Oh, how our heart sings for Rockstuds. We’ve been obsessing about Valentino’s collection of rockstud bags, shoes, and accessories for what seems like forever (but has actually only been a year or two). Giuliana Rancic looks almost unforgivably chic wearing Valentino Rockstud Noir Pumps, a black princess coat, black leggings, black sunnies, and a simple black Hermes Birkin. If you love these patent leather T-strap heels as much as we do, you can grab them at Neiman Marcus for $995.

Giuliana seems to have finally landed a primo primetime gig – hosting NBC’s new Ready for Love, which is the reality series that follows three bachelors who are incapable of love. Excuse me, incapable of finding love. Fortunately, this show doesn’t just rely on the bachelors’ gut-area instincts, there’s also an arsenal of modern day matchmakers involved!

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When you think of crystals on a shoe, I’m betting your minds go directly to one of Christian Louboutin’s world-famous crystal-encrusted footwear confections. Those designs are consistently the most expensive and sought-after in Louboutin’s ever-expanding shoe empire, and countless other designers large and small have taken up the pursuit of bling to try and snap up a bit of that lucrative business. Most use crystals in the same way that Louboutin does – in order to turn a shoe into a piece of jewelry that shines as brightly as possible. That’s all well and good, of course, but it’s not the only way to bedazzle a shoe.

For evidence, look no further than the Valentino Cystal-Embellished Suede Pumps. Instead of being completely covered, little rivulets of almost-tonal suede peek out from between the placement of the stones, which gives the finished look a more subdued, elegant shine than when the crystals all touch each other. The muted color also helps keep things mature. If you’re not comfortable strapping a pair of disco balls to your feet but still want a bit of shine, this design may be the one for you. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $995.

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We first spied the Valentino Naked Rockstud Wedge Sandals way back during the Valentino Spring 2013 show, and I’ve been hooked on the collection ever since. As a group, the shoes are light, feminine and very smart in their use of modern materials like lucite and PVC to create a very traditionally girlish look. You’ll never see lucite look more ladylike.

I’m not sure how I feel about this design in particular, though. The lucite is heavier on this shoe than some of the others because it’s a wedge instead of a regular heel, although because the shoe doesn’t have a platform, it’s not necessarily too heavy. I’m eternally nervous about the literally blistering ramifications of wearing a shoe with PVC straps that doesn’t fit you perfectly, but then again, you probably shouldn’t spend this much money on any shoe if it doesn’t fit you perfectly.

So what say you? Would you or won’t you? If you would, you can pick up this shoe for $1,095 via Neiman Marcus.

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Valentino’s Rockstud shoes and handbags have proved incredibly popular over the past few years, largely because they fuse a little bit of a tough edge with the brand’s trademark ultra-feminine approach. In an attempt to change things up for cold weather, though, Valentino came up with Rockstud Noir, a black-on-black take on the Rockstud theme that proved that feminine pieces don’t necessarily have to be light and girlish. The best of the group? The crystal-covered Valentino Noir Rockstud Strass Slingbacks.

In the interest of full disclosure, I’m a bit biased – layering black in different textures is one of my personal favorite ways to dress, and these shoes hit that sweet spot perfectly. The design also demonstrates why that approach is so smart – on different colors, the crystals and the studs together would likely seem gaudy and overdone. In tonal black, they feel luxurious and a bit gothic, but not in a way that’s at all prohibitive to a woman who’s never dyed her hair with Manic Panic. (Again, in the interest of full disclosure – I’ve dyed my hair with Manic Panic.)

Valentino’s shoes can tend toward overwhelming sweetness at times, especially when bows or lace are involved, and this shoe is the perfect representative of the opposite end of the brand’s aesthetic spectrum – darkly beautiful and definitely feminine, but not sweet in the least. Pick up your own pair for $1295 via Neiman Marcus.

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For some reason, every Tuesday when I am scheduled to go into the TalkShoes offices, it rains. Every single Tuesday for the last five weeks straight. Ask anyone on the team – I’m not kidding. Why it rains every Tuesday, I couldn’t tell ya. But I can tell you is this. If Mother Nature keeps up with this pattern of rain on Tuesdays, then I may just have to give in and buy a pair of RED Valentino Bow Rain Boots. With these boots, you’ll never convince me that dancin’ in the rain isn’t fun.

Your outfit of choice, or your mood for that matter, will never again be impacted when you have rain boots with a bow on them. A cute bow added to cute rain boots is bound to bring a smile to anyone’s face, and most importantly, it can be incorporated into anyone’s outfit, whether you’re wearing a skirt, jeans, or leggings. These mid-calf, one-inch, all black rubber rain boots are also decorated with gold buckle on the side of the boot. And as cute as these are, the price is even better. At $195, I may have to loosen the purse strings and buy myself a pair (any excuse to buy shoes works for me). Grab a pair before the next rainy day for $195 via ShopBop.

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Lucite is such a tempting material for shoe designers. It’s incredibly difficult to create visual lightness while still manufacturing a shoe that will do its functional duties for women of highly varying weights. It’s especially difficult to do translate lightness to the heel of the shoe; either you make it especially spindly and risk breaking all your customers’ ankles, or you go with lucite and try to strip it of the extremely strong association that consumers have between clear heels and strippers. How do you take an inherently cheap-looking material and make it expensive and luxurious?

If you’re a designer looking for tips, just take a look at Valentino Spring 2013. The relentlessly feminine and beautiful look of the shoes makes one forget entirely about the seedy associations most people have with lucite. The wedge heels look like they’re made out of cut crystal, and the regular heels are slim and low enough not to transgress into the clear heels of many a Chris Rock joke. Most importantly, though, the final product fits the Valentino aesthetic perfectly – womanly, utterly luxurious, totally beautiful in the most direct of ways. Check out the full gallery after the jump.

[Images via Vogue.com]

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Must of us probably associate covering a shoe in crystals, or strassing, with Christian Louboutin. He’s the one that made the look famous, and Louboutin does it in more colors and styles than any other high-end designer on the market. That doesn’t mean that other brands can’t get their piece of the in-demand look, though. Valentino, for its part, does it quite well.

The Fall 2012 collection includes several sparkly options, including the Valentino Crystal Tango Pumps (above) and the Valentino Rockstud Mary Jane D’Orsays (after the jump). These shoes, with their stiletto heels and high sparkle factor, feel like another step in the brand’s plan to modernize for a slightly younger customer.

After grasping around to find its way for a few years, it seems as though Valentino is on a great path. These shoes both look simultaneously like something you’d expect from the brand and something slightly fresher, which is the best way to move an already-successful (and profitable) operation toward a more timely aesthetic. I can’t wait to see what Valentino does for the upcoming Spring 2013 shows.

You can buy the first shoe for $1395 via Neiman Marcus or the second for $995 via Neiman Marcus.

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White shoes are tough. Not only do they get dirty quickly, but they rarely look expensive (even when they most definitely are) and usually conjure images of tragically colored pantyhose or naughty nurse costumes. Which of those is worse depends on your perspective, but neither is an objectively positive fashion reference, and as a result, most brands and customers avoid white footwear.

Valentino does a generally excellent job taking the pale and old-fashioned and making it seem new and luxurious, though, which is one reason that I can recommend the Valentino Lattice and Mesh Pumps without hesitation. So what’s the key to this design’s success?

The reason these shoes work where most white pumps fail is Valentino’s focus on breaking up the wide swaths of white with textural elements. The white leather lattice is lined with tonal mesh, and the entire thing is dotted with small gunmetal studs. This variation not only gives the eye something to do besides take in all the epic whiteness (and wonder where your naught nurse uniform is), but it also helps alleviate worries about quick staining. These shoes will get dirty, of course, but not in a way that’s as noticeable as it would be on flat white leather. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $795.

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Sigh. It’s Friday, so let’s have some foolishness, alright? And that’s what the Valentino Studded Patent Snow Boots are – pure foolishness. Or at least that’s what I think; you can let us know if you disagree (or heartily agree, as you should) by playing along with Fill in the Blank in the comments.

You know the drill – finish the sentence that’s in the title and enlighten us in the process. Alternately, if you’re so inclined, you can buy these boots through Net-a-Porter for $645.

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Perforations and broguing have become an increasingly popular adornment for women’s shoes of all types since oxfords started to get trendy, and this design does an exceptional job of implementing it with sunny yellow patent to make what is perhaps the ultimate summer office shoe. I can just see these at the end of a pair of ankle-length skinny trousers in light grey. Even the most conservative offices should be able to accomodate footwear like this (they are closed-toed, after all), and bringing a little sunshine indoors during the warmer months does indeed sound like a rosy proposition. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $795.

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