Prada Mary Jane Boots, $2400 and $1500 via Neiman Marcus

Sometimes runway shoes translate well to real life and sometimes they don’t, but I’ve got high hopes for the python iteration of the Prada Mary Jane Boots, which were some of the most talked-about shoes of the Fall 2011 shoes and just arrived for pre-order via NeimanMarcus.com this week. The stretch suede version looks more like flesh and is therefore a little creepier, but I suppose I’m not necessarily opposed to a trip to the uncanny valley at the behest of Miuccia.

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It looks like it’s not just me, texture really is the biggest thing in footwear for Fall 2011. Exotic skins, fur, feathers, haircalf, glitter all of the above – get ready for a few months filled with shoes that look like something Cher would wear on her head. And I mean that in the nicest way possible, because we all know that I enjoy a crazy shoe.

And there’s no word besides “crazy” for the Brian Atwood Pazza Sandals, which is why they’re our Fill in the Blank for this week. When it’s extra hard, I make you guys come up with the words. Or if you like this design more than I do, you can skip straight to the buying phase of this whole process for $1450 via Neiman Marcus.

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Images via Fashionista.com

We already discussed Prada’s man Fall 2011 campaign images over on PurseBlog, but season after season Miuccia seems to know what it is we really want to see – THE SHOES. As Prada did for Spring 2011, this fall also has a group of ads singularly devoted to the footwear of our dreams.

And since Prada’s shoes are always, always, always one of the major highlights of the season, they’re the perfect brand to be doing shoe-only ads. The combinations of colors, textures and prints in these photos are enough to give you outfit inspiration all the way until next spring.

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Alexander Wang Simona Rabbit Sandals, $895 via Neiman Marcus. Christian Louboutin Lady Fur Pumps, $1395 via ChristianLoboutin.com.

When I inaugurate a new feature, I think it needs to be done with a bang, so why not talk about some more insane fuzzy shoes? I’m sure you guys can figure out Would You Rather – I give you two similar (but different!) options, you let me know which pair you’d rather wear. Sometimes neither pair is awesome, sometimes they both are, sometimes they’re both just weird. I’m not sure exactly which category the Alexander Wang Simona Rabbit Sandals and Christian Louboutin Lady Fur Slingbacks fall into, but I suppose that’s for you to decide.

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Can we talk about one of my biggest online shopping pet peeves for a moment?

I absolutely cannot stand it when retail sites don’t list a brand’s products by their proper names. Case in point: The Brian Atwood Suede and Metal Heel Platform Pumps, currently available via Saks.com. Brian Atwood names all of his shoes. All of them. Most designers with a significant following do, because that makes it a thousand times easier for fans to track down a select design and to find information about them on the Internet. Naming a shoe only makes sense, from a marketing and sales standpoint.

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Ever since I saw a Twitter picture of Kylie Minogue wearing the Sergio Rossi Crystal Cutout Sandals over a year ago, I haven’t been able to get the sparkling stunners off my mind. If designer shoes are meant to make an impression, this pair succeeded far beyond anyone’s wildest imagination.

That’s because the shoes are brilliant – from far away, it looks as though your feet are encased in a web of rhinestones. Up close, the carefully scalloped laser-cut suede is as pretty and delicate as any straps you’ll find anywhere. I literally have no idea how anyone could dislike these shoes.

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Herve Leger Suede Ring Sandals, $995 via Neiman Marcus

If you’re a big fan of the Herve Leger bandage dresses, I’m probably about to offend you, so just read on with caution, ok? Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Herve Leger bandage dresses are over. They are so over that I can’t even think of something to which I can accurately compare them. They’re more over than studs, they’re more over that weird grey hair trend from a year and a half ago, they’re as over as it gets. At this point, the only famous people still wearing them are the ones known the world over for looking clueless on the red carpet.

So what does the brand do now? Find a way to progress its look to a place that doesn’t scream “Kardashian wannabe?” No, launch shoes. Namely the Herve Leger Suede Ring Sandals, which look like a footwear re-imagining of the brand’s signature dresses, for better or for worse.

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Photo by Tommy Ton for Style.com

This is another of Tommy Ton‘s beautiful street style images from Paris Couture Week, naturally, and it’s given me an idea that I’ve been thinking about for the past several days – why don’t we think to accessorize our shoes? You see, the Prada platforms pictured above don’t come with those gold cuffs; they’re just regular (if amazing) black suede platform sandals. But the cuffs totally make the picture by providing a contrast in texture and color. So why don’t I have some ankle cuffs of my own? I think I definitely need some. Your assignment for this weekend is to accessorize your footwear in some way and report back about how it went.

Diego Dolcini Fanned Zip-Back Sandals, $2445 via Neiman Marcus.

I’ve had the Diego Dolcini Fanned Zip Back Sandals sitting in a tab in my browser for a full week now, and Friday seems like as good a day as any to tackle their boundless…well, their boundless whatever. I don’t know if I admire these shoes for their chutzpah or dislike them for being overdone, but either way, I appreciate that Dolcini goes on making fantastical, over-the-top, very European (if you catch my meaning) shoes for all of us to talk about.

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If I were to try to explain succinctly the Tory Burch aesthetic to someone who had no frame of reference for the brand or its products, I think that the best descriptor I could conjure would probably be “global preppy.” Burch’s pieces always have a traditional root, even if they’re influenced by the colors and shapes of far-flung societies.

But instead of thinking “tribal” or “Asian” or “American traditional” when I saw the Tory Burch Elias Cutout Sandals, I thought “Balenciaga,” which is usually not a reference that I’d expect to see. Yet when You get this kind of thick contrasting trim and angular shape on a sandal, my mind cannot go anywhere else.

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