Best Boots of the Year

The NYE party I mentioned is back on, so I'm in quite a hurry right now, but I have to end the year with this one final post. I figured a Best of shoes 2010 post would be appropriate, and looking at the images, I realize black, wedge and tall are the main criteria when I go shoe shopping.

Acne - Finsk - Rick Owens -Osman Yousefzada

BCBG - Nina Ricci - Rick Owens

Tanja S London - Alexander Wang - Burberry Prorsum

With that, I wish you all a wonderful New Years Eve, and all the best for 2010!

Shiny Seven

All from Net-a-Porter: Hervé Léger - Marc Jacobs - Emanuel Ungaro
Matthew Williamson - Proenza Schouler - Preen Line - Alexander Wang

While I've already got a dress for New Years Eve, I'd gladly trade it for any one of these. NYE requires the right amount of shine and glamour, and I've got my sequins ready. My only problems is that the party I was going to got cancelled today - now I might end up all dressed up with nowhere to go.

Wet Wet Wet

So many of my favourite editorials incorporate water in some way. Whether it's at the beach, in the ocean, or like here, with models submerged in a pool. In this shoot from 1999 by Steven Meisel, the colours are particularly mesmerizing.

Sure, there's also a really creepy vibe to these images, and I can't help but thinking about the damage the chlorine did to all those beautiful dresses, but the result is just too beautiful for details like that to matter.

See the rest of the editorial (a total of 22 images) here.

Deck the Halls

Christmas decorated chateau from the Loire Valley. Reminds me of the colour scheme of Proenza Schouler SS10.

In one hour, at five PM, Christmas officially starts here in Norway. The whole family will gather around the table and eat traditional Norwegian dishes with names I don't know how to translate. Later there will be cookies, candy and homemade beer, and we'll all sit next to the Christmas three and open presents.

I wish a Merry Christmas to all my readers. I hope you all get to enjoy the holidays with family and friends, good food and presents.

Triple X

Three gorgeous new designs from the fabulous Nicholas Kirkwood. Love the texture and alternating patterns! These and more at Browns.

Layer Up

Great inspiration for winter dressing. Alexander McQueen, fall 2007.

All I Really Want For Christmas

This is the Gucci SS 2010 campaign. Natasha Poly looks gorgeous. And the clothes are sexy. And the shoes are wonderful. (And everything looks a little like it's made of plastic, but that's not the point.)

Just look at that location.

I know I shouldn't complain about having a proper white Christmas for once, but I feel like I've got the frost under my skin right now. It's not just below zero, it's way below zero, and I wouldn't leave the house at all if I could get away with skipping the whole Christmas shopping ordeal. If some kind soul could just get me a ticket to someplace warm, I'd be beyond happy.

Forest of Shoes

It's well past midnight, and I'd love to be asleep right now, but my dentist told me I ought to take a tablet of penicillin every six hours, so I'm still awake. I managed to get through all my exams just fine, and was going to start buying gifts and focusing a bit more on the blog, and then one of my teeth decides to die. I've been in quite a lot of pain the past days, but it's finally getting better, and I get to spend time appreciating the work of shoe designers again.

One shoe designer I've just noticed is Italian Gianmarco Lorenzi. I haven't been able to find much more than images from the Fall/Winter 2009 collection, but I'm certainly impressed. The shoes have a certain Italian vibe, and while they are extremely tall, they still manage to look elegant. I also like that some of the styles come with matching bags.

The Invisible Shoe (and a Better Use of Velcro)

Did I ever mention my love for concept footwear? I'm certain I must have.

When I first came across these designs I was reminded of Maison Martin Margiela, particularily when seeing the interesting mixture of leather squares and wooden cubes above. Turns out the designer, Brazilian Andreia Chaves, is indeed influenced by MMM, Y. Yamamoto, Miyake and others. Chaves incorporates chaos and contrasts in her designs, and experiments with different materials and visual effects in her work.

I can't help but imagine what would happen if you stomped around extra violently while wearing this mirrored ankle boot. It is called the Invisible Shoe, and it looks downright pretty as it blends with different surroundings.

Finally, there's the Velcro Shoe. A brilliant design, allowing the wearer to sculpt the sandals different ways around their feet.

See more of Chaves' work here.

Pictures from Yatzer.

Moody

Amazing editorial from Glamour France Dec/Jan 93/94. Christy Turlington shot by Mario Testino. Full editorial here, at fashion_screen.

I can't believe I was only 9 years old when this was shot.

Eye Focus

Chanel SS 07

It's almost the weekend again, and another Christmas party to attend. I've actually built up quite a nice collection of LBDs lately, so getting dressed isn't the stressful event it once used to be. This means there's more time to focus on hair and make-up.

Lately I've been really fond of these two looks, from Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld. A little colour and/or shine both above and below the eyes, and I'm good to go. Now if I could only figure out what to do with my hair. (It's almost getting too long, but a part of me really wants to be able to do the A. Wang braid, so I'm not cutting it yet.)

Karl Lagerfeld SS08

Pictures from style.com

Light and Dark

I wasn't planning on posting anything today, as I've had my third of four exams and am feeling a bit tired, but then these Givenchy's popped up over at Net-a-Porter. And of course it's love at first sight.

I think I prefer the shape and overall design of the pair above, but the black anaconda with studded heel is so very Givenchy glam-goth that they deserved a mention. The stud detail on the toe reminds me of those awesome Givenchy headbands that have been featured everywhere lately.

Which shoe would you pick; light, soft and feminine or dark, spiky and sexy?

Pictures fron Net-a-Porter.

PS

My absolute favourite bag is still the (to me) unobtainable PS1. While I prefer the original versions, I find the experimenting with texture for pre-fall quite exciting. That bold blue? Simply stunning.

Pictures from Proenza Schouler and Missnonhuman.

Golden Heels

Two exams down, two to go. Time to get back to posting some awesome shoes again, right? These pairs are from master students at the Dutch Fashion Institute Arnhem, and they're all competing for the Golden Heel Award. See more student designs over at the Despotic Queen.