Blame it on Jimmy Choo and Manolo Blahnik, not to mention those shoe-happy girls on “Sex and the City,’ but footwear fixations have never been more pervasive or expensive.
These designers and others known for their wildly inventive designs have instilled in women a lust for footwear, from flats to stilettos, driving mocs to beaded sling-backs. And they have inspired a host of imitators to offer less-pricey but still stylish shoes at stores like Nine West and Steve Madden.
When clothes were basic, so were shoes, says Terry Garbarini, who opened her first footwear store In Larimer Square 20 years ago. In the mid-1980s, everyone wore cutting-edge black, and shoes followed suit, she says.
Fashion is so colorful today that women are building footwear wardrobes to coordinate. “There are people who are shoe people, and I’m one of them,’ says Garbarini, who now sells clothing and shoes in Cherry Creek North.
“My whole wardrobe is black or brown, so I know that whatever shoes I buy they will work with the clothes I have. Other people start with the clothes and then have to have a shoe to match every outfit.
“I have customers come in who say they need to edit their wardrobes and redo their closets, then they’ll fall in love with a pink and orange shoe. You can always make an excuse for another pair of shoes.’
The trends toward bohemian, feminine and fanciful styles also drive women to purchase more shoes, she says. “Years ago we wouldn’t dream of wearing ruffles and sequins. Now they’re everywhere,’ Garbarini says.
Jeweled flats and flip-flops, high heels and wedges are among the top shoe styles for spring and summer. The latter style hasn’t been this strong since the 1970s.
The trend was big on college campuses, and I fell prey to it while a student at the University of Illinois. There was a very cool shoe store on campus where I frequently browsed but didn’t often make purchases, given my poverty-level student status.
One afternoon after classes when I went in to the store, a pair of wedge sandals called my name. They had criss-crossing tan leather straps on top and wedge heels – at least 4 inches high – covered in an orange plaid fabric (It was the ’70s, remember).
In hindsight they looked like a bad sofa, upholstered in bullet-proof Herculon, which is why my mother could barely stifle her laughter when I wore them home one weekend.
I remembered my impulse purchase and the scandalous $50 I paid so long ago when looking at some of the wild fabrics Marc Jacobs and Miuccia Prada chose for their spring wedge sandals. Seeing the orange and green floral prints, swirling abstracts and needlepoint fabrics brought back memories and made me want another pair of wedge heels.
This time, my purchase was going to be justified because not only are wedges stylish again, I needed something to wear with cropped jeans. So I found myself perusing the displays at the department stores, discounters, and finally, DSW. An entire row in the warehouse-like store was devoted to wedge heels.
High, low, serious, frivolous, each had a point of view. Catching my eye was a sandal with a simple sculpted black bottom and black patent straps on top, detailed with leather appliqu s of a yellow flower, leaf and stem on the top.
Did I need them? No. Want them? Yes. Were they cute? Naturally. Cheap? At $34.50, a complete steal. Would they go with jeans? If not, they’d be perfect with all the black skirts and pants hanging in our closet. Sold.
That Q&A session made me realize a couple of other reasons women like dressing from the sole.
Shoes are more forgiving than clothes and much easier to buy. Your weight may go up a few pounds, but it won’t change your shoe size. Trying them on involves a quick slip on and glance in a mirror that exposes nothing more than part of your leg. No undressing in front of full-length mirrors under cruel fluorescent lights. And they never hurt when you try them on in a store.
I’ve now worn my new shoes for an entire work day and have received numerous compliments – especially effusive ones from a female hairdresser and a co-worker – but the cute flower is digging into my toes, and my calves are sore either from my run with the dog this morning or from the way the wedge heel compresses my leg muscles.
Such is the plight of the fashionable.
“Shoes can be witty and drop-dead gorgeous, but not very comfortable,’ writes Linda O’Keeffe in “Shoes: A Celebration of Pumps, Sandals, Slippers and More.’
“All too often they don’t fit like a glove or conform to the foot’s natural contours. But that doesn’t matter, admits clothing designer Diane von Furstenberg: ‘You look down at your feet and wink at yourself.”
Staff writer Suzanne S. Brown can be reached at 303-820-1697 or sbrown@denverpost.com.
