Retro & Vintage Shoes » Donald J Pliner

Retro Shoe of the Day: Donald J Pliner Idelle Platform Sandals

Erika — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:30:28 +0000

Here’s a very pretty, very retro and very wearable shoe of the day, the Donald J Pliner Idella Platform Sandals:

They’re a mishmash of fabric, textures and materials, but somehow, together, they all just click.

The uppers on these platform sandals are made of stretchy pink mesh fabric:

The insole, the heel counter and the zip tassel are made of green leather:

The bottoms are rubber lug soles:

And the 4-inch heel is made of what appears to be rubber with a printed floral pattern on it:

Wear the Donald J Pliner Idella Platform Sandals with plain dresses (also retro-inspired of course) to make them more interesting:

CeCe’s of New York Cross Back Dress, $30.18

Or if you have the guts, wear them with something just as bright and just as crazy to push the envelope:

MICHAEL Michael Kors Ibiza Print Crew Neck Dress, $119.50

The Donald J Pliner Idella Platform Sandals are $321.10 down from $450.00 at Zappos.com.

Donald J Pliner Contrast Trim Peep Toe Mary Janes and Other Authentic Vintage 50s Two Tone Shoes

Erika — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 18:07:28 +0000

I came across these shoes on Zappos.com and instantly fell in love:

These are the Zsa peep toe mary janes from Donald J Pliner. Don’t they remind you of 50 shoes? They have the high stiletto heel that was a main fixture on women’s feet in the 50s, plus they have the piping trim in a contrasting color which were common on women’s shoes in that era.

Here’s a collection of pictures I found on the internet of 5 genuine vintage 50s shoes featuring the contrast trim, to show just how common it was back then:

Black on mustard on these Andrew Geller for Joseph La Rose pointy toe pumps

Navy accented with gold on these vintage 5os John Marino New York mules

The clear foot strap is set off by the beige tone of the rest of these Nicholas Ungar slingbacks

Black and white mesh pumps from the “I Love Lucy” era

Another pair of authentic vintage 50s pumps, this time in black and brown

I like the clean line that the contrast trim makes and I think they somehow make the feet look narrower and slimmer. I’ll most definitely be on the lookout for more shoes with contrast trim next time I go shoe hunting. I’ll share what I’ll be able to find in a next post here on Retro Vintage Shoes!

If you’re liking the Donald J Pliner Zsa peep toe mary janes, they’re available for purchase for $214.12 at Zappos.com.

Mules: Footwear That Goes Back to the 1700s

Roselle — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:39:42 +0000

The mules I am pertaining to in this article do not concern animals. It refers to a type of footwear that has an open back (with no straps or covering on the heel area) but with a closed front. Mules can have heels, platforms, or wedges. Regardless of material and heel type or height, if the shoes are open at the back and closed at the front, it’s basically a pair of mules.

Mules are worn by women, kids, and even men today, and it comes in varied styles that go from casual to dressy:

Rockport Garden casual mules for women

Dressy mules from Stuart Weitzman

Casual mules for men from Naot Footwear

Dressy flat mules for kids from RAGG Kids

You’d be surprised to know that mules go all the way back to the 1700’s. It’s definitely more vintage than most footwear (though not as old as Roman sandals).

Back then, only men and women of class wore mules. Wearing it conveyed a status symbol by implying luxury. Laborers could not wear mules because it was hard to work in such a pair of shoes that would slip off easily. The rich displayed the privilege of not needing to work by showing off their backless shoes.

If you’re curious how 18th century mules looked like, refer to the photo below:

18th century mules for women

Today, people still wear mules more because it is easy to wear rather than for status symbol. Mules were quite hot back in the late 1990’s, but its popularity has simmered down.

This coming spring however, mules are making a comeback. Check out these spring shoes from YSL and Alexander Wang:

YSL Closed Toe Stilleto (Spring 2010)

Alexander Wang Trish Loafer Wedge (Spring 2010)

To stay in trend for spring, check out these ladies’ mules from Zappos.com:

CARLOS by Carlos Santana Funky

Corso Como Simple

Donald J. Pliner Filvi

You can also purchase these options for the special man in your life:

Born Will

Finn Comfort Weimar

Vintage Beaded Shoes Vs. Modern Beaded Shoes

Erika — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:54:33 +0000

Any vintage lover would immediately see the value of a beaded item, whether it be a jacket, a pair of pants, or shoes. Just the amount of time and effort that goes into the skilled art of hand beading automatically increases the worth of that piece of clothing, and when you get something as beautiful as these, you’ll understand why they’re prized (and priced) so highly:

Beaded satin wedding shoes circa 1890

Edwardian rhinestone beaded silk dress shoes

Bronze satin evening shoes with beaded buckles circa 1927

The intricate patterns, the bead color matching, the fine craftsmanship – details like these make vintage beaded shoes evoke a feeling of richness, luxury, and glamour. But the knowledge of how much work went into each beaded shoe also evokes a sense of gratitude, honor for being able to wear such a beautiful pair of shoes someone painstakingly labored over.

Beaded shoes we have now are mostly made by automated systems, high-tech equipment and heavy machinery. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a shoe brand that still employs traditional hand beading methods; they have to resort to automated beading in order to remain competitive.

Although the sense of gratitude is lost somewhat, the good thing about that is they have duplicated the sense of luxury in modern beaded shoes at a fraction of the vintage shoe’s cost. Here are some modern beaded shoes in various styles:

Toe Loop Sandals

Donald J Pliner Garnet, $295.00

D’Orsay Pumps

Nine West Janika, $71.06

Gladiator Sandals

BCBGeneration Uma, $78.95

Wedges

Charles by Charles David Mosaic, $89.95

Booties

Fratelli Rossetti 62602, $580.00

Which do you prefer? Vintage beaded shoes or modern beaded shoes?

All of these beaded shoe styles are available for purchase at Zappos.com.

Color Block at the Alexis Mabille Spring 2010 Couture Collection Fashion Show

Erika — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:01:20 +0000

The usual frills, bows, and embroidery were conspicuously absent in Alexis Mabille’s Spring 2010 Couture Collection. Instead, Mabille gave us a lot of construction, geometry, and spliced together color blocks:

Alexis Mabille Spring 2010 Couture Collection

Although some of the looks still had a few ribbons, sashes, and lace details, these looks with straight and clean lines were the real scene stealers. The combination of the color-blocked hairstyles, the dresses, and shoes make a strong statement and it really does look like Mabille conducted surgery on the fabric to come up with this collection.

Now the question here is: would you wear color-blocked hair, a dress, and shoes all together at the same time? Can you pull it off? Perhaps the dress and the shoes together some people can still get away with, but the hair…

Color blocking isn’t new. It’s been done numerous times in past decades. However, no other image quite captures the boldness of this design better than the famous Yves Saint Laurent “Mondrian” day dress:

As designer Yves Saint Laurent created this day dress in 1965, he made history as well. The 60s simple shift dress together with Dutch painter Piet Mondrian’s 1930 Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow painting produced such an iconic dress that it became much admired and very much imitated even to this day.

Check out these fresh new footwear takes on color blocking, all new styles inspired by the 60s trend:

Dereon Skilled Pump

Donald J Pliner Caly

Marc by Marc Jacobs 674912