Soles of Discretion Get Big Lift
From clunky clogs to towering platforms, the hottest shoes of the season have got sole.
Footwear’s new emphasis is on the bottom of the shoe. Thick heels and soles made of cork, braided rope, rubber, wood and other organic materials are now underfoot.
Platforms are taking the wearer to new heights, with heels that measure three inches and higher. Those who wished platforms good riddance in the ‘70s might find the ‘90s versions more attractive, thanks to shapelier body styles and lower elevations. Clogs, too, have sleeker lines than the clodhoppers of the past.
In an effort to appeal to all tastes, the new high-risers can be as subtle as a quarter-inch sole on a conservative pump or as extreme as a clog with a four-inch heel.
While many swear they will never step foot in a platform, elevator shoes are gaining ground, especially among those too young to have worn them the first time out.
“I do hear people say ‘I’m never going to wear those again,’ ” says Lynne Atkinson, co-owner of Soul to Sole in Laguna Beach. “But platforms are probably our best sellers.”
More than half of her shoes now have thick soles. Her top sellers include burlap sandals with a thick cork bottom by Bronx ($51 and up) and strappy straw platforms by Mia (from $49).
“It’s part of the whole fashion trend reverting back to the ‘60s and ‘70s with the bell-bottoms and funky clothes. The kids are into that,” Atkinson says. “Older women like them because they’re comfortable and they give them height.”
The clunkier shoes are right in step with the season’s fuller, fluid clothing, says Billur Wallerich, spokeswoman for Neiman Marcus in Fashion Island Newport Beach. Those low, dainty pumps look out of proportion to a bell-bottom pant or full skirt.
“Fashion is a balancing act,” Wallerich says. “With the importance of pants and longer skirts, the shoes balance the fullness of the apparel.”
Among the more user-friendly platforms at Neiman Marcus: black suede sling-backs with open toes riding on a two-inch wedge by Via Spiga ($140) and Calvin Klein’s strappy platform sandal of taupe leather with a quarter-inch sole and three-inch heel ($375).
Platforms are not just for women. Men, too, are scaling the heights with shoes that have thick treads.
Heavy rubber soles, wood platforms and even clogs are making strides in men’s footwear, says Valentin Siroon, manager of Privilege in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa.
Privilege’s line of high heels for men includes black leather lace-ups with half-inch platforms ($120), suede shoes with monk straps and thick rubber soles ($120) and leather clogs ($150 to $165).
“The ones with the heavy rubber soles remind me of gas-station shoes,” Siroon says. “It’s an industrial look.”
It’s not just the bottom of the shoes that have changed. To balance the weightier soles, the shoes’ uppers also have a heavier look.
“They have a more choked-up silhouette,” says Cary Goronkin, women’s shoe buyer for Nordstrom at South Coast Plaza.
Unlike pumps that leave the upper part of the foot exposed down to the toes, the latest women’s footwear offers much more coverage. Often the shoes rise up to the ankles, sometimes lacing up the front or leaving only a toe exposed. Clogs and mules cover the foot entirely, exposing just the back. Sandals have wider bands that crisscross the foot.
Two examples of weightier styles at Nordstrom are mules with wide straps of imitation crocodile skin or “mock croc” ($157) and clogs made of distressed leather hammered to the heel with gold studs ($65).
“Clogs are less bulbous than they were in the ‘70s,” Goronkin says. “They’re more chiseled, with squared-off toes.”
For summer, natural fibers such as canvas and straw help lighten the look of the shoes. One sample at Nordstrom: espadrilles with a braided rope bottom and white canvas upper that ties at the ankles ($57).
Ankle straps, open toes and exposed backs are all designed to flatter the foot.
“In the ‘70s the shoes were so ugly. Now they’re doing pretty uppers,” Siroon says.
At Privilege, women can find suede slip-ons in tan or black with open toes and a braided three-inch wedge ($110), black suede sling-backs with cork heels ($158) and mules that crisscross over the foot in white, gold or black leather ($89).
“Women are so used to thinking that pointy shoes with skimpy heels will give them skimpy legs,” Siroon says. “But once they try on the platforms, they usually walk out with them. They’re more flattering, and they make the ankles look pretty.”
Although many greeted the platform’s return with skepticism, the elevated shoe will be making tracks well into the fall.
“I started showing platforms in August of last year. People said, ‘Oh God, what’s he doing now?’ But we really needed something updated,” Goronkin says. “Now people seem to be getting a kick out of them.”
In the ‘70s the shoes were so ugly. Now they’re doing pretty uppers.
