She’s in fashion

As the days get shorter and darker, it gets harder and harder to drag ourselves out of bed and into work. Luckily for a shoe lover, the girls in the Vogue office can always be counted on to make the day merrier and brighter. These beautiful, classic black patent Prada pumps (above and below), for instance, would put a spring in anyone’s step. They belong to beauty queen Rita, whose Valentino heels and Massimo Dutti Chelsea boots have previously guested on this blog.

For a shot of super-cool style, check out fashion writer Nana in her “Serena” platform bootees by Loeffler Randall (below). 

You may have spotted Katya Z’s leopard print last month on the blog. Her “Anouck” Chelsea boots from Alexander Wang (below) have smart leather ribbed sides and braided leather collars at the back, but of course the standout detail is their metal hinge-effect heels. They flash across the office as Katya darts in and out of the fashion cupboard.

Two (of many) things to love about fashionista Liza: her beautiful smile and her gorgeous Burberry wooden wedges (below). 

Stylist Elena B has an eye for killer details (the Attilio Giusti Leombruni ponyskin brogues we blogged in October for example). Love these cobalt blue Giuseppe Zanotti peep-toe heels with the zips up the back – and love the way she teams them with seamed stockings.

I had to include these (below) because sometimes all you have to do is look down to feel like things are looking up.
Representing the art department, your Shoeblogger in Corso Como bootees. These are baby-soft black leather (so soft in fact that you can only pull them on with the aid of a shoehorn). The heels are metal spikes, cup-shaped under the sole, and buckled with a matte leather harness around the ankle. J’adore.

But my favourite look of the winter so far has to be this (below).
Elena S’s Miu Miu leopard-print ponyskin platform Mary Janes earned their own blog post back in the summer. Here, prefiguring the s/s 2012 trend for print on print (it’s going to be huge) she rocks them with tiger-striped hose. And the effect is electric. Anna Dello Russo eat your heart out.

We're having a heatwave

The driver of the Piccadilly Line service from Heathrow had an announcement. "The temperature in London today is 27 degrees," he told us. "That's hotter than the Bahamas!" My fellow Tube passengers gave a little cheer – what nicer start to an October weekend than a surprise heatwave? Gleefully throwing off scarf and gloves, your Shoeblogger grabbed a favourite pair of J&M Davidson beaded flops and hotfooted it to Cheveux 2000 on the Uxbridge Road (top spot in London for bonding, braiding and acrylic nails), for an emergency mani-pedi (Orly Blue Suede, below) to kick off the weekend.

Autumn in London is usually the Season of the Black Opaque Tight. On this occasion, however, it was bare legs a-go-go. A mini trend on Portobello Road on Friday afternoon was to wear your clompiest boots with something cute and girlish. For instance, these scuffed-and-studded Doc Martens (below) with frilled anklets.

Ditto the hefty black brothel creepers below, teamed with dinky beribboned ankle socks.

I liked this couple with the his 'n' hers desert boots, hers prettified with a big red bow.

Strolling up Portobello Road to Notting Hill it's always fun to check out the legendary Notting Hill Exchange shops. These are a chain of second-hand stores selling everything from music (vinyl and CDs) to fashion and furniture. Retro Woman, one of the branches on Pembridge Road, had a couple of pairs of great gold and pink Prada and MiuMiu pumps in the window (below).

Over on Sloane Street the Prada boutique had this display of burgundy loveliness (below) – much more low-key than the banana-heels that have been in the headlines this season, but very wearable and want-able.

On Bond Street there was one sighting of the seasonal Black Opaques phenomenon, but teamed with these lovely summery Tory Burch gold ballerinas (below).

 Ballet flats and understated but expensive chic were, as one might expect in Mayfair, the order of the day, with lots of shine and a bit of snakeskin thrown in.

Just off Bond Street is Maddox Street, home to the Charlotte Olympia boutique – "To Die For", as their window so accurately proclaims (below).

Directly opposite, at 45 Maddox Street, is The Box (below), another level of shoe heaven. 

The Box was opened in March this year by a couple of Russian sisters, Yulia and Elena Pashevkina (more evidence of the burgeoning Russian shoe scene). The sisters studied at Central Saint Martins and decorated the boutique themselves in a style Vogue UK describes as "opulent neon-Baroque". They stock labels like Beatrix Ong, Bionda Castana, and Chrissie Morris. I fell for a pair of Iris van Herpen for United Nude ankle boots (below) though at £750 you can see why they are being modelled here by Kim Kardashian rather than your Shoeblogger.

(Image thanks to awomanandhershoes.com)

In fact the shoes I did invest in this weekend are, in their own small way, almost as bling as the above. They are a pair of gold stiletto-heeled pumps (below) – a wee bit Prada, a wee bit Kardashian – from vintage store Marshmallow Mountain in Carnaby Street (note the matching plastic bag they came in). And they set me back the princely sum of a tenner. That's real London style.

Fashion's Night Out kicks off

 A couple of years ago, US Vogue and the Council of Fashion Designers of America got together with the mayor's office in New York to devise an event to "celebrate fashion, restore consumer confidence, boost the industry's economy, and put the fun back in shopping." The result was Fashion's Night Out – a cynic would say it's just late-night retail with a marketing spin, but nonetheless the idea caught on, big time, and this year there are FNOs in 17 countries worldwide (Mexico has the best t-shirts). 

It takes place in different cities on different dates – finishing on November 5th with Japanese FNO and kicking off last night, September 6th, in Moscow.  

On Stoleshnikov Pereulok designer boutiques were serving champagne to the committed Moscow fashionistas braving the evening chill in short shorts and high heels (it went down to about 8ºC, aka 46ºF). I loved these gorgeous suede Prada peep-toe platform Mary Janes (above), and her friend's fabulous die cut Alaia lace-up stiletto bootees (below). 

There was more Alaia in the chic department store TSUM: these beautiful fawn-coloured wrap-strapped patent platforms.

Also in TSUM, I spotted these wonderful Alexander Wang bootees: grey felt uppers, leather lace ankle ties and among the highest heels of the night.

Back on the streets I met my friend Anna, who was rocking these amazing not-quite-bondage Benois Meleard sandals (below). They were a gift, she told me. "We were at a pub, when I broke the heel of my Camilla Skovgaards and my bf went to Mood Swings Apartment and got me those so we wouldn't have to go home and change my shoes!" Boyfriend of the year right there, wouldn't you say?

Among the delicate heels and bare legs the studded boots below caused their own sensation. The platforms are high enough to make the cobbled streets a challenge and the heels add another four inches or so. Their wearer was dressed down in jeans and sweater but from behind you couldn't miss that dangerous metal, flashing all the way down Stoleshnikov.  

More studs in the Dior boutique, though the shoes are a particularly brilliant pair of Louboutins. Their owner and her boyfriend, in Yves Saint Laurent leopard print ponyskin chelsea boots, made the best-looking couple I saw all evening (and I am not saying that just because they thought I was French...)

The highlight of the night, in every way, has to be these divine monsters (below). Part Alexander McQueen, part Antonio Berardi (guess which Shoe blogger was too overcome with excitement to actually enquire about the label) – completely awe-inspiring. The boy (yes, boy) wearing them was, sensibly, sitting on the kerbside with his girlfriends, so I cannot answer the inevitable question – can he walk in them? But in the style stakes at least he can definitely give Daphne Guinness and Lady Gaga a run for their money. 

To see Muscovites enjoying Fashion's Night Out from the knees up, take a look at vogue.ru's blog here.

Do good, look good

Monday night at Howick Place, London: to a charity auction at Phillips de Pury hosted with Tatler in aid of the Bhopal Medical Appeal. In the sale was a collection of traditional Indian water pots customised by artists including Tracey Emin, Anish Kapoor and Sir Peter Blake. In attendance was a stylish and informed crowd of committed supporters of this excellent cause – many with excellent taste in footwear.

It was a night for black leggings and black opaque hose. I loved the nude-and-black lace Alaïa ankle boots (top) and these Nicholas Kirkwood midnight blue lace wedges (above).

Two views above of a fabulous pair of leopard print Louboutin stilettos, accented with a gold chain slung low on the heels. I also loved these understated but very cool Miu Miu shoeboots (below).

These black patent Prada ankle boots looked wonderful paired with ruched black leggings. Well done ladies: a very satisfying lesson in how to look good whilst simultaneously doing good.