Boots of the Season

It is a truth generally acknowledged that there are two kinds of fashion -- one kind that screams for attention and the other for us normal people.

The "boots" above fall into the former category.  They are very tall. Their uppers are made of stretchy synthetic fabric instead of leather or suede.  Their colors are pretty darn vivid.  And their heels are at least 4 inches high.  They are not for everyone.

But they are interesting.

Spain's Balenciaga house appears to have been the first to release such boots.  Last spring it convinced (or paid) one celebrity to wear a bright red pair under white gown with a slashed skirt to the annual Met Gala.  Then Kylie Jenner paired a purple pair with a  not-long-enough tee shirt for a less prominent red carpet event and paparazzi.  

These have been named "knife boots," and are featured in the Balenciaga fall advertising campaigns.  To the extent they are bought, it is fair to guess that women mostly will want them in basic black.  Still, as footwear goes, they're pretty far out there.  

The knife boots' antecedents over the last 10 years are over-the-knee boots.  A early-adopter friend of wore a leather pair of these to a holiday event some years back; they looked rather stiff and seemed to bother the hem of her skirt.  This may be why new versions are coming out in more pliant suedes and as "sock boots," the latter of which used to be short, sturdy numbers appropriate for tramping through the frozen north. 

Here is a Balenciaga advertisement, including the knife boot in blue, that ran in the all-important September fashion magazines.  

Naturally other designers are offering their own versions.

Here's a photo from a Salvatore Ferragamo ad.

And one from Stuart Weitzman

And one from Ralph Lauren.

Slouch Boots

These boots have wrinkled leather shafts.  This is a trend that comes and goes and then comes back again.  This year it's back.

Some examples:

Marc Jacobs

Vanessa Seward

Michael Kors  (Note the triangular heel, which seems seems to be a thing this year.)

Saint Laurent.  This tall boot is being marketed in various leather colors, but the shiny silver version has drawn the most attention.  If you want a pair, you will need to put your name on a wait list, and then save your money to pay for them.  The price is $10,000. 

Normal People

The Idiosyncratist already has purchased a pair of winter boots, block-heeled black ankle boots that will be good with pants or skirts.  These replace a previous pair of black ankle boots that died of overwear.   Regular readers know that the Id is something of a minimalist, constrained by limited closet space and a frugal nature.  

Grandma's Celebrity Gossip

Our popular California columnist dishes on Cher and George Clooney, and, as a bonus, shares a recent snapshot from her collection.

Grandma

George Clooney said he’s going to quit acting because he doesn’t want to look like an old shlump in front of the camera.  He’s 54. That’s old? If that’s old, he can park his walker in my space anytime. 

Him I remember as dashing Doctor Ross on "ER." 

I didn’t recall ever seeing him in a movie until Adele (Luskin, not the single-named  zhlubby kvetch singing: “Oy-oy-oy! I’m so sad. Nobody loves me. Give me another award.”), reminded me we’d seen the piece of narrishkeit where he was chasing Arabs in the desert (“Syriana”), but I say it was Charlton Heston. 

Do I believe George Clooney is going to put the kibosh on his acting career? A nechtiger tog!

Every month Cher weinens she has one foot in the grave from the Epstein-Barr. So a Broadway musical about her life she’s writing and a tell-all book spilling the dirt on her sordid affairs with both men and women. Such a platke-macher, that one. 

This she’s kvelling about? Try staying married to the same man your entire life -- one who incessantly hummed “Auf Wiederseh’n” and whose dentures clicked every time he chewed. That’s true love. 

Me, I had plenty of opportunities for the hanky-panky with famous men. At a B'nai B'rith function, Dan Dailey said I looked like Claire Trevor and winked at me. But did I jump out of my flimsies and hop into bed with him? Chas vesholem! Later Sylvia told me he was gay, but I didn’t believe it, not with that deep voice of his. 

And as for cavorting with men and women, that’s no megillah. Two birds you can kill with one stone by inviting Caitlyn Jenner over to the house.  Naked she’s still Bruce.

And who would have recognized this hulking golem at Ralph’s in Encino? Not me. It was Oscar winner Geena Davis. Oy!

After and before

Grandma's Celebrity Gossip

The latest report from our guest columnist

Grandma

Another Kennedy book is making the rounds: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Life Beyond Her Wildest Dreams. The author claims that Jackie had affairs with Marlon Brando, William Holden, Warren Beatty and Frank Sinatra.  Her so-called friends Truman Capote and Gore Vidal verified it, quote/unquote.  

Is it just me, or are all those people dead?  Except for Warren Beatty, who's shtupped so many women, it's like Adele Luskin at the all-you-can-eat Japanese buffet in Encino.  She shovels so much food into her mouth that by the time she stumbles back to the table, already she's forgotten what she just ate. 

 It's the same with Warren Beatty and women.  Who can remember?  He's old enough to be a great-zayde.

The book sounds like opfal.  Me?  I'll wait for the video.  Personally, I'd like to see George Clooney play JFK, and the hillbilly singer on "The Voice" (Blake Shelton) as William Holden.

And what's with Priscilla Presley?  For 20 minutes she was famous for marrying Elvis and losing "Dancing with the Stars."  Now her head looks like a giant matzo ball with lips painted on it.  They say her nogoodnik doctor used motor oil instead of Botox.  Doctor schmoctor.  What she needs is a good adwokat.

After Barbara Walters left, everybody got fired from "The View" except Whoopi Goldberg.  Gone are the nattering nafka Jenny McCarthy and the zhlubby naar Sherri Shepherd, who knows from nothing.  Now Rosie O'Donnell is returning.  She's the angry shtunk who puts the kayn aynhoreh on whoever she doesn't like -- which is half of Hollywood.  They're also looking for a "Latina" to co-host.  I think J.Lo with the big hips would be a good choice, and Dolores del Rio, if she's still alive.  And wasn't Betty White married to a handsome Mexican after Alan Ludden?  She could pass for half-Mexican.

Long story short, my son-in-law, Doctor "Handsome," said that Whoopi Goldberg got the name Whoopi (as in cushion), because she's very gassy.  So who's surprised nobody wants to sit downwind on that set?