Wear the Red Shoes

When you think of red shoes, what image comes to mind?

I’m guessing it’s these, Dorothy’s iconic ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz”  Who could forget Judy Garland in that blue checked gingham dress with matching blue anklets and these shoes?  It’s the original “pop of color” which style bloggers love so much.  Do you remember what shoes she had on before the crash landing into Munchkin Land?  I can’t.

These scarlet colored sequined pumps would prove to be both a blessing and a curse for our Midwestern heroine.  She needed them to get back to Kansas but they caused her and her friends a heap of trouble along the way.  This got me to thinking about other movie heroines who wore red shoes and how they fared.

I’m afraid this gal didn’t do so well.  I’ve never seen the 1948 movie “The Red Shoes” but, from what I understand, these brightly colored toe shoes had a mind of their own.  The movie format is that of a  ballet story within a story.  It’s the sad tale of a ballerina named Vicky Page.  She comes to the attention of a noteworthy choreographer who features her in his new ballet based on Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Red Shoes.”  In Andersons’s tale a demonic shoemaker (is there such a thing?) sells a pair of red ballet slippers to a young girl.  At first the girl enjoys the magic of the slippers and the powers of dance they transfer.  However, things soon spin out of control as the girl is forced to dance uncontrollably and incessantly.  By the end of the story she is near death from exhaustion. She finds herself in front of a church and begs a priest for help.  She asks him to remove her shoes and when he does, she dies.  The Shoemaker somehow retrieves the shoes to give to his next victim.

I’m afraid Vicky’s story ends badly too.  Caught between two waring lovers she ends up fleeing the theatre before a performance of the ballet and jumps from a balcony in front of a moving train suffering a much more violent death than her fairy tale counterpart.  Holy crap.

But, perhaps my favorite pair of movie red shoes were the ones worn by Juliette BInoche’s character Vianne Rocher in “Chocolat.”  Vianne and her six-year-old daughter cause a big stir when they move to a small, conservative, rural town in 1960’s France to open a chocolate shop.  She’s a single mom with an illegitimate child and keeping Sunday hours at her shop.  Even worse, Vianne begins to sell her tempting treats during the season of Lent.  Vianne is beautiful and she wears tasteful but provocative clothing including one fabulous pair of red pumps.  Eventually her warmth, exuberance and helpful nature win over the people of the town.  Plus, about halfway into the movie, Johnny Depp comes drifting by on a river boat.  These two misfits have some amazing chemistry.  So, although the shoes contribute to some strife in the beginning, at least Vianne doesn’t die in the end and she gets to keep her shop, her man and her shoes.  Phew!

Here’s a pair of my favorite red heels which have never caused me problems (that I know about).  They are from John Fluevog and the style is called Ileanna from the Operetta family.

  I think this style is discontinued but below are a trio of red Fluevog heels that are currently available online…

John Fluevog Sopranos Carey in tomato red

John Fluevog Operettas Malibran

John Fluevog Desmond

I love the Operetta family of shoes in the Fluevog line.  The two inch heel is very stable.  This style also works well for those of us with wider feet.  As does the Desmond family although that pointy toe may scare you away.  I assure you these shoes are very wearable and make your legs look fabulous.  You might be tempted to go up a half size but it’s not necessary.  They come in a whole range of colors.  All can be found at JohnFluevog.com.

Here are some other brands…

Fidji brand shoes from Portugal found on 6pm.com

Miz Mooz also found on 6pm.com

Liebling Shoes from Israel found on etsy.com

Chie Mihara shoes from Spain, Spring/Summer 2015

Chie Mihara Spring/Summer 2015 found online at Pedshoes.com

Cute red pumps made in Argentina found on Etsy

All Black often features a version of this style in various colors. I found these on trashydiva.com

Kudeta Shoes made in Italy. These were on ebay.com

Red oxfords and loafers…

French designer Repetto found on gravitypope.com

Last year’s Moma heeled Oxford online at amano.com

Frye Courtney slip on at thefryecompany.com

Cute shoes I found on pinterest. Wish I knew the brand name.

Winter’s not over yet.  Look at these red boots.

Pantanetti red ankle boots found on headstart.com

Blondin red boots on Anthropologie.com

Fiorintini and Baker Nelly boots at pedshoes.com

John Fluevog Mezzo Cecilia boots.

Frye Melissa Button zip short boots on Amazon.com

Anaid Kupuri

Do you have what it takes to wear a pair of red cowboy boots? My friend and a Sole Searching reader named Jenny rocked a pair of red cowboy boots on Christmas Eve.  What a perfect time to break them out.  She wore them with great style.

Jenny’s red cowboy boots on Christmas Eve 2014

Happy Valentine’s Day to all.  A gal should be able to wear her red shoes without being chased by a wicked witch or meeting her ultimate demise.  Let’s make it our mission to put the red shoe curse to rest once and for all!