We reported a few weeks ago that Christian Louboutin designed shoes and helped create “tableaux” for the famous Parisian cabaret, Crazy Horse. The show officially opens in Paris on March 5, but the NYT got in for a sneak peek, and what an eyeful they got.
Louboutin told the NYT, “In the show, we started by showing just the lower half of the woman, then the upper half, then went into a play on the question of sexuality.”
And speaking of sexuality, designer Mark Fast, known for his skimpy, open knits (and also for maybe helping Kanye West with his collection), designed some of the costumes. “Mark said whenever he works with clients he is always being asked, ‘Can you cover more?’ ‘Can you cover more?’” Louboutin said. “Here, we asked him can you cover less. He felt liberated.”
If this picture is any indication, it was all very liberating indeed.
Gisele Has Angels on her Side: Nearly a week after the big game, this whole Gisele-is-a-poor-sport debacle still has some steam. Days after Giants’ running back Brandon Jacobs told Tom Brady’s supermodel wife to “stay cute and shut up,” Gisele’s former Victoria’s Secret Angel compadres have come to her defense. Quoth Adriana Lima, “Leave her alone!” {Vogue UK}
Fashion 2.0 Awards Winners Announced: The 3rd annual Fashion 2.0 Awards, which honors the fashion brands that have been most innovative in the media and technology, were held in NYC last night by the Style Coalition. Winners of the night included DKNY for Best Twitter, Marc Jacobs for Best Website, and one of our personal favs, Instagram for the Next Big Thing in Tech. The big winners of the night, for the Fashion 2.0 Visionary Award, were Gilt Group co-founders Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson. {Fashionista Inbox}
A Burch v. Burch Lawsuit in the Works? Though no law suit has been formally filed, rumors are swirling that Tory Burch is on the verge of suing ex-husband and business partner Christopher for trade infringement over his new venture C. Wonder. Chris is still the co-chairman at Tory Burch, but is looking to sell his stake and continue growing his own businesses. What will happen when the monogrammed ballet flats come off? Watch this space. {WWD subscription required}
Tommy Ton x Club Monaco: Blogger Tommy Ton has teamed up with Club Monaco on two limited edition bags: a men’s backpack and a women’s messenger bag. The bags will be gifted to Ton’s fav street style subjects during the New York and upcoming European fashion weeks, and will be available to the public at select Club Monaco locations starting March 20. In other words, if you want a free bag, dress extra cool, hang out at Lincoln Center this week, and stay in Tommy Ton’s line of vision. {WWD}
Michael Kors Used to Wear Cashmere Leg Warmers: The designer and Project Runway judge may favor a wardrobe full of tailored suit jackets nowadays, but he wasn’t always so classy. During his days at F.I.T., he allegedly wore “cashmere leg warmers [...] with a Fiorucci jean.” Well, at least his ankles were toasty… and certainly not itchy. {NY Mag}
Carine Roitfeld Gives Models Ped-Heads for VMAN: For a calendar girl-esque spread in the latest VMAN, Carine styled beyond-beauties Doutzen Kroes, Adriana Lima, Joan Smalls, Miranda Kerr et al into lingerie-clad pinups… with peds over their faces. You know, those sheer footies you get at shoe stores to avoid contact with any potential toe sweat from whomever tried on that pair before you. It’s certainly an interesting take on budget-friendly accessorizing… {Fashion Gone Rogue}
Blake Lively was Gifted an Entire Season of Louboutins: It’s hard to not like Blake Lively, unless you’ve heard this: Not only is she beautiful, wealthy, and dating Ryan Reynolds, but she recently revealed that she’s been gifted the entire spring Christian Louboutin collection. And the shoes are “so beautiful. They’re amazing.” Ok, B, we get it! {Styleite}
Calvin Klein Donates $2Mil to F.I.T.: CK and his company Calvin Klein Inc. have donated $2 million smackeroos to the designer’s alma mater, the largest donation F.I.T. has ever received from an alumnus. The funds are set to go towards the school’s annual spring design show, potentially helping the next Calvin Kleins of the world get started on the right fashionable foot. {WWD subscription required}
Here’s a Really Adorable Polar Bear Cub Playing in the Snow for the First Time Ever: Just in case you needed a refresher on just how fun winter weather can be. Collective ‘aaaaaaaaw!’ {FabSugar}
The high heel has been around since before Christianity. Its basic purpose was to make the wearer of the shoe taller than others in the crowd. Roman actors wore sandals with wood or cork soles while performing to allow others to see them. During the sixteenth century, heels were also utilized as stirrup holders on riding boots by men in the military. The heels assisted in keeping the rider's foot steady in the stirrup. In that same century, high-heeled shoes made their transition from practical footwear to symbols of style and fashion (and, for some, impracticality) when the very diminutive Italian Catherine d' Medici wore two-inch high-heeled shoes on her wedding day. After d' Medici donned her heels, the style became de rigueur for the earliest fashionistas. Bloody Mary, herself a petite woman, was also a lover of high heels.
Because high heels were impractical for manual labor, they were worn solely by nobility during the courts in 18th century Europe. With that, high heels - crafted from fine leather, velvet and satin, making them very expensive to own - immediately replaced the notion of wearing flat shoes. And although high heels did not disappear completely, for many centuries the heights at which they had been crafted decreased significantly. No longer did they span beyond two inches. During the early part of the 19th century, however, the height of the height of the heel diminished so that Grecian-style sandals became more popular.
While it is now a rare occurrence to witness a man wearing heels, it was not the case during the seventeenth century. Louis XIV wore heels specially made for him by shoemaker Nicholas Lestage from France. The "Louis" heel, some as high as five inches high, were also worn by women. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s it was commonplace for men to wear boots with a small heel. John, Paul, Ringo, and George all wore black boots with the low Cuban heel; in Saturday Night Fever, John Travolta swaggered down the street in low-heeled shoes; and Prince flaunted his appreciation for heels, high and low. The low heel was the fashion piece for men.
What became the fashion piece during the last century as well was the stiletto heel. The word stiletto is defined as a small dagger with a slender, tapering blade. Not only has the stiletto heel been a fashion statement, it has also been a source of controversy as very high heels lost their appeal during the French Revolution; they were seen as a sign of aristocratic excess. In the fifties, the stiletto was viewed as scandalous. It was quite sexual in its shape.
To see the heel of a stiletto shoe, one understands why it was dubbed "stiletto"; the heel is finely - almost dangerously - tapered from the sole to the tip that touches the ground. French shoe designer, Roger Vivier, who worked with Christian Dior, is usually credited with launching two new heel designs - talon choc, the "shock," and talon aiguille, the "needle." The heel of the talon choc is creatively and slightly curved inward toward the arch of the shoe. Soon, Ferragamo, who had made his money and garnered fame for his comfortable shoes, was designing stiletto heels. However, for all its creativity, the new stiletto heels were not durable and broke easily. Despite that drawback, the heel became fashionable.
After many decades, downsides notwithstanding, the stiletto heel has remained popular. The allure of the heel seems to be that the woman wearing the shoe feels sexier and more sensual, despite any pain her feet may feel. The stiletto heel also conjures up the image of the woman who has a hidden dark side - the side of the femme fatale. In the movie Single White Female, Jennifer Jason Leigh's character kills a man with a spiked, silver stiletto heel to the forehead. Once again, one could say that this is the weakness of the stiletto heel.
For wearers of the high heel, however, it is all-important to the overall look of woman, regardless of the controversy surrounding its practicality (or impracticality). The high heel has come a long way from first being worn as a wedding heel to being courted by Louis XIV and other nobles of the European court to being impossibly high, and quite possibly dangerous. Choosing what high heel she would have on her foot, whether it is the designer brands of Ferragamo, Manolo, or Louboutin, gives off an air of being trés chic for the followers of fashion. And in spite of the pain that high heels cause, the many options available allow the woman to assert her own sense of style and, in essence, a sense of self.
