Fall Trends -- Women's Shoes

Now is the season when people stock up on goods for fall.  Parents take their children -- and long, long lists issued by teachers -- to Staples for school supplies.  Men buy jerseys of their favorite football players for the long, long season of gridiron action on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Women paw through their closets, studying last year's cool-weather clothes and wondering what additions will update their looks apres Labor Day.  It is to these women that I devote today's post on coming trends in footwear.

Sneakers

We all have read that this fall's look in street shoes is sneakers.  I was skeptical at first, but no longer.

When I opened the Sunday New York Times to page 3 the other day, I saw the following photograph in a Dior advertisement.

What you see is a pair of sneakers with the same kind of squishy soles, in pink, that you might observe on a woman at the gym, topped in black with some chunky black accents.

Since Dior is paying newspapers to promote this look, I feel comfortable giving it a little extra publicity.

I don't think I'll be buying a pair of these.  Dior prices are out my budget range, and pink is not one of my colors. 

Still.  It appears the fashion houses are serious about this:  Sneakers are the new street shoes.

Your grandmother will be delighted to hear this news.

Brogues

Brogues started showing up last year, usually in black, but also in brown and multi-colored styles. Think of them as the anti-sneakers.

Wear brogues without socks, with short black socks (with black brogues) or cream socks (with brown brogues) or with tights.  Fine with skirts or pants of any length.

If you ever find yourself having to walk more than a couple of blocks, you should consider a pair of brogues.  Your feet will thank you.

Ankle Boots

There's much talk about ankle boots this year.  There have been ankle boots for ages, of course, but in recent years they were chunkier, thicker and decorated with buckles and wide tops to anchor skinny jeans and jeggings.  

Over the last several seasons, ankle boots have been slimming down and have been seen more often with skirts and dresses.  Some styles, like the ones below, are being touted as year-round footwear.  

(Note: In Los Angeles, boots have been year-round footwear for a while now.  Women in Southern California don't really have a winter season, the poor dears, and so they wear what they like at any season.  Some even wear knee-high boots to the beach in August.)

Traditional Ugg boots are still being released, but even in new colors like the silver model below, they look pretty tired to me.  This Uggs business has been going on for eight or 10 years now.  I say, too much is enough.