OCTOBER 31ST FAB FRIDAY WINNER
October 31, 2008
SUPERGA “Alpine”
Water-resistant canvas lace-up boot with a side zipper and soft faux fur lining. Brown.
Retail: $220
Shoe talk with BootLover from Ontario, Canada:
Why do you love shoes?
I love shoes because it does not matter what size, shape, color you are a great pair of shoes gives anyone the confidence to go out in the world.
If you could design the perfect pair of shoes, what features would they have?
They would be comfy…def a high heel, and probably have one distinctive feature that makes them stand out.
Who is your favorite shoe designer?
wow…all of them!
What shoe trend would you like to see disappear?
Shoes that are utterly impossible to walk in! when there so high and miss-shapen the model falls down the runway.
What is your most favorite shoe style of all time?
Black leather knee high boots!!!!!!
It could happen to you….
October 29, 2008
October 29th, 2008
I’ve never been the one to win things (well not easily) and if I did win anything it was something like stationary with kittens on them, or a frisbee, I’m not kidding, I’ve actually won one!! Clearly the things I’ve won in the past were not exactly things you would actually be thrilled about winning (I know, I shouldn’t complain, its free). All that changed that one Friday morning when I got the call…saying that I was the “fab friday” winner that week. What?? Seriously???
Yes seriously, I’ve attached proof! The Corso Como boots are fabulous, not to mention comfortable (which in fabulously looking shoes is like winning the jackpot)!! Maybe my luck is changing! And it could happen to you! Just vote, you may get that fabulous friday call!
A sleek bag title
October 28, 2008
A sleek bag that could carry all that you possibly need for a day in an exotic skin. Shown here with an…
Love from Australia “New Tibetan Gypsy” boot
October 25, 2008
Suede leather wrap-boot with luxe fur trim and bone toggles, shearling lined and rubber sole. Grey. $349 at UrbanMinx.com
OCTOBER 24th FAB FRIDAY WINNER
October 24, 2008
Elisa Ferare “Cabaret”
Hand-painted snakeskin oxford with ½” platform with 4 ½” heel. Natural.
Retail: $575
SHOE TALK with “debmomnag” from Arizona:
Why do you love shoes?
They are the punctuation mark of a great outfit!
If you could design the perfect pair of shoes, what features would they have?
4 inch heel- stilleto
hidden platform
patent leather
Who is your favorite shoe designer?
too many
What shoe trend would you like to see disappear?
square toe
What is your most favorite shoe style of all time?
classic black stilleto
Endless.com - save $25 on orders of $125 or more
October 24, 2008
October 24th, 2008
Passing the buck, so to speak. Save $25 on $125 orders of thousands of select shoes for women, men, and kids.
Henry Beguelin lace-up oxford
October 24, 2008
Daytona leather lace-up slingback oxford with platform and 4′ heel. Style: SD0426. Natural. $650 at HenryBeguelin.it.
Rene Caovilla goes WILD for a week
October 23, 2008
October 23rd, 2008
Rene Caovilla — shoes coveted by celebrities (America Ferrera, Marcia Cross, Vanessa Hudgens) for red carpet waltzes and magazines (W, Harpers Bazaar, Town & Country and WWD Accessories) for their WOW! factor — have recently been seen in the much-anticipated W spread whereby Angelina Jolie was intimately photographed by sizzling hottie Brad Pitt.
To turn up your own sizzle, Rene Caovilla is offering 30% off their LEOPARD PRINT shoes! The 5-day sale is on their “Wild, Sexy, Attractive, Unique, Timeless, Masterpieces…” A classic pump (style: c4850a) with crystal buckle is marked down from $1,175 to $822.50.
Yves St Laurent (Aug 1, 1936 - June 1, 2008)
October 23, 2008
Considered by the Daily Telegraph as ‘one of the greatest figures in French fashion in the 20th century’ Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint Laurent was born August 1, 1936 and died June 1, 2008.
The son of an insurance company president, Yves Saint Laurent was born in Oran, Algeria. He studied first at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture, but left after a few months. Saint Laurent left home at the age of 17 to work for the French designer Christian Dior. Following Dior’s death in 1957, Yves, at the age of 21, was put in charge of the effort of saving the Dior house from financial ruin. His work for the 1958 Dior collection earned him international acclaim for his work that would come to be known as the trapeze dress, which would be integral to fashion during the 1960s.
Shortly after this success, he was conscripted to serve in the French Army. After just 20 days, Saint Laurent was institutionalized in a French mental hospital, where he underwent psychiatric treatment for a nervous breakdown.
In 1962, YSL left Dior and started his own fashion house with his lover Pierre Berge, from whom he split in 1976, but remained partners in the business. During the 1960s and 1970s, the firm popularized fashion trends which mainstreamed the idea of wearing silhouettes from the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s. He was the first, in 1966, to popularize ready-to-wear in an attempt to democratize fashion and was also the first designer to use black models in his fashion shows.
In 1983, Saint Laurent became the first living fashion designer to be honored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a solo exhibition. In 2001, he was awarded the rank of Commander of the Légion d’Honneur by French president Jacques Chirac. He retired in 2002 and became increasingly reclusive.
He also created a foundation with long time partner Pierre Bergé in Paris to trace the history of the house of YSL, complete with 15,000 objects and 5,000 pieces of clothing.
On June 1, 2008, Yves St Laurent died from the effects of brain cancer at his residence in Paris. YSL’s body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered in Marrakech, Morocco in a botanical garden that he often visited to find influence and refuge.
According to The New York Times, a few days before he died, Saint Laurent and Bergé were joined in a same-sex civil union in France. Bergé said during the funeral service: “I also know that I will never forget what I owe you, and that one day I will join you under the Moroccan palms.”
Ferragamo: “Designer to the Stars”
October 23, 2008
Salvatore Ferragamo left a legacy of innovation (June 5, 1898 – Aug 7, 1960)
Salvatore Ferragamo was an Italian shoe designer and worked with many celebrities during the 1920s in Hollywood. Soon after, Ferragamo returned to Italy and founded his eponymous brand and label making innovative hand-made footwear. His design approach towards shoes spawned many innovations such as the ‘wedge heel’ and ‘cage heel’. Film stars and celebrities are still loyal to his company, which has evolved into a luxury goods empire spanning the world.
Born in 1898 in Bonito, near Avellino, Salvatore Ferragamo was the eleventh child in a family of 14 children. Ferragamo made his first pair of shoes for his sister at the age of nine for her confirmation. Young Salvatore decided that he had found his calling. He always had a passion for shoes. He studied shoemaking in Naples for a year then Ferragamo opened a small store in his parent’s home. In 1914, he emigrated to America, to live with one his brothers, a cowboy boot factory worker.
Ferragamo worked briefly with his brother at the factory, then moved to California - first Santa Barbara then Hollywood. It was here that Ferragamo found success, initially opening a shop for repair and made-to-measure shoes - prized items among celebrities during that time, leading to a life long hobby of designing footwear for the cinema. However, his thriving reputation as ‘Shoemaker to the Stars’ only partially satisfied him. He could not fathom why his shoes pleased the eye yet hurt the foot, so he proceeded to study anatomy at the University of Southern California.
Ferragamo returned to Italy in 1927, after spending thirteen years in the United States. He settled in Florence and began to design shoes for the wealthiest and most powerful women of the century. The Maharani of Cooch Behar to Eva Peron to Marilyn Monroe, were all loyal to Ferragamo. In 1929, he opened a workshop in the Via Mannelli, concentrating his efforts on applying for patents for ornamental and utility models and some related inventions. The business stumbled out of the 20’s and Ferragamo filed for bankruptcy in 1933 due to bad management and economic pressures. Ferragamo, ever the entrepeneur, nonetheless recovered, and expanded his operation during the 1950’s to a workforce of over 700 expert artisans that produced 350 pairs of hand-made shoes a day.
Ferragamo is recognized as a visionary. His designs ranged from the strikingly bizarre objet d’art to the traditionally elegant, inspiring other footwear designers of his time and beyond. Salvatore Ferragamo died in 1960 at the age of 62, but his name lives on as an international company, which has expanded its operations to include luxury shoes, bags, eyewear, silk accessories, watches, perfumes and a ready-to-wear clothing line. Since his death, the Ferragamo Company is led by his wife Wanda and their six children (Fiamma, Giovanna, Fulvia, Ferruccio, Massimo and Leonardo).
His most famous invention is arguably the “Cage Heel”. Fiamma (Salvatore’s eldest daughter who died prematurely in 1998) inherited her father’s inimitable talent and came up with the “Vara pumps” in 1978.
The Salvatore Ferragamo Museum opened in Florence in 1995 and is located at the Palazzo Spini Feroni. The Museum extends over four rooms and comprises a collection of over ten thousand models of shoes created by Ferragamo over forty years, from the Twenties to his death in 1960. The Museum also exhibits a small collection of 18th and 19th century shoes, as well as a collection of clothing from the 50’s onwards, a collection of handbags from the ’70’s, and a huge archive of documents.
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