Why?  Because footwear fashions for fall are already making their tempting debuts.

You’ll be wishing for falling temperatures too after checking out this exclusive sneak peek at several new styles from the Stuart Weitzman Fall/Winter 2009 Collection.

Highlights include the thigh high boot (the “it” style of the season) seen on the Fall runways from everyone from Louis Vuitton, Rodarte and Prada.  In addition, there’s a retro nod with crepe wedges and good girl gone edgy-glam in needlepoint thin heels. (more…)

So naturally, when it comes to expressing yourself on paper, a simple notecard just won’t do. Next time you need to put pen to paper, make sure you have a box of YeeHaw Industries’ Girly cards on hand.

Each of the blank missives features a whimsical stiletto illustration on the front and comes with a delicate kraft envelope. A must for any shoe-ista when you care enough to send the very best.

Bottom line: They’re tres chic and make a lasting impression.

Just like you, actually.

Available online at Hayden-Harnett, $5/ea

Follow me on Twitter @ DCShoeDiva

Love shoes?  Join Fantastic Toe–FREE!  Use promo code: DCDiva

The fashionista was photographed traipsing around London in a fanciful outfit, complete with what looked like ballerina shoes that just scream, “pointe-pirouette-side-leap-side-leap.”

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So when I found this beauty, I had a serious case of the vapors.  These snake-print Stella Point Court pumps are perfect to go with everything in my closet and are a bit of an edgy alternative to the “go nude” trend but still give you a long and leggy look.

Rock it with a cuffed jean and boyfriend jacket, a sexy pencil skirt or a sweet sheath dress with pockets.  And dress it up with a chunky bead necklace and an armful of ethic-inspired bangles to get in step with this season’s tribal flavor. Whatever your style persona, this heel’s got you covered.

But wait, there’s more!  They originally retailed at TopShop for $110 but is now on sale for . . . $20!  Twenty bones! MAY-jah score.  There’s no sales tax when you buy online, plus shipping is a flat $10, so these lovelies are winging their way to me for about what I’d spend on dinner out.  And no calories!  Hell-o Brown Santa.

Men have sports, women the shopping Olympics and I just won the Golden Heel.  “Thank you, thank you.  This is such an amazing victory.  I’d like to thank God. . .”

Follow me on Twitter @ DCShoeDiva

FANTASTIC TOE — CONTEST

• One size fits all! Enter to win a FREE copy of “The Towering World of Jimmy Choo” from Fantastic Toe http://tinyurl.com/qurhua (Ends 6/30/09).

Love shoes?  Join Fantastic Toe–FREE!  Use promo code: DCDiva

But now there’s a new “It” shoe in Tinseltown—Christian Louboutin’s Differa. Heidi Klum  was one of the first to sport a pair, wearing them to this year’s Golden Globes and have been spotted on an alphabet soup of A, B, C and D-listers (Lindsay Lohan gets her own category).

And no wonder! It’s smoking hot in every sense of the word, despite its total impracticality (the heels are about five and a half inches), its uber-expensive price tag ($1,495 for the plain black patent ones), and its ability to make the wearer look like a dominatrix at an S&M club.

But if you can’t swing the price tag, several labels offer similar high-end style for bargain basement bucks! Sure, they don’t offer the same hand-craftsmanship and supple-butter leather but they’re a great way to try the latest shoe fad without spending a fortune before they end up at the top of the heap with the rest of the “so five minutes ago” fashions.

Check out my finds after the jump . . . (more…)

Loaded down with luggage and bags after returning from my recent trip to NYC, my shopping senses were sent a tingling when I spotted a new beacon of shoe-ista chic, Shoe Woo.

Shoe Woo is where shoe brands from the Jones Apparel company join forces for an intoxicating assortment to respond to every shoe mood; Nine West, Enzo Angiolini, Circa Joan & David, AK Anne Klein, Sam & Libby, Boutique 9, Bandolino and Joan & David.

In a buttoned up and conservative city (think Talbots and so-called “sensible heels” *shudder*), Shoe Woo kicks convention to the curb and offers big city style at affordable prices.  Affordable to real women that is, not Anna Wintour’s “every woman should have several pairs of triple digit designer shoes in her closet” rose-colored glasses idea of affordability.

The store boasts full-length mirrors with decals of little black dresses that customers can use while trying on shoes, shopping bags are inscribed with “You’ve Been Wooed,” and the store’s entrance bears a Shakespearean quote: “She’s beautiful and therefore to be wooed.”  There are even rolls of stickers at the cash wrap to entice moms and the young at heart.

It was love at first sight (sorry, Nordies). (more…)

Some of the best high-heel deals I’m come across recently have been tweets from fellow cyber sole sisters–just reach out and tweet someone!

So I’ve decided to share the wealth, if not the credit card burden (anyone?), with all of you shoe-istas in this new addition to “Heels Are A Girl’s Best Friend.”  I tweet, so you don’t have to!

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At a smidge above average height, I’m very size-ist when it comes to heels—the higher the better!  Posh, er, Victoria Beckham and I are sole sisters in that way.

So since I’m being forced to traipse the streets of the Big Apple, I’ve been hunting for a shoe that is both city chic, yet comfortable as I plan to do my part to invigorate the economy with some serious retail therapy.  I’m so patriotic like that.

Comfort shoes are practically a taboo word in my vocabulary, but Italian shoemaker GEOX offers the “c” word in attractive styles.  Another great thing about the brand: their revolutionary Respira(R) breathable padded insole with micro-holes to wick away perspiration.  Which is a must if you’re doing a lot of walking to prevent chafing and wetness (gross!), especially if you’re planning on trying on new shoes.

As luck would have it, one of the many shoe sites that I regularly stalk is having a sale on the brand.  These are two possibilities: (more…)

But as much as I love them, sometimes my heels do not love me.   Like with a boyfriend, you try to make them work despite their flaws — so they might be a smidge too small, they were too cute to leave in the store; plus they were on sale, hello — but despite your best efforts to change them, sadly you come to realize that it’s not to be and you should go your separate ways.  But even as you put them in the back of your closet, you remember the good times and vow that next time, it’ll be different.

Wow, that analogy got away from me a bit . . .

Anyway, as I was nursing my beauty wounds after trying to break in a new pair of heels (a wicked pair by L.A.M.B.), naturally I thought of Stacy (see, there was a point to all of this!). She’s the new pitch woman for Dr. Scholl’s “For Her” High Heels inserts that claim to ease the pain caused by your favorite stilettos. Yes, even the five-inchers that you swore felt like fuzzy slippers when you tried them on in the store. If they’re good enough for her, they’re good enough for moi so I snagged a package at my local CVS. (more…)

From floral frocks to posy-embellished purses, there is no shortage of bouquet-inspired pieces this season.

The freshest crop of fashionable blossoms? Petal-adorned pumps!  And even better, no allergies.

But fear not—these aren’t the twee flip flops with plastic flowers on the toes that you remember from your youth or your Nana’s “old lady”Laura Ashley slippers. No, today’s styles range from sophisticated and elegant to fun and flirty, sometimes even a bit naughty.

They add a bit of feminine flair to your power suit and they’re a perfect pairing with summer’s light and airy fashions.

 I usually abhor flower-covered articles of clothing — it just says “sofa” to me — but I’m so drooling over Christian Louboutin’s bold and beautiful version (left) and Toni Maticevski’s ultra romantic rosette-bedecked peep-toes, as spied on Beyonce (top right).

Want to feel like you’re perpetually walking in a magnificent garden?  Check out the arrangement of steals ‘n’ splurges after the jump. (more…)