Retro & Vintage Shoes » Missoni

Flat-tering Footwear: The Cutest Flats Today!

Karla Manlangit — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:44:05 +0000

Every once in a while I hit this ‘stiletto wall’ and skimmers and flats prove to be this great comfort, so to speak.

I know some of you would rather live through the hip pain in those gorgeous Louboutins but a break from the usual is always refreshing, not to mention healthy. Flats do not have to be this go-to shoe. They’re fun absolutely versatile. Plus they encourage walking. Lots of it.

Cameron Ballet Flats, $225, Calvin Klein Collection

Sling Back Mouse Flats, $195, Marc by Marc Jacobs

Shopbop‘s huge collection of flats is just awesome. Designer labels obviously have caught on to to the chicness of flats. It’s a great daytime shoe! And personally, I love how they come in different colors and designs. There are even quirky ones like the Sling Back Mouse Flats from Marc by Marc Jacobs. Very, very cute.

Botswana Haircalf Flats, $198, Diane von Furstenberg

Lara Embossed Snake Ballet Flats, $175, Vera Wang Lavender Label

Ballet Flats, $495, Missoni

Another gorgeous design is from Diane von Furstenberg. The flat features a mix of leopard-print haircalf and deep blue pebbled leather. Other than the colors, its the textures that make it beautiful. And if that’s your thing, other textured designs that I stumbled onto are Missoni’s knit flats and Vera Wang Lavender Label’s snake embossed flats.

Reva Metallic Flats, $235, Tory Burch

If I feature all the amazing styles that I saw then this article will never end. So tell you what, why don’t you check out the rest of the collection at Shopbop and let us know what great flats you discover!

70s Wavy or Chevron Print – Now a Classic

Erika — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:46:03 +0000

When I wrote this previous post on retro and retro-printed L.A.M.B. footwear, I came across a lot of shoes that had this print or something like it:

Retro pattern on a knitted scarf by Whirlstrom Studio

It’s the groovy wavy print that we see on a lot of clothes from the 70s. Although I noticed that there are a lot of shoes aside from the L.A.M.B. Verdu shoes that have this print, I don’t think that it’s particularly making a comeback this year or anything like that. It’s not coming back because this retro print has already become a classic.

It seems simple enough to recreate this pattern: it’s basically wavy or zigzag lines in a bunch of colors. But if you had to make anything like the knitted scarf above, you’d then realize that it’s actually difficult to pick which colors to match together in order to get the retro feel. Even the width of each line would have to be well thought out.

There are a lot of shoes with this pattern but in actuality, only a few got it right. Here are 3 of those shoes with the best 70s wave or chevron print:

Isn’t the print adorable on ballet flats? Matisse Robertson, now only $72.86.

Of course Missoni, the master of these kinds of prints, gets it perfectly. Rounded square-toe Missoni OM06 low pumps, now only $279.94 marked down from $484.00.

It’s a little unfair to choose Missoni for 2 out of the 3 places on this list, but they really are the best in this field. Missoni MM95LR peep toe slingbacks, $954.00 now only $435.00.

Here’s one that I think completely missed the mark:

Sanuk The Tube Flop

I get it that Sanuk is making a statement with the sock and flipflop combination but the chevron print ends up looking like an old curtain on these socks. If you think the Tube Flop can actually be cool, it’s $29.95 at Zappos.com.

Pretty Pumps in Retro Prints from Naughty Monkey

Erika — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:48:29 +0000

Naughty Monkey came up with this precious line of pumps with chunky heels and in playful retro prints:

Naughty Monkey Sequin Bouquet in black, blue, and tan

Naughty Monkey T-Cup in green, yellow, blue, and pink

The whimsical floral prints on the Sequin Bouquets make them almost fit for a little girl, if not for the nearly 4″ heel.

The zigzag printed fabric on the T-Cups coupled with the curved stacked heel take you on a time warp right back to the 70s.

Now, some may argue that these shoes resemble old couches… :

1970s ad for couches

… but that’s the whole point. Grandma chic has never been so in vogue as the present time, and these “couch-print” pumps fall right into that trend.

When done right, retro prints can look really classy and put together instead of being costume-y. In fact, Italian fashion house Missoni practically built their entire empire on these wild retro prints, combined with crazy patterns, colorful florals, and abstract geometric prints on a variety of fabrics:

L to R: 60s Missoni dress from memphisvintage.com, Missoni Fall 2009 RTW, Missoni Pre-Fall 2010

Kate Moss for Missoni

Now, don’t the Naughty Monkey Sequin Bouquets and T-Cups look like they’d match the clothes at a Missoni fashion show instead of your grandmother’s couch?

The real Missoni pumps retail for at least 400 dollars. If you can afford it, then we’re not stopping you!

The Naughty Monkey pumps on the other hand, retail for just around 70 dollars.

Purchase Missoni and Naughty Monkey shoes through Zappos.com.