Glass Slippers For Sale...

... for real!

I have to say my first thought is: OW! My feet hurt just looking at these. Did some poor model actually have to wear these? Or worse, walk in these?! You'd want to make REALLY sure they were what you wanted before pulling out the credit card/kid's college fund/life savings/etc. I'm guessing they're final sale sort of items...Here are some great comments (out of many!) from the post where I found these - they make you think again about the story (at least the version with the "glass slipper" anyway):

I want some! Only thing is, I'd end up tripping, falling, and end up with awful bloody feet with a doctor picking the glass out of my foot.

... these shoes of course are a blister's best friend...

I have a horrible image in my mind of someone trying to wear these and the glass heel going straight into their foot.

... (all that money)... and then you kick something...

I think you would need some hot toes/feet to pull off glass slippers. Cinderella didn't have bunions, yo.

Available at Maison Martin Margiela* stores in Hong Kong (possibly elsewhere, too). HK$9,899 each.

Yes - EACH!

Did you really think Cindy's slippers would come as a pair?

Looks like you opt for either a daily dust & windex or a painful evening ending with a date with a doctor... Ah-ha! I just discovered our heroine's back-up plan!

Found HERE along with the quoted comments and more to boot. (He he!)

* Martin Margiela is a Belgium designer, who’s made a name for himself by creating some really edgy, avant-garde shoes that push the envelope for shoe design. His three stores all appear to be in Hong Kong, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear this particular design gets a wider distribution...

The Fantastic Botanical Creations of Michel Tcherevkoff

“Taking pictures of something that just exists was never interesting to me,” says Michel Tcherevkoff. “I’ve always gravitated to photography that’s more illustrative in nature, where I can create my own reality — with a twist."

Paris-born Michel Tcherevkoff graduated from law school only to realize he needed a more creative career to dedicate himself to. He came to work in the fashion industry in New York (following after his sister, who became a model) and though successful, he soon found he preferred still photography without the manic flurry that often surrounds fashion shoots. At his website you can see how how transitioned into a 'fashion stills' niche but it was his Shoe Fleur creations that rocketed him to fame beyond 'fashionista' circles.

From his interview with Apple Pro Profiles:

Inspired by the upside-down leaf, Tcherevkoff played with the image in Photoshop on his Mac, adding a heel and turning it this way and that until he’d created a shoe. When he showed the prototype to his agent and a few others, he says, “I got this terrific reaction. People kept saying, ‘This is so unusual’ and ‘You should try it again’”

His book (pictured here) is a must-have for lovers of faerie attire, flowers and high fashion.

“I decided early on that I wouldn’t mix different types,” he says. “Every shoe and handbag [most of the shoes in the book have matching purses] would be made from one particular plant or flower.” Tcherevkoff shot blossoms and stems, twisting and knotting and weaving and tying them to bring nature’s flora to heel as meticulously as a third-generation Italian cobbler.

According to Faerie Magazine (see note at end of post), Tcherevkoff has more botanical wonders in store, this time along the lingerie line.

Apple.com also got a good description of his creative process of which I'm quoting a portion here. It turns out Photoshop is only one of his tools, and there's a much more intricate approch to his original photographic content than you might think. As a result his creations really are unique to his photographic sense and work.

“I’ll take a leaf, make it into a sole, bend it to make a heel or a strap, then shoot it.” He works untethered. After taking the pictures, “I walk over to my computer room and download the flash cards. Now, some art director might say that’s wasted time,” he says, “but for me it’s thinking time. I’m looking one or two steps ahead, getting ideas, making creative decisions.”

Once the image is downloaded, he plays with it in Photoshop. “I silhouette the element I’m interested in,” he says, “then I place it here and there. I ask myself, ‘What would happen if I shrink it, distort it, shear it?’”

He’ll return to the set, as needed, to capture new visual elements. “I might take a rose or a daisy,” he says, “and the first time I shoot it straight on. Then I might go back and customize it for what I’m building — say I turn it 20°, then 20° more, and so on, until it forms a collar around the shoe. Getting all the flowers at the proper angle, with the right lighting, creates a put-together ensemble.”

The rest of the interesting two-page profile article can be read HERE.

As for the fashion? There's a LOT more to see on his website (choosing a small selection to include here was uber-difficult!). Many of the shoes have a matching bag and there are glasses too, not to mention all his other work but once you have a good look I think you'll say the same thing I did: "More please!"

Note: You can read more about Michel Tcherevkoff and his creations in the Spring Issue of Faerie Magazine, which is still available in stores at this writing.

The Shoe Stories of Claudia Lynch

[I told you there would be shoes!]

They're not all fairy tale shoes, and by fairy tale shoes I don't mean shoes fairy tale characters would wear. To quote The Times-Picayune:

"...not so much what Snow White would wear, mind you, but what Snow White would be if she were a shoe."

Claudia Lynch is known for designing and illustrating fanciful shoes, most being unlikely to ever be made, let alone worn, but she has a wonderful story for each. Better still, now you can carry them around. Claudia Lynch has officially become a bag lady. (You can buy at least one of them at here. Her "Siamese Shoe" - pictured at the top of this post - is currently under 'totes'.)

Again from The Times-Picayune:

"Lynch accompanies each illustration with witty narratives, filled with puns, just under-the-covers innuendo and intentional typos, that bring the shoes to life. On the surface, the illustrations are PG, but an adult viewer's imagination can easily make them quite a bit more racy."

Here are three examples:

Cinderella Skate

"Hi, Handsome. I had a ball last night."

"Me too, Pumpkin." I was a little surprised to hear from her after her disappearing act the night before.

"You're a real prince," she said. "Maybe I'll see you again some time." With that, she hung up.

I couldn't get her out of my mind. There was something phony about this dame. It was almost as if she'd been coached. And I had the nagging feeling I'd seen her somewhere before. But where?

Just before midnight, it struck me.

"I'll be seeing you, all right, Pumpkin," I thought. I might be a real prince, but I was on to her, and I wasn't going to be able to let her skate on this one.

Red Riding Hood Shoe

"Hello, Red. Nice outfit."

As she sashayed past, I let out a discreet whistle. In this neck of the woods, that was still considered a compliment.

"What's in the goody basket?"

"Nothing you'll ever get to sink your big teeth into," she winked. "My Grandma always told me to look out for wolves like you."

"That's good advice," I said. As I watched her skip away, I wondered if I'd ever work up the nerve to aks her out on a date.

Snow White Shoe

She'd taken a big bite out of my ego.

"You're a small, dopey, rotten man!" she shouted. "Why are all men so rotten?"

She was the one to talk. As I dodged the contents of the fruit bowl, I reflected on what she'd said. Bruised ego aside, I didn't think I deserved it. Not all of it, anyway.

"You're not exactly Snow Whitte. Who died and left you queen?"

"That's not fair."

But it was. Of all the things I'd ever wanted to say to her, it was the fairest of them all.

For more shoes and stories go visit her wonderful website here.