Sometimes it’s the basics that are the hardest for me. Like finding a replacement for the black velvet ballet slippers the cat peed in six months ago. I needed a simple slip-on flat. Something casual and comfortable, fine with skirts or jeans, and most importantly something that could easily fit in my purse to be backup on club nights and new-shoe days. But, I hate flats. They make me look short. And frumpy. And they suck for kicking ass in.

And then I found these leather ballet flats from Frye:  Carson Harness Ballet Flat, $148 at Zappo’s. A little bit horsey (which seems to be what I aim for in shoes lately), maybe even a little bit fetishy in really low-key way. The leather is soft enough for them to fold and fit in my bag,  and they have a sensible little replaceable rubber heel. Love!

Now, the caveat: they run way big. Order at least a half size down from your usual size.  I went down a full size, but I’m used to wearing boots with thick socks. Once again, I find myself appreciating Zappo’s free return shipping policy.

I’m not sure how I feel about that, but couldn’t exactly NOT pass these bizarre and creepy shoes along: Iris Scheiferstein.

This weekend, I went shoe shopping for the first time since I made my no-black New Year’s resolution, and here is what I bought- the first non-black shoes I’ve owned since an ill-conceived pair of turquoise Chuck Taylors in 1991:Fluevog’s Adriana Luna. Don’t worry: they come in black, too.

A quick boot review: They are way prettier in person! They are also way lighter in color than they look in the photo- closer to fawn.

I actually pick them up today, as they had to spend the night in the calf stretcher. If you order these boots online, expect to take them in for stretching immediately. They make them tight through the calves intentionally, which allows them to be stretched to fit you and avoids that hideous gaping thing I constantly see on girls with ill-fitting tall boots. But it also means that, according to my sales guy, only about 5% of customers can even zip these all the way right out of the box. This isn’t too clear on the Fluevog site (although it is if you take the time to read the comments).

I usually wear a 7.5, but a 7 felt good in these even in medium socks, especially knowing that the leather will stretch pretty quickly as it breaks in. They feel quite comfy, and I’m sure will get comfier quickly, but do have a thinner sole than you may be used to in ‘Vogs-  you can kind of feel the ground!

Dolce Vita June Trapunto  Stitched Boot, on sale at Neiman Marcus Last Call for $225.

NMLC is also currently having a general 30% off sale until November 14, on top of that. Soooo…around $160?

Want.

EDITOR’S NOTE: November 9th and 10th the sale is 40% off a single item. That makes them $135.  Done!

Presently, this is just a Photoshopped concept image, but how far off is an implant like this? Breast augmentation is commonplace, and in more extreme modification subcultures, jewelry and whiskers implants are.  We’ve seen forked tongues and devil horns, so why does this seem like it’s went just a step too far (pardon my terrible pun)?

From Bit Rebels :

We have seen the odd and weird peirced people that literally changed their appearance into something uneartly assuming to get attention or to be original.  So why would this not be possible as well?  An incorporated stiletto heel into your foot could possibly be the new “edge”.  I am sure we’ll see someone who will go all out and actually do this.  To me, this is just as weird as it comes.  It looks painful and alien to me, but I guess the stuff people will do to stand out will always be pushed farther and farther into the land of the weird.  What do you think?  Is this something that women dream of?

Via Laughing Squid