Saks Drops Dior

Saks Fifth Avenue in San Francisco no longer sells Dior shoes. I went in on Saturday to look at their collection and they told me that all the Diors had been shipped out because they weren't selling.

Now, I have to admit that for the last year Dior shoes have not been great, a little boring really, but the year before they were fabulous and honestly I'm just plain surprised that a brand as big as Dior would be dropped so easily.

Luckily you can still find Dior shoes in San Francisco at Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's and the ever more miserably stocked Dior Boutique (come on Dior, the lack of inventory at your SF boutique just makes Dior, as a whole, look bad).

Instead, Saks SF is now stocking Camilla Skovgaard, a great brand of shoes that, up until now, I've only seen online. These shoes are amazing looking and they cost less than you'd think they would. The very cool pumps range from $395 to about $550.

Go check them out. Camilla Skovgaard shoes are sexy and interesting and I won't be surprised if the prices go up.

Posted By: Babe Scanlon (Email) | September 28 2009 at 04:00 PM

Search and replace ...

Boy, my last post got quite a response -- but it only makes sense. Most people's first reaction to traumatic information is denial and that's perfectly healthy.

So I wanted to suggest some replacements for the plastic and nylon monstrosities that I think have to be eliminated:

All of the shoes below are much like those above but, like wide leg pants, are nothing like the bell bottoms from which they originated. I found all of these shoes on Zappos.

Charles David:

Matisse:

Nine West:

Uggs:

Yellow Box:

Go forth and look great!

Posted By: Babe Scanlon (Email) | July 06 2009 at 12:20 PM

The go-to shoe that must GO!

Ladies, it's not the 90's anymore, but some of you are still holding on to them a little too tight. You need to let go and I'm here to help.

Here's what you do. Drop whatever you’re doing, right at this moment, and go into your closet. Find any shoes that look like this:

and THROW THEM OUT. In the garbage! No recycling, no donating, no composting. I want these shoes to rot forever in a landfill that I can drive by and flip off anytime I might need to.

These shoes are out of style and awful and yet 50% of the women I see on the street in SF, especially near the Metreon for some reason, are wearing these shoes. OK, they were cool in 1995 but that's 14 years ago. LET GO!

They are hardly even a step up from bedroom slippers and what they say about the woman wearing them is not good. They say either:

"Well my daughter told me these were cool and I got them cheap at Mervyns so I might as well wear them, cuz the hip young girls were wearing them at some point, as I recall ..."

OR

"I live in the suburbs (probably Novato) and this is the one piece (hopefully) I still have of the clothes I wore to spring break long long ago."

Neither of these things are what you want your shoes to say about you, even if they are true.

So let go and move on. Now.

Posted By: Babe Scanlon (Email) | June 26 2009 at 11:45 AM

Dreams do come Choo ...

It's a fabulous day for footwear fans, thanks to H+M, which announced today that Jimmy Choo will create a line of women's shoes and handbags for the chain. The shoes are sexy, strappy and sought after by celebs and those who love a good stilleto -- right alongside the Blahniks and Louboutins -- and sell for just as much. But reports are that the "masstige" H+M collection will start around $60. It won't hit stores til Nov. 14, but mark your calendars as the collection will surely fly off the shelves as fast as the Karl Lagerfeld, Viktor & Rolf and other top designer collections have in seasons past. (There was a huge line last November at the Powell Street store for the Comme des Garcons collection, with some loyal fans camping out the afternoon before! Everything was snapped up within five minutes time).

Word has it that there will also be a men's accessory line. Fab!

Posted By: Anastasia Hendrix (Email) | June 17 2009 at 02:02 PM

Bidding adieu to twenty two shoes ...

We were saddened to learn that our favorite source of fabulously chic Italian shoes, twenty two, is calling it quits. Co-owners and designers Chris and Alexandra Silverman had the experience, the goods, the celebrity fans, the devoted local following ... yet in the end, it wasn't quite enough.

The store debuted in Oakland six years ago selling Marc Jacobs, Sigerson Morrison and other designer brands at a time when Birkenstock was the more favored name on College Avenue. In 2005, the couple began designing and producing their own line of men's and women's shoes, and expanded to San Francisco and recently, Los Angeles.

"We're totally bummed, and definitely did not want to be shutting down," Chris says.

But at the begining of the year, as they thought about expanding the line with more stores and, eventually, clothing, some of their most enthusiastic potential investors began to fall away. Chris spent much of the year approaching equity and venture capital firms, he says, many of whom liked the business' environmentally conscious practices (vegetable-dyed leather, for example) and personal story, but ultimately, with just three stores, but thought the company was still many "not big enough" and "not quite at that level" where they wanted to invest.

It's the ultimate Catch-22 for small businesses that are hoping to grow and develop a brand, but need some backing to make it happen. The Silvermans funded the opening of the second and third stores, but with a declining dollar affecting their production in Italy, among other factors, continuing to bankroll all the production and growth themselves was unsustainable.

And that was before the Wall Street meltdown. "No one's willing to part with their money right now," Silverman says. "It's not getting any better. It's really just nasty and getting worse."

Going back to just their original location wasn't a viable option because it cost too much to produce and design a full collection for just one store, Chris says.

The San Francisco and Los Angeles stores will close Oct. 12, with Oakland staying open slightly later. Past-season merchandise, and perhaps even a few leftover Sigerson styles, will be 75 percent off starting Friday, and the strong new fall collection will be 50 percent off. "We're starting to clear everything out," including fixtures, he says. "I feel like I'm at a wake."

Chris says he and Alexandra are contacting past employers, such as Levi's and Old Navy, and looking at some Southern California apparel companies as well, which might mean a return to his surfing roots. However, with three children (two of them in school), they're hoping to be able to stay in the Bay Area.

22 Shoes Oakland, 5856 College Ave., 510.594.2201.

22 Shoes San Francisco, 2277 Union St., 415.409.2277.

Posted By: Laura Compton (Email) | October 01 2008 at 09:12 AM

If the shoe fits ....

Last night was not for the cynical at the Marc Jacobs boutique on Maiden Lane.

SF stylist Micki Turner likes the designer's clothes, and some of her most loyal clients -- and the store's -- were invited in to peruse the new fall collection, full of modern, angular gray or dusky blue or brown or black tops, coats and dresses.

The lure, aside from the desire to be on top of the trends, was that two dozen pairs of shoes from last season were to be given away to anyone whose feet fit them.

You heard it right, for free.

There were pinkish red sparkling shoes straight out of a modern day Dorothy Gale's closet, black and green bow-tie shoes perfect for a luncheon at clubby Villa Taverna, as well as come-hither lattice-like sandals made of palest pink velvet, at a wobbly six inches high. Hmmm. Probably intended for the bedroom. You couldn't stand in those all night, no way, no how.

Of course, no shopping dream would have been complete without a little bubbly and some sweets, so Sofia sparkling wine and macaroons were on hand, which made the entire experience a little surreal. They also helped to loosen the purse strings of those who may not have found the perfect pair of heels in the giveaways, and just had to try on this season's wares. Read More 'If the shoe fits ....' »

Posted By: Carolyne Zinko (Email) | September 26 2008 at 11:00 AM

$700 for a pair of Manolos? Step right up.

Wearing a tan suit and orange suede slippers with grosgrain ribbon, stiletto king Manolo Blahnik held court yesterday at the Union Square Neiman Marcus, signing shoes and posters and posing for endless snapshots with adoring customers.

A DJ spun tunes as servers handed out blackberry sodas and platters of petit fours and mini carrot cake muffins. Models stood on a pedestal, wearing cocktail dresses and fur coats, along with bejeweled high heeled sandals.

Blahnik made a last-minute, unscheduled appearance here, but word got out quickly and he was greeted by a roomful of fans snapping up his wares. The prices still cause a double take: a low-heeled fuchsia satin mule is $685, a high heel metallic silver peep-toe pump goes for $725.

OK, they're gorgeous.

Manolos are now as much associated with the man himself as with Carrie Bradshaw of "Sex and the City,'' the cable series that made the brand a household word.

Customer Seneca Anderson, a legal secretary in San Francisco, has made a point to show up at Neiman's -- which carries more Manolos than any other store in S.F. -- whenever Blahnik makes a personal appearance.

"The first time I came, about 10 years ago, we sat on the couch for an hour and a half and talked,'' she said. What about the crowds?

"Nobody knew who he was then," she said. "There were hardly any people here.''

Not so on Tuesday, when more than a hundred women stopped by.

Anderson is one of those shoe nuts who collects Manolos the way other people collect salt and pepper shakers. "Oh, I've lost count of how many pairs I have,'' she said.

With all due respect, has Ms. Anderson seen the headlines lately?? I had to ask: How do you justify spending $600 on a pair of shoes during the second Great Depression?

Anderson smiled demurely.

"Well, my husband cuts my hair, I give myself manicures and pedicures. I try to buy my Manolos on sale, if possible. And when it comes to clothes, I buy classics that last.'' Case in point: Her salmon-colored Chanel suit from 1990.

After signing dozens of pairs of shoes -- about 150 pair were sold during his appearance -- Blahnik was off to another city. I just had to ask: Does he have a "recessionista'' shoe in mind? He looked blank. You know, more affordable versions?

He seemed to bristle a bit.

"I don't think the law applies,'' he said. "I want to make even better shoes, more shoes made by hand, and the cost shouldn't matter. Maybe my customers will buy fewer pairs, but they will still invest in my shoes, no matter what the price.''

Posted By: Sylvia Rubin (Email) | September 24 2008 at 01:00 PM

Not so ugly, and now they come with heels

Ugg opened its third U.S. boutique on Sutter Street the other day with a party co-sponsored by Vogue.

In the room, Vogue's managing director, Connie Anne Phillips, who came to support one of her big advertisers. On her feet? Manolo strappy sandals...almost as cute as some of Ugg's new boots; like a slouchy mid-calf leather heeled boot with criss-cross buckle straps. See more styles here.

Posted By: Sylvia Rubin (Email) | August 29 2008 at 01:30 PM