You guys know me. Normally, not only do I try to focus on shoes I love rather than bashing shoes I hate, but I’m also generally supportive of all of Giuseppe Zanotti’s zanier side. I dig his heelless platforms and extreme stilettos, almost without exception. Particularly in the last two years, Zanotti has been more or less beyond reproach in my mind. Read More…

As I’m sure most of you guys already know, the severity of the ankle at which a shoe shifts transitions from the tallest point of the heel to where the ball of the foot rests is called the shoe’s “pitch.” A platform is often used to decrease a shoe’s pitch, because it raises the ball of the foot up a bit and negates part of the heel height. Read More…

Now this is a serious shoe.

Giuseppe Zanotti has been playing with the structure of shoes for several seasons now, preferring a weighted platform sole at the front of the shoe instead of the traditional toe-heel dual pressure points that we all know and love. I’ve never tried to stand or walk in one of these designs, but a few of you have chimed in to say that they’re not half bad if you’re already used to stilettos with a similar pitch. Read More…

A few utterly awful pairs of sneaker-wedges notwithstanding, I still adore the fact that a good pair of kicks is finally something that more fashionable women might be tempted to try. It’s about time a shoe trend tempted us with designs that are not only comfortable, but also not hazardous to the health of our ankles. These trends don’t come along every season, so I’m going to celebrate this one as long as I can. Read More…

I don’t know whether it’s the effect of Isabel Marant, Rag + Bone, Acne or seemingly countless other taste-making cooler-than-thou brands who have debuted low-slung, low-heeled booties, but whoever started it, I want to thank them. Shoes like the Acne Pistol Booties and Rag + Bone Newbury Booties have given cool girls all over a comfortable, versatile, relatively low-key alternative to boring flats, and now the traditional shoe powerhouses are starting to catch on. Read More…

It’s been a week full of Kanye West here at our little family of fashion sites. We got excited over his budding relationship with Kim Kardashian over at BagThatStyle, we dissected his bag collection in relation to Kim’s at PurseBlog and now, it’s time to talk about those $6,000 shoes that he designed with Giuseppe Zanotti for his debut collection and which he name-checked in his new song “Theraflu.” Could there be a better pair for this week’s Fill in the Blank? Read More…

It’s the end of the week and you know what that means: a crazy shoe of some sort or another on which I’d like to hear you pontificate. This week, the object of our Fill in the Blank affections is the Giuseppe Zanotti Suede Bow Sandals. That name just sounds so…innocuous, doesn’t it? Suede is soft and friendly. Bows are happy and girly. Read More…

Giuseppe Zanotti Heelless Crystal Studded Sandals, $2140 via Neiman Marcus

I’ve written about Giuseppe Zanotti Heelless Shoes several times, and despite my general ardor for the brand’s recent work, I’ve never found myself completely enthusiastic about this design in particular. Although I appreciate experimental design (and I especially appreciate it when it’s accessible to people who can’t pay bespoke prices), the previous iterations in smooth, minimal metallic gold leather just left me feeling a tad cold. Read More…