The Season's Hottest Shoes
There is something about a peep toe shoe that is irresistibly vampy and sophisticated. The open-toe shoe has enjoyed a strong revival over the past few years, and fashion forecasts for 2008 indicate that the trend is expected to keep up its momentum over the next few seasons. This year, women can look forward to wearing the peep toe in retro-inspired looks as well as styles that have never been seen before.
Classic Peep Toe Style
Ultra-high heeled peep toe shoes, open-toe wedges, and stacked-heel peep toe mules are all reminiscent of 1950s pin-up girl fashions. This season, designers are throwing patent leather, suede, straps, chunky heels, metallic finishes and platforms into the mix to update the classic style.
Peep Toe Ankle Boots and Shoe/Booties
From onscreen in Sex and the City to stomping down runways and city streets, ankle boots are a sizzling alternative to typical shoes and boots. Peep toe shoes/booties were high on Lucky magazine's list of the next big things for 2008 in their January 2008 issue. Lucky's editors credit the peep toe shoe/bootie fusion with adding an extra punch of sex appeal to the season's silhouettes thanks to toe-revealing construction, lacing, plush materials and high, high heels. The style also comes in zipped and button closures, as well as slip-in varieties, and looks fabulous with dresses, skirts, jeans and trousers.
Peep Toe Cover-Up
The unspoken law of open-toe shoes has been that you should never wear opaque (or otherwise obvious) stockings with peep toe shoes. Well, 2008 is putting a big red line through that rule.
"Tights and peep toes are the year's new It couple," declares the ShopBop website. Going totally against the grain, one of the biggest footwear fashion crazes is pairing opaque tights or textured stockings with open-toe shoes. That which was once a serious fashion faux pas is now all the rage!
Although transparent clothing is incredibly in vogue at the moment, there's one place you don't want see-through materials: peeking out from under a peep toe shoe. In an interview for ElleCanada.com, Barbara Atkin, fashion director at Holt Renfrew, warns fashionistas against wearing sheer stockings with peep toe shoes. Instead, she advises wearing lace or fishnet stockings, an opaque black stocking, or a tight in a tone the same color as your shoe.
Likewise, Debra Anissimoff, owner of Toronto's Zola Shoes boutique, proclaims in her blog that she loves peep toes for their feminine and saucy appeal, and encourages customers to make a "dynamite statement" by wearing them with charcoal tights.
From practical and proportional perspectives, opaque stockings not only keep your tootsies warm, they also help balance heavier sweaters and layered looks of the chillier seasons. And this pairing allows women to wear peep toe shoes even after temperatures dip during fall and winter months.
Socks with Dresses
Another emerging trend for Spring 2008 is wearing ankle socks with dresses or skirts, so why not wear this unlikely combo with a peep toe pump to expand on the peep toe cover-up trend?
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