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Clockwise from above left: Daphne Guinness in her electric blue heelless; Victoria Beckham negotiates stairs in Antonio Berardi heelless; Whoopsy!Lady Gaga takes a tumble at Heathrow airport in her heelless.
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Last July, Daphne Guinness really rocked my world when she was snapped judging a fashion competition wearing electric blue maryjane-style heelless shoes. Fast forward to early January. Corresponding by email with London-based custom cobbler Natacha Marro, I was setting up my own “get”. Since every pair is custom, Marro asks that the purchaser trace and email to her an outline of each foot. This was getting fun! A few emails and consults later regarding materials and the quandary of “To strap or not to strap?”, I was informed that my beauties would be arriving in a few short weeks. The anticipation was killing me. During my “wait”, I popped into the Guiseppe Zanotti boutique on Madison Avenue in NYC. Zanotti has done his own take on the heelless for S/S12, in a gorgeous blue suede bespeckled with multi-colored crystals. This is not his first season for the heelless, celebrities like Nicole Sherzinger had already been photographed in his version from previous seasons. Looking a little further back to the evolution of the shoe without a heel, it was Victoria Beckham who famously sported heelless Antonio Berardi black leather boots in 2008.Meanwhile, inside the Zanotti boutique, I tried on a pair of heelless and was given guidance by the oh-so-helpful sales associate: “I find balancing in them is easy…as long as you don’t look in a mirror at your feet. Once you do that you are in trouble.” Sure enough I trotted around the shop without incident, but when I did spy my lower half in the mirror, my equilibrium was thrown and I teetered and I tottered. Suddenly the image of Lady Gaga losing it in her heelless and tragically toppling at Heathrow Airport circa summer 2010 flashed in my mind. “So that’s where the Gaga went wrong!”, I pondered. “Must have caught a glimpse of her own heelless reflection and went down for the count.”
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Nicole Scherzinger balances in a pair of Guiseppe Zanotti heelless last fall (left); Zanotti’s heelless entries for S/S12.
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| Top: A few options from Natacha Marro’s heelless collection; zebra with tigers and purple patent available athttp://www.natachamarro.com/. Bottom: My very own custom Natacha Marro pink leather and glitter heelless. |
I am thrilled to report my custom Natacha Marros arrived last week. They are equal parts ruby slippers and Barbie shoes with a little Guinness unpredictability thrown in. I am confident I will excel at negotiating my way around in them without incident, so long as I keep my eyes up, and look straight ahead…just like the fillies on the catwalk.
