Friday, March 13, 2009

Aggressive Shoes: When Footwear Attacks

I was really quite bemused this afternoon to learn that Saks has a new category for its spring footwear:

Aggressive Shoes.

This snarling assemblage of shoes eats up the city sidewalks while sneering at the state of the economy, resplendent in its own mistress-of-the-universe confidence.

(I think that the last pair of aggressive shoes I saw were the tap-dancicus dentata, which devoured poor Fred Astaire during the opening of The Triplets of Belleville.)

But if those shoes from Saks are aggressive, then these sandals, above, the Aries thong by Dolce Vita, also from Saks, are passive. Just look at their extra wide shaft, perfect for filling up with dust, random pebbles, and raindrops.

Indeed, the wide-mouth shoe has been making inroads with, ahem, aggressively edgy stylistas. Take this pair by Martin Margiela, for instance. It may be the dernier cri in cool, but is it flattering?




Frankly, I don’t want to walk around looking like I have buckets on my feet. Even buckets made in Italy and France from gorgeous leather.

And I’ll just bet that these aggressive shoes could take those passive ones in a cage match.


YSL cage shoe

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, it seems that aggressive (and I love that term) footwear, and clothing in general, is quite hit or miss. When it works, however, it can be quite exciting. I like the selections.

Thumbelina Fashionista said...

I have a love/hate relationship with all things "fierce," "aggressive," whatever you want to call it. (I've also heard "shoe porn.") I like how it's challenging my personal style range, but on the other hand, it's becoming cliched. EVERYONE wants to be fierce. And fierce is sometimes tacky. (Did you see that Amber Rose photograph taken by Jack & Jil? I thought she looked awful.) But on the other hand, I like the idea of the "urban warrior" woman, and for me, it's a nice change from my usual conservative style. The important thing for me is to stay true to oneself--I hardly want to look like a fierce clone.

Anonymous said...

I saw this girl from Brazil wearing the top shoe/sandal thingie in Paris. She said that everyone was wearing them in her country. I wondered how so? With all that sand! As it was, she was walking across a pebbled courtyard when I met her and photographed her. If you want to see, go back to the Sept. postings on my blog..