“BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN HIGH STYLE AND AFFORDABILITY…”
FFANY-6TH AVENUE Midtown
Words, Images Judith Ecochard
MADELINE:
It’s hard to deliver inexpensive footwear-manufactured from manmade materials- that looks like it should cost a whole lot more.
Madeline, a fashion forward collection owned by Consolidated Shoes, manages to deliver the goods-with stylish affordability.
We had a quick run through the showroom and saw lots of flats, pumps, peep toes, and boots in trendy profiles- in on target colors and print patterns.
For Fall 2009 menswear inspired tie oxfords with stacked heels (Deedi) and cute fringed (Celsa) and ankle buckled booties (Sena) in faux leather respectively are easy to wear options with trousers, or jeans.
Up to the knee boots- with a wedge and a sample with slim strap, buckles at the calf and ankle (Railey) –make these fashionable kickers something more than just practical footwear to slog through winter slush.
Even the always “hot” snake skin pattern(image up top) gets animal friendly play in a heeled peep toe (Gabean).
For Spring 2010, mixed textures are well played in a multi strap wedge (Cheeky) platform sandal, buckled Cayli snakeskin pattern kitten heel.
Prices are amazingly top out at $79 for boots.
NICOLE:
A bump up in price from the aforementioned, Nicole offers quality shoes and boots for Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 for trend followers who might want to indulge in peds that’ll work year round.
Day to night options, kickers tricked out with mixed materials, and oversized detailing are highlights of what we saw.
At the showroom, retailers were favoring the Zig Zag bump toe flat with a stacked heel and big buckle detail.
We liked the all leather multi-strapped booties with contrasting toe/heel pieces (Behave), stacked heel oxfords, and the flexible over the knee boots that can fold over.
For Spring 2010, contrast stitching, cutouts and lined footbeds for comfort play big in snazzy peds.
Our favs are the updated gladiator type sandals with stacked heels and grommets and embossed leather details, and the Rock N Roll motorcycle boots.
Prices at the high end -$175 for the Over the knee Right Now boots, with shoes typically ranging from $79 up to $105.
RETAIL:
MUST HAVE SHOES