Shoes on a shoestring

Men's alligator shoes only $3480 from Louis Vuitton.

It's pretty hard to justify the price of a pair of designer shoes when you drive a cheap car. Mainly because, as amazing as those shoes may be, as much as your heart and soul may be crying out to take their leathery loveliness home, those shoes do not have a motor, a steering wheel or four tyres. And your car needs a warrant.

If you've found yourself staring hungrily in shoe boutique windows lately, you're not alone.

The NDP Group, a retail-information company based in New York, says there's a growing group of women willing to pay more for their shoes now than ever before. It changed about 18 months ago but picked up steam in the past six months. "Women consider footwear their signature item now," Marshal Cohen, NDP's chief analyst said.

But for those still grappling with the decision whether to buy those $800 shoes or the mainstream manufactured ones further down the chain at a quarter of the price, you might like to know there are some distinct but not always obvious differences.

As one dedicated designer-shoe fan put it, "It's a bit like building the body of car. The basic materials are not the same as they are in a BMW."

It comes down to the components, argues Jennie Loo, owner of local boutique Ashley Ardrey who's been peddling fine designer footwear for the past 14 years. "To the undiscerning eye two pairs might look identical but it's the hidden things you are paying for."

There are as many as 130 different stages in making a shoe and how many of these must be done by hand as machines cannot replicate the task, she says.

She also knows that with mass manufactured shoes the heels - "an artificial pillar for the body to balance on that must relate perfectly to the [shoe] lathe" - are all identical, added to every pair of shoes no matter what size.

But with pricier footwear, the heel and other parts of the shoe such as the arch, are all carefully re-sized for every different pair.

"You also need to define a designer shoe. Sometimes the price is hiked up because it's associated with a designer name. But a genuine [designer] shoe is one that's also had a lot of technical input."

A senior fashion buyer at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York says it all comes down to a shoe's materials such as the leather and the pattern and the type of wood used.

"The jewels - are the beads hand done? How rare are the feathers? Because a lot of shoes with feathers are using feathers that can't be gathered any more, from the archives of the couture feather houses," said the buyer.

Saks were recently selling some of the most expensive footwear in the world, including a pair of Manolo Blahnik alligator boots for US$14,000 ($22,700).

Some designer shoes, says the buyer, have such specific heels and footbeds that you're paying for engineering, too.

The more tempted shopper may now feel quite justified in spending up large on a pair of the finest shoes.

But how do you decide what kind of shoe to buy?

Will it be something practical, that you can wear almost every day and then say to your bank manager, "Hmm, now, let's see - $800 divided by 365 days makes these shoes cheap. They cost less than my daily bus ride and they're far more fun?"

Or will they be shoes so incredibly beautiful, beaded, feathered and embroidered with a million-mile-high heel that you'll wear them only once in a lifetime but it will be worth it?

As something of an expert in shoe buying, Jo Pearson-Barnes, owner of Mei Mei shoe store on Ponsonby Rd, who's been importing the most fashionable examples of designer footwear for the past six years, has this advice: "If you want to get a lot of wear out of shoes, then a chunky knee high boot or a riding boot would never go out.

"But it depends. I have a pair of Emma Hope [shoes] that I think are to die for but I don't wear them that often. But when a wedding or special event pops up out they come and I will never be bored of them. But I wouldn't spend a lot of money on a shoe that screamed 'this season'."

It seems the main thing might be to stay away from obvious fashion trends in footwear (unless of course, it just happens to be the kind of thing you love and always will). Otherwise you'll find yourself with a very expensive pair you'll never wear after this winter.

At this stage, you might want to take a leaf out of your spiritual counsellor's advice book because the answer is inside you. If you're not the sort of person who can afford to buy expensive shoes every few months, the ones you do decide to splash out on should be exactly what you want.

People who develop shoe fetishes already know that a shoe can be an exercise in the best kind of fashion design, something you can wear that looks great but that must also be well made, beautifully designed and cunningly engineered to work.

You'll know'em, when you see'em.

As for the style of shoe, it's really up to the individual to ascertain how valuable that pair is to them - and by then it doesn't really matter whether they're practical or not.

THE MOST EXPENSIVE SHOES IN THE LAND

$3950 Sergio Rossi knee-high velvet boots at Ashley Ardrey
$3480 Men's alligator shoes at Louis Vuitton
$1500 Ann Demeulemeester boots at Scotties
$1450 Marc Jacobs boots at Workshop
$1392 Chloe boots at Mei Mei
$1365 Ric Owens men's boots at Zambesi
$1275 A.F. Vandevorst boots at Zambesi
$1150 Undercover boots from Japan at Fabric
$995 Dior men's boots at Fabric
$875 Dries Van Noten boots at Scotties
$649 Anne Valerie Hash shoes at Hepburn

SHOE FASHIONS FOR WINTER

In

Wedges, both big and small
Subtle platforms
Velvet
Studs
Bows
Ballet flats
Metallics, old and silver
Ladylike pumps
Mary Janes and T-Bars
60s stylings
Grandma's loafers
Animal trim, especially crocodile
Girls wearing boys' shoes
Men in leather shoes rather than sneakers
Knee-length or higher leather boots
Motorbike boot stylings
*Not here yet but coming soon - odd shapes, space-age stylings and interestingly engineered heels that almost look like, um, special-needs shoes.

Out

Cowboy boots, vintage or otherwise
Strappy, barely there shoes
Thin, high heels (chunky is in)
Really pointy toes
Ethnic or boho decorations on footwear
Ugg boots
Dress sneakers