Look out for my red soles!

Simon Doonan in Lanvin pumps (photo from FabSugar). Creative Director of Barneys New York. Cross-dresser specializing in Queen of England II. Imploring us women to resist the evil conformist trend toward porno chic and develop an individual sense of eccentric glamor.

How can you not be inspired? In “Eccentric Glamour,” that book he's holding, Doonan says a basic element of personal style is to have a repertoire of signature flourishes. I don't think I have many, but there is one. The color red. Clothes, housewares, shoes, everything. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve gone too far: sheets, pillow cases, blankets and towels.


And then I spy something else. Red-SOLED shoes! And I don’t mean Christian Louboutin's. (Although I find it interesting there is a demand on eBay for Vibram’s red rubber outsoles by women looking to prolong the life of their prized stilettos.) No. I'm talking about Donald J Pliner’s Glori-P, Elastic String Back Strap Tractor Sandal.

This isn't the first red sole that has caught my eye. See Camper's Ankle Boots from last year.







Doonan says that once you know your style identity, you owe it to yourself — and your neighborhood and workplace — to dress the part and fill the world with positive vibrations! Look out for my soles!

Radiohead’s "Harry Patch"

(Harry Patch at the 90th anniversary of Armistice Day in London in 2008. Photograph: Alessia Pierdomenico/PA)

I first saw that Radiohead had a new song in a Wall Street Journal article by Jim Fusilli. “Harry Patch (In Memory Of)” (5:33) is a tribute to the last British veteran of World War I who died on July 25 at age 111. I am now on my tenth (and counting) listen. Not rock but slow with big strings — elegiac.

Harry Patch (In Memory Of) lyrics:
I am the only one that got through
The others died where ever they fell
It was an ambush
They came up from all sides
Give your leaders each a gun and then let them fight it out themselves
I've seen devils coming up from the ground
I've seen hell upon this earth
The next will be chemical but they will never learn

I am always interested in what inspires. Thom Yorke used some of Patch’s own words from a 2005 BBC interview (9:57), so I went there, and quickly understood. Even though Harry Patch is only one of the veterans interviewed, his whispery voice is scratchy, lyrical, and incredibly haunting. (Perhaps even more so after the hassle of making RealPlayer work, what with the “invalid socket errors,” two upgrades, and multiple restarts.) Picture Clint Eastwood in thirty years being asked if the First World War was worth it. “No, they never learn. They had two world wars. The Third World War will be chemical. I don’t want to say it.” (4:06)

New York* staffers test drive Fall 09 runway shoes

This is the kind of thing I love – an attempt to mix real women with unreal fashion. In this short video (1:51), New York Magazine staffers try on the craziest of the Fall 09 runway shoes, the ones that models apparently fell in. After a quick walk up and back on a sidewalk that seems to be just outside the magazine’s building, they gave their opinions. Three testers admitted their shoes were uncomfortable, and three testers expressed mild surprise (perhaps a touch of condescension?) that a model could fall in such comfortable shoes. What these women were testing was really not comfort. They were testing basic walkability. See Nina Ricci's 8.5" platform heelless shoes that make you walk on tiptoe. A truer test would be walking the same course that the models walked on the runway. Or wearing the shoes for several hours. And was it just me, or did the staffer testing the "comfortable" Manolo Blahniks have a bit of a wobbly ankle situation?

*I have to say that I love New York Magazine’s fashion blog The Cut for its insidery tone (which is not too too) and its inevitable New York sass, sometimes reflected in comments that are shocking and priceless.

Spring 09 YSL Cage Boots*

At first sight: It’s not love. It’s confusion. What has Beyonce got on her feet, little cages? Instant write-off of YSL's Cage Boots as another painful fad that celebrities force themselves to endure.




Double take: Whoa. See the closeup, above? The stitching? They’re apparently made of leather. And therefore flexible. Maybe even comfortable, especially as they're ventilated for the warmer months. Except for pinkie toes, seen here, at left, trying to escape out a side window.








Influences: Architectural furniture, like the Bertoia Asymmetric Chaise.











In our closet: They remind us (ever so slightly) of a well-worn pair of Josef Siebel slides that our designer husband won’t let us throw away. He loves the small lattice detail, tiny strips of horizontal leather.

Still, even if this was a good economy, no shoe, not even YSL, is worth a mortgage payment ($1,590), even to fashion voyeurs like us.

*Inspiration from Boston Metro’s 5/5/09 YSL Cage Boot cover image & Kenya Hunt's Style article, p8.

Biras Creek Polka-dotted Tunic

Have thoughts of unpurchased clothing followed you home from vacation? You sweep the sand from your suitcase, clutch your pictures of heavenly blue skies, turquoise pool water, sunglasses & sunhats on everyone, and wish you’d ignored the voice that cried, Are they crazy? $130 for a simple linen tunic?
Ah, yes. But not just any linen tunic. A particularly elegant navy with white polka dots. In a shop outside perhaps the most exclusive resort in Virgin Gorda (next door to the also-exclusive Bitter End Yacht Club). I was converted on the spot into a navy person, a color I've religiously avoided as too conservative.
This “Navy Dots Beach Tunic” from Island Company ($145, above) is close but more casual; perhaps the dots are too close together, the blue isn’t navy enough.

Ralph Lauren’s “Aryana Cotton Jersey Tunic” ($39.99 on sale, above) is more elegant, the right spirit, even without polka dots.

A navy top will appear in my closet sooner rather than later.

L.L. Bean "Brand Guilt"

L.L. Bean is like an old boyfriend I’ve grown out of. Every so often I see him around. Like in my mom’s coat closet, up in Bar Harbor, Maine. Or the Bean outlet in Ellsworth. But I let my L.L. Bean Visa lapse into the default Bank of America card because I wanted Bank of America’s Worldpoints. I didn’t even use some of the $10 L.L. Bean coupons by the end. Their clothes were too basic, almost boring. I’ve met two new brands — Patagonia and Athleta (bought by Gap in 9/08) — with great sales and much higher quality and style.

So when I read that L.L. Bean is freezing wages and salaries of their 5,500 employees starting in March 2009, I felt concern. Even a twinge of guilt. L.L. Bean seems like a great company with unbeatable customer service. They are only trying to stall layoffs. Their 2008 holiday sales were down 10% from 2007. These are tough times for everyone. A turnaround in the economy and the company’s performance is not expected until 2010. Short of getting Michelle Obama to appear in some fitness fleece, I'm tempted to order some for my spring vacation. Apparently I still have feelings for L.L. Bean and I wish them well.

From Dad’s closet to mine

William AlBurtis Cauldwell • June 2, 1926-January 9, 2009

On January 2, 2009, my father was admitted to Baptist Medical Center Beaches in Jacksonville, Florida. When it became clear that multiple organs were failing, and he kept asking for a gun, my brother and I rode with him in the ambulence to a hospice center, where my father passed a mere seven hours later. During that time, Jacksonville had a freak cold spell and out of habit, I raided Dad’s closets for warmer clothes. His oversized, v-neck rayon-polyester-blend white and baby blue sweaters were super soft and made great nightshirts. His bright orange socks and tassled boat shoes were great for yardwork and cleaning away the grimy evidence of his daily routines with his dog Baron, who might be part Vizsla.

I brought a few treasures back with me: a red canvas belt with leather around the buckle that had been looped in the pants of a yellow suit. A school ring with an amber stone found in a red Cartier box in the garage. Dad's things carried a special weight, a way to keep him close, a way he could not refuse, and they are sprinkled throughout my closet.

Toms Wrap Boots

Blake Mycoski, founder (and chief shoe giver) of Toms Shoes, has no fashion background. Toms Shoes are about a socially driven business model, not fashion. The company’s name (not to be confused with Tom’s of Maine) derives from the word “tomorrow,” as in: buy one pair today, give one away tomorrow. On the other hand, politically likable causes have a way of becoming trendy. Toms’ boat-like flats are probably comfortable in the way that any canvas-based espadrille is comfortable, good for slipping on and off in warm weather. (Below are styles $68 Neon Sunset and $48 Bronze Glitter.) But Toms’ new Vegan Wrap Boots ($98, above) might be the next contender in the ugly beautiful category, now dominated by Uggs and Crocs.


Perhaps this is the time to confess that I recently sprained my ankle and might be unduly impressed by a boot that looks like an extension of an Ace bandage. Toms' website says the wrap boot was inspired by the leg wraps of Argentina’s champion polo horses, which is a glamorous image and probably a good PR move, but if they’d asked me, I’d have said embrace the ankle brace image. Call them the bandage boot. (Even better, the Ace bandage boot, pending trademark negotiations with “Ace,” of course.) Wear them with Hervé Léger’s bandage dress. Help fashionistas come out of the closet with their foot injuries. The boots could even become the trendy way to recover after falling out of Gucci’s six inch fertility goddess heels. Miuccia Prada could issue them to all her runway girls before Paris Fashion Week Spring 2010. With at least one fashion blogger fan in Kuwait, who knows how many other fans are out there?

Ecco’s Brussels Boots: Nay

What’s inside the Zappos box sitting at the top of the stairs for me to take to UPS tomorrow? Those pretty Ecco Brussels boots in Ascot Patent (see 11/13/08 post). It was a fun fling for a few days but then they let me down.

Here’s my scorecard:

•LOVED the gently pointed toe and narrow foot. They really fit my feet perfectly.
•LOVED the mottled gray color, and would have kept them even though I originally wanted a brown boot.
•LOVED the shiny, crinkly patent leather. It is very unusual.
•HATED the wide calf. This boot taught me about calf circumference (mine is 12.5”!!!). In the Zappos picture, the boot's calf looked pretty narrow, but was 15.5,” putting it on the larger side. Most boots seem to be 14" or 16." I took a (crappy!) picture of the gap between my calf and the boot. Maybe if I’d been planning on wearing them with pants stuffed in them. But I don’t have skinny jeans and was hoping to wear them under boot-cut pants or even skirts. As a backup, a British website (duoboots.com) offers 21 calf sizes, both thin and wide.

•HATED the heel. I don’t like clackers (from Devil Wears Prada). I go for rubber so I can sneak up on people – kidding! I like shoes that allow my foot to feel connected to the ground. These boots are hard rubber on the heel and softer rubber on the outsole. The Zappos description? Cemented, single-density latex outsole ...

My search for brown, thin-calved, rubber-soled boots continues!

Marc Jacobs Lucite Heels: Yea From Afar

I landed at the Couture section of Zappos, which I confess I didn’t even know existed, and found myself staring at these Marc by Marc Jacobs ankle boots in a beautiful brown leather called “Luggage Kid.” Actually I was staring at their cheerful blocky pink acrylic heels.

Yes they are three and a half inches and no I would never wear them but yes I do have a serious shoe crush, or should I say boot crush. I am going to frame them to hang in my little museum of favorite shoes of all time. And for those women who would wear them, they are 19% off, down to $524.95 (from $654), but only sizes 37.5 and 40 are left.

Here are a few more Marc Jacobs lucite heels.



•The Leather Sling-back Bootie with seam detail at vamp and buckle closure at ankle strap and a four inch amber lucite heel. Color is Bordeaux. Price is $292.50 (down from $585).

•The Knee Boot with Amber Lucite Heel in “Bordeaux Kid” with a 15" shaft and “transparent resin” heel, or the same in “Black Kid” with clear heel. Zappos says these heels are 2", but Shopbop.com says they are 4". (Zappos, if you need a shoe factchecker, call me.)

•The very cool Cashmere Lucite Pump. In Black. Patent leather peep-toes with lucite heel. $780.00 at shoezoeonline.com. The most classic and the most conceptual of all the above. Could pass for standard black peep toe pumps, until you look closely at the heel and see a black stiletto heel inside. Like it’s been preserved in amber!

Ecco’s Brussels Boots: Yea or Nay?

Next post, I’ll let you know my verdict, but this is about my crush on Ecco’s Brussels boots for $220. (Patent leather upper with convenient side zip entry for easy on/off. Textile lining absorbs moisture and provides excellent cushioning for all-day comfort. Cemented, single-density latex outsole absorbs shock and ensures flexibility and long-lasting wear. 1 1/4" heel. 15 1/2" shaft. 15" circumference.)

Infatuation occurs before I’ve tried them on and lasts until the return policy makes me decide whether to keep them. After a period of consumer restraint and work-induced stress, I walked into Ecco's Newbury Street store ready to buy. I was told they’d sold out, to the surprise of their buyer, but of course not to me. The boots were a beautiful mottled gray named “Ascot.” I had no idea why you would name a color after an English racecourse or a man’s silk neck scarf until Wikipedia explained that ascots were traditionally made of gray patterned silk. Never mind that I needed brown boots. If Tim Gunn were by my side, would he remind me that brown is a better shoe closet staple than gray? Is that even true? Oh well. Below are two designer boots with similarly compelling (but more ombre) shades.

•Prada’s Degrade Riding Boot in smoke degradé (smoke gradation or shaded tones) for $1,250. (Think dégradé is supposed to have another acute accent.) Full exposed side zip. 1” stacked heel. Made in Italy.

•Aquatalia by Marvin K’s Rain Boots in Wasabi Rose for $285. Slick patent leather with shading. Wedge heel, 1", weatherproof, hidden inner zip, leather lining, padded insole, rubber sole. Made in Italy.