This was first published on The Huffington Post on 5 December 2008.

This was first published on The Huffington Post 1 December 2008.

This was first published on The Huffington Post 19 August 2008.

Reported by Kate Schelter
Edited by Lesley M. M. Blume

Editor’s note:

The era of the ostentatious ‘it’ bag is over. Blaring logos are dead.

But this fall, statement shoes are bigger, taller, and more opinionated than ever.

Below, Huffington Post Style section contributor and fashion-world insider Kate Schelter details six major shoe trends for this upcoming season. Love them or hate them, these designs will dominate the market from Manolo Blahnik to Nine West this autumn.

This list contains guilty pleasures for every woman, from the golfer to the dominatrix. We are particularly fond of the nostalgic Karen Blixen-esque spectators and the safari print pumps (“Mrs. Robinson – are you trying to seduce me?”). And as a bonus, Schelter generously offers notes on how to wear each style, including the most menacing patent booties.

A warning: don’t mix cocktails with the platforms … you won’t come out alive.

1. Return of the Spectator
Boy by Band of Outsiders collaboration with Manolo Blahnik.

Schelter’s note: Unfortunately these were never produced beyond a sample. But you get the picture, literally! I would have purchased these myself. They are so clean and modern, just white + navy canvas, with a hint of Croquet.

For more: boy.bandofoutsiders.com

Alexander McQueen peep-toe version

Schelter’s note: These shoes are great with wide-legged trousers (they’d only show when you crossed your legs in a chair), or with a miniskirt and opaque tights.

For more: www.net-a-porter.com

2. Black Patent T-strap heels with Platform
Jimmy Choo T-strap heels

Schelter’s note: The least platform of the three shoes shown here, and probably the most conservative. But I like the “low-fi” version of this sexy trend.

For more: www.net-a-porter.com

Burberry Studded T-bar sandals

Schelter’s note: You pack two trends with these with the added studs. Great with a delicate party dress to really show some fashion cred.

For more: www.net-a-porter.com

Yves Saint Laurent Tribute Sandal – Black Patent

Schelter’s note: Last season’s bestseller and fashionista fave is back with new colors and in new heights, which quite literally makes them great for more petite women who want to add some height. Tall girls beware: these get a little close to looking like stripper shoes if you are already 5′ 7″ or above. Men will feel totally intimidated by you and you will be a head taller than everyone else at the party. These are also great under wide legged pants if you just see a hint of the toe coming through.

For More: www.barneys.com

3. Classic Stiletto Pump – sans Platform
Sergio Rossi Veronica Black Patent Leather Pump

Schelter’s note: I bought these myself! If you can only buy one shoe this season, this is it. You can wear it day, night, office, dinner, drinks, date – it goes with everything. Try wearing them with Fogal black sheer stockings (with a black seam up the back of the leg) and it will have a touch of Guy Bourdin quality without looking retro.

For more: www.sergiorossi.com

Sergio Rossi Angelica Patent Leather Round-toe Stiletto Pump – Indigo

Schelter’s note: These pack a punch and have a slightly higher heel and rounded toe shape than the one above. I LOVE this Yves Klein blue, which as a mate totally updates this season’s all-the-rage return of the Little Black Dress.

For more: www.sergiorossi.com

Kate Spade pump

Schelter’s note: I bought these, too. Vogue loved “this season’s must-have watercolor trend.” But please don’t pair these beautiful shoes with a matching poufy pink prom dress; pick something watercolor-UNrelated, and the shoes will be their own statement. They have that slight Marni or Dries van Noten feel with the print and palette for half the price; Kate Spade is a very reasonably priced line.

For more: zeta.zappos.com

4. Winter Safari
Normally I would pass on the animal print shoes or belts as I feel they’re a little matronly or cliché chic. However, I recently saw Vogue-contributor Lauren Santo Domingo wearing a pair of YSL Snow Leopard print heels with a beautiful neutral look (a beige Yigal Azrouel Spring ’08 skirt with a grey t-shirt). The whole look inspired me: it seemed like a completely modern and unfussy way to wear animal prints.

From style.com
Lanvin Patent Cone Heel Pump – Little bit of leopard

Schelter’s note: I’m not that crazy about this cone heel as it’s a little too trendy for my taste, but it will look very “right now” if you’re into that sort of thing.

For more: www.kirnazabete.com

Sergio Rossi Angelica Giraffe Print Pump

Schelter’s note: These are my faves… totally gorgeous. The heel, the last, the unusual print.

For more: www.sergiorossi.com

Silver Fox Python Round-toe Pump

Schelter’s note: I found these shoes positively arresting. Ladies, men and traffic alike will stop you when they see you in these.

www.sergiorossi.com

5. Bootie Call!
Manolo Blahnik Lacy lace-up bootie

Schelter’s note: I have these in black leather, and when I wear them I get more compliments than ever. I love the lacy quality, which is very now: a modern variation of the spectator, but with the open toe detail. And the lace alludes to Alaia. Again, these are a great rocker juxtaposition (think leather and lace) to a pretty party dress. I paired mine with an ethereal Erin Fetherston floating white cloud of a dress for the CFDA awards.

For more: www.bergdorfgoodman.com

Kate Schelter at CFDA Awards; photo from Style.com

Givenchy Gladiator Bootie

Schelter’s note: Here a gladiator, there a gladiator, everywhere a gladiator! The trend continues. These are great to juxtapose with a floral “watercolor” print cocktail dress for evening; or with a black mini, white t-shirt and bare (tan) legs. Update this summer trend for fall by wearing these with tights. They just make women look strong, sexy and, well, strappy.

For more: www.barneys.com

Valentino Suede Peep-Toe Booties

Schelter’s note: I LOVE these. Buy them.

www.saksfifthavenue.com

6. Monster platform wood soles
Stella McCartney Patent Platform Pump

Schelter’s note: Warning: any platform should be worn by women 5’6″ and BELOW. Tall women, please skip the extra height and opt for the gorgeous classic stiletto pumps – it looks a lot more elegant, and you don’t need the height, I promise. I am 5′ 10″ and I have almost fallen over in these. No kidding. Lost my balance. But this is this season’s editorial uber-trend, so prepare to wear these for one season only.

www.bergdorfgoodman.com

Marni peep-toe ankle boots

Schelter’s note: Same as above, just with covered ankle.

For more: www.net-a-porter.com

This was first published by Lesley M. M. Blume for The Huffington Post 21 August 2008

At last: fall is arriving. In fashion terms, autumn means tall, gorgeous boots; it means delicious layers of cashmere. Ta ta, ugly gladiator sandals; hello, luscious leopard-print swing coats.

What it also means: those mega-issues of Vogue, Bazaar, and W have been weighing down newsstands and crippling postal-workers across the country.

I don’t know about you, but those phonebook-sized magazines scare the hell out of me. I’m too exhausted from negotiating the first 800 pages of ads to drag myself through the editorials.

So to learn more about what the fashion world has dished up for us this fall, I took the easy way out and called up stylist, trend expert, and Huffington Post contributor Kate Schelter (www.kateschelter.com). Here is her shortlist of five major trends that designers and retailers are peddling this season:
1. The tuxedo shall reign supreme.
An appropriate homage to the recently-departed design master Yves Saint Laurent, who introduced Le Smoking to watershed-moment acclaim in the 1960s. This autumn, practically every designer under the sun — from Zac Posen to Calvin Klein – has reinterpreted that Victor-Victoria sensuality.

above: Erin Fetherston, fall ’08 ready-to-wear, photo from style.com

above: Zac Posen tuxedo dress, fall ’08 ready-to-wear, photo from style.com

On that note, Schelter reads me a delicious Catherine Deneuve quote about the masculine-feminine tension in YSL’s designs:

“Saint Laurent designs for women with a double life. His clothes for daywear help women to enter a world of strangers … thanks to their somehow masculine quality they give her a certain power, arm her for encounters which may lead to disputes. However, for the evening, when she may chose her company, he makes her seductive.”

above: Yves Saint Laurent’s original 1966 Le Smoking tuxedo suit

With that in mind, go forth and smolder.
2. Beyond Le Smoking, there will be a major glut of menswear-reinterpreted-as-womenswear.

Suits, suits, everywhere – but nary a padded shoulder.

“This is a very empowering look, but it’s less of a Working Girl moment,” says Schelter. “It’s sexier.”

above: Band of Outsiders, fall ’08 ready-to-wear, photo from style.com

Look for suits made from materials like silk, as opposed to chunky, tweedier threads:

above: Chris Benz, fall ’08 ready-to-wear, photo from style.com

Also, those roomy, slouchy ‘boyfriend blazers’ with rolled up sleeves “were everywhere” — from Balmain to Rag&Bone – worn over threadbare t-shirts:

above: Alexander Wang ‘boyfriend blazer, fall ’08 ready-to-wear, photo from style.com

Omnipresent as well: mens’ shirts reinterpreted as dresses, seen here in wunderkind Alexander Wang’s fall ready-to-wear collection:

above: Alexander Wang shirtdress, fall ’08 ready-to-wear, photo from style.com
3. High-octane color.

“Color blocking was really important for this season,” says Schelter. Many collections featured “big colors like mango orange, saffron yellows, pinks … it’s like getting lost in a Ciao Bella ice cream store,” she adds.

above: Chris Benz, fall ’08 ready-to-wear, photo from style.com

above: Marni, fall ’08 ready-to-wear, photo from style.com

On a less encouraging front: neon colors are back too. Marc Jacobs’s neon bags (with names like “acid yellow”) are still in vogue; fingertips will be going day-glo.

At least it will be harder to get run over by a car at night.
4. Simply irresistible: The Robert Palmer look has been resurrected.

Says Schelter: “We’re seeing the return of the supertight little black dress, referencing Alaia, exentuating the female form.”

above: Herve Leger, fall ’08 ready-to-wear, photo from style.com

Actress Rachel Bilson gave a preview of this look at a recent New York City party:

above: photo from Patrick McMullan

I wanted to die as we looked through runway images of the elastic-y, fat-thigh-showcasing new fare, but Schelter was reassuring: “Don’t worry; there are different degrees of covering up this season.”

Thank God for le smoking.
5. Costume jewelry is de riguer.

Now, this is a very happy, humane trend indeed – flea market chic will be hitting the big time at last. Expect to see big, wonderful, shining brooches and necklaces and bracelets everywhere.

Lulu Frost necklace

“Costume jewelry is the new statement piece, whereas it used to be the ‘It’ bag or shoes,” says Schelter. “But don’t wear it prim and prissy; layer it on.”

Yes, ma’am!

Kate Schelter, photo by Patrick McMullan