An interesting tidbit of information came to light in yesterday’s edition of the New York Post – according to the Britain’s College of Podiatry, the average woman can only stand her high-heeled shoes for a little over an hour before they become painful nuisances. For as many as 20% of women, the pain starts after only 10 minutes. The school surveyed more than 2,000 heel-wearers, and although the Post’s story doesn’t explain what constitutes a “heel,” the results seem about right, and it got us wondering about the habits of you guys, our readers. How long are you willing to suffer for your high heels?

On the rare occasion that I wear heels (I have a sports injury that generally prevents it), I’m part of that group that starts to regret my decision almost immediately. My feet are no longer used to it, although years ago, I could go a couple hours without too much cursing. I asked Bea, and she said that she can probably go two to three hours, on average, although some of her shoes are in the ten-minute category. After a couple years in New York, though, I know that my feet are tougher and more resilient to pain than they were when I moved here, though, so Bea may have also developed a competitive advantage.

So, tell us: what’s your usual heel height of preference, and when wearing them, how long do your feet stand a chance? What make a difference for you in the comfort (or lack thereof) of a pair of heels? Do you have any tricks to prevent shoe pain?

If you have resilient feet, the Jimmy Choo Anouk Degrade Leather and Suede Pumps above will set you back $750 via Net-a-Porter.

The post TalkShoes Asks: How Long Does It Take for Your Heels to Hurt? appeared first on TalkShoes.

Whether you care about movies or not, you’ve probably been made aware by the entertainment and media Powers That Be that the Cannes Film Festival is currently happening in the south of France. With Cannes comes a whole bevy of actresses, models and people who are famous for being famous, all on the red carpet in the the most Cannes-worthy of designer finery. Because the event is in France, even American actresses often take a more fashion-forward approach to dressing for their Cannes premieres, which means that sometimes, an entire cast shows up clad in black-and-white Chanel. (The folks from The Bling Ring). Naturally, though, we’re interested in the shoes.

More specifically, we want to know what you’d choose to put on your feet, were you to trot up those famous red-carpeted stairs to some sort of grand premiere. Personally, I’d be shod in the Charlotte Olympia Take 110 Metallic Sandals. I love a theme, and although these shoes might be a little too irreverent for something like the Oscars, they’re perfect for a film festival where less is at stake and everyone’s hung over from partying on Roberto Cavalli’s yacht. (No, really.)

But that’s just me – there’s no right or wrong answer to this question. After all, is there any more luxurious, decadent event than Cannes? Not that I can think of, anyway. If your answer is the same as mine, pick up these shoes for $895 via Net-a-Porter.

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In general, it’s not rocket science to predict what I’ll like. Many of you probably have a certain sense of it just from casually reading the blog (I know this to be true because occasionally I get an email with a link to something that a reader thinks I’ll like, and they’re almost always right), and I very rarely surprise myself. After all, if you spend most of your waking hours evaluating shoes and handbags, your taste in those things becomes well-defined rather quickly. That’s why I was so surprised to find myself attracted to the Shakuhachi Gypsy Riding Boots.

First of all, despite the fact that I’m a big fan of low-heeled boots, Chelsea boots (with the elastic insert at the shaft) have never been my favorites. In fact, they’re probably my least favorite of all. On top of that, my affection for printed shoes doesn’t extend to anything even vaguely hippie; I’m generally allergic to all things boho. As a result, the fact that I love these paisley-and-rose-printed Chelsea boots continues to puzzle me.

Naturally, that got me thinking – probably everyone has shoes in their lives that they love but don’t understand, and it might be therapeutic of we all come clean. Remember: you’re only as sick as your secrets. Let them out in the comments.

If you and I are suffering from the same shoe delusion, pick up a pair of these boots for $240 via ShopBop.

The post TalkShoes Asks: What’s your shoe guilty pleasure? appeared first on TalkShoes.

Although I don’t generally carry them myself, I don’t have anything specific against a monogram bag, as long as its well-executed and feels modern. Most materials, even those that tend to feel tacky or gaudy, can be used in judicious ways that retain the air of luxury that most designers are looking to cultivate. It should be about execution and context, not an inherent bias against a material. That being said, I’ve never seen a pair of logo-covered shoes that I’ve liked, including the Louis Vuitton Rosemary Pumps.

The rose-printed lining of these shoes is lovely, and if it had been on the outside, I’d probably be dreaming of the spring garden parties that their eventual owners will likely wear them to. Instead, the lovely print is hidden on the interior, with the well-known Vuitton monogram covering ever inch of the exterior. I own a couple of LV monogram bags, so it’s not that the monogram itself repels me, but it just doesn’t feel right on a shoe.

I think the problem is that I look at shoes as little sculptures, even when they’re simple. They have an artistic feel to them that isn’t quite as present in most other fashion items (especially functional fashion items), which makes this sort of logo-a-gogo treatment a turnoff. Do you own any logo-covered shoes, besides sneakers? Let us know what you think of the look in the comments.

If you disagree with me about this pair in particular, pick them up for $830 via Louis Vuitton.

The post TalkShoes Asks: Would You Wear Logo Shoes? appeared first on TalkShoes.

There was a time when the Giuseppe Zanotti Bow-Detailed Suede Sandals wouldn’t look like quite the oddity they do today. That time was about three years ago, when the footwear industry was in the midst of an arms race of sorts to see who could build the highest platform that women would actually spends $800 on. Christian Louboutin mostly won that fight, as he tends to do when platforms are involved, but I’m not sure he won the war. As fashion tends to do, preferences have now swung back the other one – single-sole pumps are the look that everyone wants to have. Now we want to know: do you still lust after shoes that boost you an extra six (or six-and-a-half, if we’re talking about the shoes above) inches?

For me, the issue of a platform has more to do with the heel than with the platform itself. When paired with a stiletto, like the Giuseppe Zanotti Bow-Detailed Suede Sandals, the platforms now look like a dressed-up (sometimes barely) version of the traditional stripper heel. They always looked like that, of course, but when that’s what everyone’s wearing, it feels acceptable. Also more acceptable is a big platform paired with a thick heel, even if it’s very high – the proportion feels more balanced and modern. That’s what it’s all about, of course – feeling current is half the battle, and a big platform with a skinny stiletto just feels old. It’ll feel new again in 10 years, undoubtedly.

So have you moved on, or do you still don your platform stilettos proudly? If you do, pick up the Zanottis above for $895 via Net-a-Porter.

The post TalkShoes Asks: Are you sick and tired of platform stiletto shoes? appeared first on TalkShoes.

Last weekend, while most of New York City was still blanketed by significant snow, I strapped on my snow boots and made the sometimes-precarious journey to Barneys to shop for shoes. I don’t necessarily recommend going shoe shopping when you’re wearing complicated all-weather boots; taking them on and off between shoe departments at different stores gets old really quickly. The trip was mostly for the benefit of my friend, though, who was hunting for several new pairs and had just received a shoe-enabling bonus at work. (Lucky her, right?) In fact, it was at her urging that I tried on the Chloe Susanna Booties.

I’ve loved these shoes for a long time and written about them previously, but until this weekend, I had managed to restrain myself from trying them on. That’s a tactic I often use when I know I’ll love something and don’t want to spend the money; if they never touch my feet, then I’ll never know exactly what size I need, and then I can’t order them online or buy them in-store with any confidence. It’s usually enough to keep my budget in check, but on this particular day, I figured I might as well try them. When in Rome, right? Plus, Barneys had the new version with silver hardware, which is even more perfect for me than the previous gold version.

Of course, it was instantaneous love. It’s like these booties were made with me in mind, and everything from the leather quality to the heel height was exactly as I would have wanted it. I didn’t end up buying them, though, and it was for one reason and one reason only – a little voice in the back of my head told me that $1,345 plus tax was a lot of money to pay for a pair of shoes that’s already lived the glory days of its trend life. Even I’m disappointed with that logic.

I’m always the first person to tell people to buy what they absolutely love and pay little regard to who else has or doesn’t have it. It’s your money, after all, and things you love enough to pay full price to have are always in style. Anyone who says otherwise is a tedious snob. Now I feel like a tedious snob, but shouldn’t something this expensive feel totally special to me? Perhaps the fact that I’m still thinking about these shoes nearly a full week later means they’re more special to me than I want to admit.

Have you ever had this problem? Did you end up buying the object of your affection?

You can pick up these shoes for $1,345 via Net-a-Porter.

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Yesterday, I did something I had never done before: I bought the exact same pair of Jeffrey Campbell Brit Wrap Strap Boots that I had already owned for two years, for a second time. Normally I like to spread my dollars around instead of having multiples of the exact same thing, particularly when said thing costs more than $50. Sometimes, though, desperate measures have to be taken.

I had walked completely through the bottoms of my first pair of these boots. After two New York winters of hoofing around in them nearly every day, even the incredibly heavy (far heavier than I expected for the reasonable price) soles that complete these boots yielded to wear and tear. I intended to take them to a cobbler in my neighborhood to have the soles replaced, but then I realized that doing so would render them unavailable to me for days on end. When you live in a city that requires a lot of walking in the cold, you don’t lose access to your favorite boots without some serious panicking. And when I panic, I look for a way to buy a solution to my problem. It’s not the finest aspect of my personality.

So now I have two pairs of my favorite boots, and I feel happy and secure knowing that I’ll be able to wear them for countless winters to come, between the new pair and the shoe repair. I’ve written of my love for these boots before, so I’ll save you that particulars of why I thought this design was worthy of even more space in my tiny New York closet. All I ask is that you comfort me by telling me that you, too, have done the same thing with your favorite kicks.

If you’re looking for a solid pair of boots, pick these up for $230 via ShopBop.

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It’s hard to think of a shoe in the last two years that’s had a bigger impact on the industry than the Isabel Marant Sneaker Wedges. Marant took a totally dead look – seriously, no one at all has cared about high-heeled sneakers in the past ten years – and suddenly made it the thing that fashion lovers and self-styled It Girls had to get their well-manicured hands on. There were many times when Net-a-Porter would put a fresh shipment of Marant’s sneakers online at 6 a.m. and they’d be completely sold out by the time I woke up at 7:30, no matter which version or color the sneakers were. Are those days over?

The Isabel Marant Bayley Sneaker Wedges, above, have been available at Net-a-Porter for three days. After two days, one size – FR 41 – had sold out. Is that because customers find the star on this pair less desirable, despite the good colors of the shoe overall? Other versions of the Marant sneaker wedge, which lack the uber-popular oversized tongue and hightop look, have been available on the site for some time, but this is the longest I can remember a version like this one lasting.

Is it the star? Is it the flood of similar, less expensive, more easily available sneaker wedges to the market, which may have reduced demand for the original because of their extremely similar look? Is the populace merely coming to its senses over high-heeled sneakers, for cryin’ out loud? Important questions, these. I have a feeling it’s a little bit of all three – have you noticed any change in the trend? If you’re so inclined, you can pick up this pair for $640 via Net-a-Porter.