Shoes Good Enough to Eat

Crisp waferlike textures bejeweled with beads of fruit combine to create beautiful layers of puff pastry in the form of two mille-feuilles. But these Mille feuille are not the kind you eat: You wear them on your feet. Yes, this is just one of the many pairs of shoes among the works on display at a fun exhibition of Chiho Akama's podiatric creations.

Chiho Akama's Edible Shoe Creations

Shoes? Shoes...Still, Shoes! is a showcase of her sometimes scrumptious footwear, themed on everything from sushi to insects. The event lends a fun, pleasant atmosphere to Pola Museum Annex in Ginza, Tokyo, where a selection of her works are currently on show. Each of the shoes uses original fabrics and other materials to re-create a variety of objects, ranging from grasshoppers and beetles to ikura, Christmas cakes, and roasted chicken.

Source: Kumi Matsumaru, Daily Yomiuri  via AP [12/17/10]

Beach shoes combine high heels and flippers

Known as High Tide Heels, they combine the elegance of stiletto heels with the swimming speed of flippers.

They could provide a fashionable alternative for sun-seekers who don't want the hassle of changing footwear every time they cool off with dip in the sea.

But don't expect to see thousands of tourists ditching their flip flops and sandals in favour of High Tide Heels this year.

The shoes were created by the Belgian artist Paul Schietekat for an exhibition in 2006, and there are not thought to be any plans to release them commercially.

Even so, similar designs are causing excitement among style-conscious travellers on shoe websites.

Nine-inch Sky Heel

Brave ladies are set to get a boost with the launch of the nine-inch Sky Heel, billed as the tallest heel available on the market, the Daily Mail reports. The vertiginous shoe -- due to be released next year -- will come in sparkly red or gold and retail for less than $100, according to the paper. Great! That should save plenty of dough for those inevitable doctors' bills when your ankle snaps just as you're crossing Fifth Avenue.

"The Sky Heel was fueled by customer demand to mimic the celebrity look," a Sky Heel spokesman told the paper. "We've seen the five-inch and six-inch, and we've even seen the seven-inch heel. "The trend is bigger, bigger, bigger -- and the Sky Heel is the biggest of them all."  In other words: Be afraid. be very afraid.

Source: Erin Donnelly, Stylist [11/12/10]

Half of British women injured by shoes

LONDON, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- One in 10 women in Britain admit they've received medical attention or been hospitalized because of wearing trendy shoes, a survey indicates.
The survey of 3,000 women in Britain who wear high heels was conducted by Hotter Shoes, a British shoe manufacturer.
Nearly half of women say they have twisted their ankle because of their footwear and two-thirds admit wearing shoes that have caused them injury. The most frequently reported injuries caused by shoes were broken ankles, twisted knees, infected blisters, bunions and torn tendons.
"As a comfort shoe maker we were amazed to discover the pain and discomfort that women were prepared to endure for a pair of killer heels or an ill-fitting impulse sale bargain," Lisa McCarten of Hotter Comfort Concept Shoes says in a statement. "Nothing can ruin a day more than sore and tired feet, every person in our design and technical team works hard to ensure that our shoes are stylish and comfortable."
The survey was conducted by onepoll.com Oct. 29 to Nov. 1. No margin of error was provided.

Forty pairs of Louboutins for Blake Lively

Blake Lively buys FORTY pairs of Louboutins

It's happened to the best of us: a great sale, our favourite designer and some must-have styles that somehow we can't resist taking home for keeps. But Blake Lively has been engaging in some retail therapy on a totally different scale recently as our sister site OSOYou reports:

The Gossip Girl star recently attended an invitation-only sample sale at Christian Louboutin, and not one to pass up a fantastic opportunity, she walked out of the store with more than FORTY of those famous red-soled beauties.

It's rumoured that she spent more than $9,000 in one go, and you know what's even more sickening/unfair/(insert-jealous-dig-here)?! She's not ashamed to admit it. Post-purchasing, she said: "I have sisters, so I'm getting gifts for them and for friends." Do we believe a word of it? 

Not likely, Lively!