Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Pump your best foot forward
By Marilyn Bauer
Enquirer staff writer
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Give
the dog a pair of old sneakers to chew on. These Stuart Weitzman "quasar" pumps
($198 at Dillard's) are reserved for stepping out in style.
(Brandi Stafford/The Enquirer) |
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Pretty
pumps include (from left): Coach's two-toned shoes with Sabrina heel
($190); Jimmy Choo heather with tie ($525 at Saks Fifth Avenue) and
BCBGirls classic topaz pump ($79 at Lazarus-Macy's).
(Brandi Stafford/The Enquirer) |
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DID YOU KNOW?
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Shoe sizes were standardized in 1885?
The open-toed shoe became fashionable
in the 1930s as a result of the new vogue for sunbathing?
Shoes originally were made straight and
could be worn on either foot. Left and right shoes asserted themselves
with the reintroduction of the high heel in the 19th century?
Source: The World at Your Feet: An
Exhibition of Footwear from the McManus Galleries Collection. The
traveling exhibit currently is in Dundee, Scotland
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PUMPS SHOPPING
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• The ultimate leg lengthener
is a nude-colored pump with a tapered toe. Wear nude hose, and you
will look like supermodel
Elle Macpherson.
• Chunky, round-toe pumps, though
trendy, will make your legs look chunkier because they cut you off at the
ankles.
• If your legs are short or chunky
or if you've been cycling too much or have heavy ankles, T-straps are not
for you.
• Ballet slipper styles are for comfort only. A better choice
for looks are low "Sabrina" heels with an elongated vamp (the front of the
shoe that covers the tops of the toes and the foot).
• The shorter the skirt, the fuller
the skirt, the flatter the heel.
• If you are wearing pants - low-slung,
fluid, wide - a heel looks amazing.
• Cropped pants look great with
flats - an Audrey Hepburn look.
• Black lacy hose look terrific
with black high-heeled pumps. They give legs a sleek look.
Make your pumps do all the work your makeup used to do. If you're in a
hurry to go out and don't have time to do big-deal makeup, change into a
pair of festive, glittery pumps or ones with jewels. You won't have to worry
about your makeup. Everyone will be looking at your shoes.
Source: Lois Joy Johnson, director of fashion and beauty, More magazine
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Some women own more than 100 pairs. Most every woman has worn at least one pair. They look great on good gams, "piano legs" and legs up to there.
Pumps, the ultimate urban accessory, make legs look slimmer and longer and work with just about any wardrobe choice.
In Victorian times, women had a choice of only three types of footwear: the boot, the clog and the slipper.
Pumps, lightweight shoes without straps worn by servants in the 16th century, evolved into an 18th-century fashion statement with the addition of heels of varying heights and the first appearance of foot decolletage.
We love pumps. Prada princess pumps with their athletic prowess. Dolce & Gabbana pumps with their shimmering jewels. Louis Vuitton's pleated pumps and Proenza Schouler's golden T-straps with studded medallions.
We love BCBGirls' bright yellow, metallic green and ebony leather knife-edge heels, and those naughty red quasar pumps by Stuart Weitzman.
Everyone is doing fabulous pumps. Of course there are Manolos, especially those heavenly cloud numbers with the black vamp and silver heels. Fantasy is where it all begins and ends with Giorgio Armani's purple marabou, or Yves Saint Laurent's lotus pump with rose embroidery.
But it's not just the outer packaging we adore.
"Somebody, somewhere, somehow started saying that wearing pumps makes you look taller and thinner and makes your legs look longer," says Lois Joy Johnson, fashion and beauty director at More magazine.
Our mamas didn't raise idiots. We know if you slip on 3-inch heels, you're 3 inches taller. But what about the skinny part?
"When you wear 3-inch pumps you are virtually standing on your toes," Johnson explains. "This creates a couple of extra inches from the ankle to where your toe would be. Because your foot is so elevated, this creates a longer, lengthier look. Your calves look more toned and your ankles look more shapely."
If you need more reasons to wear pumps, check out Dorothy's ruby slippers or the Sabrina-heel, two-toned numbers from Coach.
We all can use a little sole-searching.
E-mail mbauer@enquirer.com
