…it’s like lookin’ in a mirror.

Dior “Cartegena” Sandals and a collection of 17th and 18th century Mughal daggers, because a girl’s GOT to have accessories.

I’m delighted to see from Francesca’s post yesterday she picked up two pairs of shoes I’d previously recommended (or at least variations thereof from the same designer) so in that vein, let’s repeat a greatest hit. YOOX is having its end-of-summer bargain throwdown and these cruelty-free pumps from Stella McCartney are down from $419.00 to under $100.

Actually, Miss Stella has several pages worth of equally discounted veggie goods on the YOOX site. See for yourself!

Do I love this shoe? Do I hate it? Do I THINK I love it because I like the whimsy of it –if you’re going to do hardware, DO HARDWARE– and am overlooking an unflattering kitten heel which I’d actually grow to hate or am I only questioning myself because it smacks just a little of steampunk pilgrims and I’m very clearly Not Down With That?

(click to buy)

Readers, I put it to you:

What do we feel about this shoe?

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I have three pairs of Valentinos from this collection with the teensy tinsy heel. One of which is a black mid-heel d’orsay which I nearly destroyed in D.C. because I managed to get lost from my suite at the Hay Adams to the restaurant where I was having dinner DESPITE THE FACT IT WAS 475.2 FEET FROM MY DOOR TO THE ^%$# RESTAURANT, the other is…I can’t remember, they’re downstairs and I’m too lazy to get them, but I think they’re also black, and finally a pair of pale metallic peachy-pink bow d’orsays with the impossibly high heel, which I’ve never worn outside the house (which isn’t to say they haven’t been very much enjoyed, and not just by me).

BUT if you wanted a great pair of super-high heels and you’ve got the balance to walk in these –really it’s not so bad, but I’m so rough on my heels I peeled the leather away from the stainless steel core– at a killer price, you really can’t do much better than these Valentino on big ole sale at YOOX.  In my experience Valentinos run quite large and wide, but since this heel is so high I’d suggest ordering true to size.

Perhaps not THE most comfortable shoes in the history of hoof-covers (as my friend Style Spy would say) but historically significant nonetheless.  Designer Vivienne Westwood, former proprietress of the famed London SEX boutique and absolute punk icon, released her “Prostitute Sex Shoe” sometime around late 1974 I believe and these, rendered in rubber, are the current iteration.

Don’t you just love her all dolled up in what is almost definitely head-to-toe 1980′s Aquascutum a la Maggie Thatch? Alternatively, don’t you ever wonder if she and Vogue creative director Grace Coddington give each other the stinkeye at shows, each one vying to be the most terrifying British PoMo Elizabeth I impersonator in fashion?

Coddy’s got the hairline, but Viv wins on style.

The “Gitane” mary janes from Repetto with an offset spout heel that just kills me.  If you’re sensing a theme, you’re not imagining it; gitane translates to gypsy although Nice Girls, when referring to the Roma and Romani people, would never use that word.

Fun little peep toe flat with kicky suede flower from Betsey Johnson.  They’ve also got a hot pink sole, as so many of us do. And before you pain-in-the-ass pedants get all up in my grill, yes I know the Mucha flowers are probably poppies, not roses. WHATEVER.