Poetic Badgers
2004-08-24 22:44:07 UTC
August 24, 2004
Ballet Flats? Walking Shoes? Nah. It's Round Toes and High Heels.
By TRACIE ROZHON
Crocheted ponchos are in. Pants with embroidered whales are back. But
perhaps the most noticeable trend this fall is the full-fledged arrival
of round-toed, high-heeled shoes like the ones Ginger Rogers wore when
she danced with Fred Astaire - only higher.
Forget ballet flats or sneakers or the old-fashioned British walking
shoes. This season, stores - from Macy's to Neiman Marcus - are stocked
with rounded shoes with four- , five- and even six-inch heels. They are
on magazine covers. The shoe salon at Jeffrey, the chic specialty store
in the meatpacking district of Manhattan, has a whole pedestal of them,
at $380 to $740 a pair. Nine West's version, sold at mid-price department
stores, goes for $79.
"It's a round world," said Paul Wilmot, a public relations agent who
represents Calvin Klein, Oscar de la Renta and other designers. "It's
clearly a throwback, a retro feel." Mr. Wilmot said he regretted the
demise of "the fabulous, low-vamped shoes, as pointed as a steeple top -
they make women's legs look great." He called the new silhouette
ungainly: "These things are clunkers; they're high-fashion, but they're
clunkers."
It is also a young people's world - at least as far as these shoes go.
"It's a style that's being embraced by the young," said Joan Kaner, the
fashion director at Neiman Marcus. As usual, the merchants interviewed
would not divulge exactly how many of these shoes they were selling.
"We've had a very good reaction," Ms. Kaner said. "But mostly from the
very fashion-forward." These shoes, she added, "defy gravity."
Gail Rothwell, the president of Nine West, said she had test-marketed
round-toed high-heels in basic black at Macy's stores in Herald Square
and on the West Coast first, to see if women really would buy them. "They
put them on a front showcase," she said. "They sold out in a week and a
half." Shoes in print fabric, some with a faux-crocodile toe cap, as well
as other variations are arriving in department stores around the country.
"They're just hitting the floor, and they're doing very well," Ms.
Rothwell said. "We see round-toes continuing into spring, at all heel
heights."
Tommy Hilfiger, under his new H label, is offering spectator pumps (in
black and white with perforations) for $130. Louis Vuitton is showing
pink satin high-heel slippers with black string bows for $645. The leader
of this particular style pack, Prada, is showing even higher high heels
covered in faille fabric for fall, in navy blue or tan, for $370.
Footwear sales have been ailing the last few years, as fashion followers
abstained from buying, having already filled their walk-in closets with
the witch's-hat-toed stilettos. Shoes, after all, couldn't get any more
pointy; they couldn't get any higher.
Designers and manufacturers and merchants needed a way to get people to
buy again. "It's been three years of declining sales for both men's and
women's dress shoes," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for the
NPD Group, a research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y. In 2001, the
combined men's and women's dress shoe business was $5.5 billion. The next
year, it dropped to $5 billion. In 2003, it was down to $4.2 billion.
Now things are picking up, according to NPD. "In the last six months,
we've seen a major transformation in styling, and suddenly, things are
starting to get better - and part of it is clearly the introduction of
these round-toed shoes," Mr. Cohen said. "They've become the thing to
buy." (Meanwhile, men are starting to buy redesigned classics, he said,
including kilted loafers, the sleeker European-looking loafers and, yes,
even the old-fashioned wing-tip oxfords.)
As to the women's new silhouette, Mr. Cohen agrees with Ms. Kaner of
Neiman Marcus about who is buying this rather impractical footwear. "It's
been the younger market that's been mixing dressier shoes with casual
outfits. Teens are wearing these wide-toed, stacked-heeled shoes with
jeans."
The shoes are meant to be nostalgic - influenced by styles of the early
1950's. Or 30's. Or 40's. Nostalgia has been in this summer; Marc Jacobs
has been showing high-heel straw-covered wedgies, and to go with them,
short-shorts.
Who is making the round-toed skyscraper-heeled shoes? "Almost
everybody," Ms. Kaner replied. "Prada, Marc Jacobs, Christian Louboutin,
Chanel."
Cynthia Rowley sells her particular style of round-toed shoes to
department stores, like Nordstrom's and Bergdorf Goodman's. The round
toes are "something we designers - women designers particularly - have
been trying to get going for three seasons," she said.
This spring, Ms. Rowley offered a spectator design, with a strap across
the ankle, "but we were just dipping our toes into the style." With toe
shapes more than heel shapes, she said, "women need time to get used to
them, to adjust their eyes."
"For fall, it tends to be what everybody's buying."
The round-toed pump is now her best seller, available with a superhigh
heel, a midsize heel or as a flat. The ultra-high-heeled shoes come in
pinks and plaids - some with mink pompoms - and are "outselling even the
flats." The shoes are sexy, Ms. Rowley said, "but a Lolita sexy: there's
something schoolgirlish about the roundedness, but it's sexy anyway." Her
shoes sell from just under $200 to $250.
Even Ralph Lauren is doing his own version of the round-toed pump. Called
the Dorsay, it comes in burgundy or honey-colored alligator - for $2,475.
"It does have some of that feeling," said Nancy Murray, a spokeswoman for
Polo Ralph Lauren, "but it doesn't have a six-inch heel." She paused. "We
didn't take it to that extreme."
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
Ballet Flats? Walking Shoes? Nah. It's Round Toes and High Heels.
By TRACIE ROZHON
Crocheted ponchos are in. Pants with embroidered whales are back. But
perhaps the most noticeable trend this fall is the full-fledged arrival
of round-toed, high-heeled shoes like the ones Ginger Rogers wore when
she danced with Fred Astaire - only higher.
Forget ballet flats or sneakers or the old-fashioned British walking
shoes. This season, stores - from Macy's to Neiman Marcus - are stocked
with rounded shoes with four- , five- and even six-inch heels. They are
on magazine covers. The shoe salon at Jeffrey, the chic specialty store
in the meatpacking district of Manhattan, has a whole pedestal of them,
at $380 to $740 a pair. Nine West's version, sold at mid-price department
stores, goes for $79.
"It's a round world," said Paul Wilmot, a public relations agent who
represents Calvin Klein, Oscar de la Renta and other designers. "It's
clearly a throwback, a retro feel." Mr. Wilmot said he regretted the
demise of "the fabulous, low-vamped shoes, as pointed as a steeple top -
they make women's legs look great." He called the new silhouette
ungainly: "These things are clunkers; they're high-fashion, but they're
clunkers."
It is also a young people's world - at least as far as these shoes go.
"It's a style that's being embraced by the young," said Joan Kaner, the
fashion director at Neiman Marcus. As usual, the merchants interviewed
would not divulge exactly how many of these shoes they were selling.
"We've had a very good reaction," Ms. Kaner said. "But mostly from the
very fashion-forward." These shoes, she added, "defy gravity."
Gail Rothwell, the president of Nine West, said she had test-marketed
round-toed high-heels in basic black at Macy's stores in Herald Square
and on the West Coast first, to see if women really would buy them. "They
put them on a front showcase," she said. "They sold out in a week and a
half." Shoes in print fabric, some with a faux-crocodile toe cap, as well
as other variations are arriving in department stores around the country.
"They're just hitting the floor, and they're doing very well," Ms.
Rothwell said. "We see round-toes continuing into spring, at all heel
heights."
Tommy Hilfiger, under his new H label, is offering spectator pumps (in
black and white with perforations) for $130. Louis Vuitton is showing
pink satin high-heel slippers with black string bows for $645. The leader
of this particular style pack, Prada, is showing even higher high heels
covered in faille fabric for fall, in navy blue or tan, for $370.
Footwear sales have been ailing the last few years, as fashion followers
abstained from buying, having already filled their walk-in closets with
the witch's-hat-toed stilettos. Shoes, after all, couldn't get any more
pointy; they couldn't get any higher.
Designers and manufacturers and merchants needed a way to get people to
buy again. "It's been three years of declining sales for both men's and
women's dress shoes," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for the
NPD Group, a research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y. In 2001, the
combined men's and women's dress shoe business was $5.5 billion. The next
year, it dropped to $5 billion. In 2003, it was down to $4.2 billion.
Now things are picking up, according to NPD. "In the last six months,
we've seen a major transformation in styling, and suddenly, things are
starting to get better - and part of it is clearly the introduction of
these round-toed shoes," Mr. Cohen said. "They've become the thing to
buy." (Meanwhile, men are starting to buy redesigned classics, he said,
including kilted loafers, the sleeker European-looking loafers and, yes,
even the old-fashioned wing-tip oxfords.)
As to the women's new silhouette, Mr. Cohen agrees with Ms. Kaner of
Neiman Marcus about who is buying this rather impractical footwear. "It's
been the younger market that's been mixing dressier shoes with casual
outfits. Teens are wearing these wide-toed, stacked-heeled shoes with
jeans."
The shoes are meant to be nostalgic - influenced by styles of the early
1950's. Or 30's. Or 40's. Nostalgia has been in this summer; Marc Jacobs
has been showing high-heel straw-covered wedgies, and to go with them,
short-shorts.
Who is making the round-toed skyscraper-heeled shoes? "Almost
everybody," Ms. Kaner replied. "Prada, Marc Jacobs, Christian Louboutin,
Chanel."
Cynthia Rowley sells her particular style of round-toed shoes to
department stores, like Nordstrom's and Bergdorf Goodman's. The round
toes are "something we designers - women designers particularly - have
been trying to get going for three seasons," she said.
This spring, Ms. Rowley offered a spectator design, with a strap across
the ankle, "but we were just dipping our toes into the style." With toe
shapes more than heel shapes, she said, "women need time to get used to
them, to adjust their eyes."
"For fall, it tends to be what everybody's buying."
The round-toed pump is now her best seller, available with a superhigh
heel, a midsize heel or as a flat. The ultra-high-heeled shoes come in
pinks and plaids - some with mink pompoms - and are "outselling even the
flats." The shoes are sexy, Ms. Rowley said, "but a Lolita sexy: there's
something schoolgirlish about the roundedness, but it's sexy anyway." Her
shoes sell from just under $200 to $250.
Even Ralph Lauren is doing his own version of the round-toed pump. Called
the Dorsay, it comes in burgundy or honey-colored alligator - for $2,475.
"It does have some of that feeling," said Nancy Murray, a spokeswoman for
Polo Ralph Lauren, "but it doesn't have a six-inch heel." She paused. "We
didn't take it to that extreme."
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
--
Poetic Badgers
I'm not all that interested in this rounded bandwagon myself
"The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud."
-Coco Chanel
Poetic Badgers
I'm not all that interested in this rounded bandwagon myself
"The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud."
-Coco Chanel