FN Shoe Star, Karen

Originally uploaded by shoedish

We’ve been avoiding writing anything about FN Shoe Star, a shoe designer challenge sponsored by Footwear News and Nine West because, well, we’re just that snotty and immature. There is only one Shoe Star and your looking at her. Yeah, that’s right, if there’s one thing I’m cocky about it’s my knowledge of the shoe. Hacks! I tease, I tease. I don’t even know these people, but I do think that the challenge should have been open to other shoe lovers, designers, and FN readers and not just formally trained students of FIT, NY. They should have thrown some untrained designers in; mix it up a bit. You can’t fake talent, after all, the right person(s) would/will get weeded out no matter who they were. Who are you rooting for? Shoedish hasn’t seen enough yet to form any solid opinions, but we’ll be tracking their progress from here on in. Today, we’re featuring a design from Karen, the 21-year old student from Taipei, Taiwan. Good luck Karen!

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Alloy Zapper Wedge

Originally uploaded by shoedish

The New Boho Girl meets cheap chic from Alloy. These pretty wood wedges are a little tropical, a little Boho, a little flower power all rolled into one very pretty wedge sandal. The best part, as always, is the price. Readers often tell me that they won’t buy shoes from Payless or Target or cheap mail order catalogs because they “just fall apart after a year”. While we support the spending of money when it’s for a well-made designer shoe, we also see the benefits of affordable footwear. Inexpensive shoes afford you the luxury of buying shoes you wouldn’t normally try. In fact, one of shoedish’s favorite pair of shoes are a pair of red bow-vamped ballet flats from Payless. And just to note, we’ve been wearing them for almost two years (in New York City) and they’re still as pretty and put together as they were the day I brought them home.

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It’s time for another Celebrity Shoe Star from The Shoe Dish. Who’s the owner of all this pretty pedeliciousness? Come on, take a wild guess. It’s okay to be wrong….

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Manolo Blahnik Tattoo

Originally uploaded by shoedish

Shoedish is considering a new tattoo. We have a few and are looking to add another to our growing collection. Oh, did we never tell you about that other obsession. Yes, shoedish is a lover of tattoos (though not nearly as much as shoes). We’ve been wanting to get a new tattoo on our foot and always thought it would be neat to get a shoe (a shoe on my foot, how clever!) and with all the artful sketches from designers like Manolo Blahnik, this isn’t as silly as it sounds. A word on shoe sketching: Designers are as much artists as they are designers, which rings true with pieces like this one on the right. I’d frame this and hang it my house, so why not have it tattooed onto my foot?

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Dr. Scholl’s

Originally uploaded by shoedish

Over the years there has been a serious assault of ugly shoe fashion. Fashion wouldn’t be fashion if we didn’t have some what-were-we-thinking moments. You might not know it, but the 60s were the first to see the Birenstock Invasion. You can moan all you want, just because they’re comfortable doesn’t make them pretty. The Klompten (still popular for nurses), the Unisex Earth Shoe, the Capezio Jazz Shoe (revamped in 2006 by Dior), the platform athletic shoe (courtesy of The Spice Girls and yes, I owned a pair), the Ugg, the Croc, and the Supersized Salt-Waters (they’re coming…just wait for it). Ah yes, it’s a wild shoe jungle out there, so be careful not to get your ped stuck in shoe trend rut. Just when we thought the return of the platform athletic shoe was the worst thing to hit 2008, we stumbled upon this; what we can only describe as an alien shoe from planet ugly shoe. This Dr.Scholl’s clog wouldn’t even look good in a kid’s size and it’s really hard to be that ugly. Is this really necessary? Thoughts? Opinions?

These ugly canvas platforms from DKNY cost $66! And that’s the sale price. You must be joking.

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Here are some more blooming vamps from Hale Bob. This is an overload of the Flower Power trend, but we’re liking it. Hale Bob often channels the wonderful world of Betsey Johnson and these shoes are about as close as you can get.

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