655 154
Or, perhaps plough your casual shoe budget into anything but sneakers: espadrilles, Birkenstock and Birkenstock-esque sandals, gladiators cropped at the ankle or high as the knee, patterned plimsole slip ons, or a classic, dagger-toe flat loafer. (Main photo, top: Lilya high gladiator sandals $249, worn with apron linen top $149, www.ilovelilya.com )
Chances are, a careful edit of three or more casual pairs will set you back about the same as one Lanvin or a Golden Goose anyway. Not so silly.
VOXFROCK’S FRESH FROM THE RACKS SPRING SERIES CONTINUES THIS WEEK….
Janice Breen Burns, jbb@voxfrock.com.au
