“High heels on my tippies” is a line from a song by famous heel wearer and rapper Nicki Minaj. But what does this phrase actually mean? The “tippies” are simply a reference to standing on tiptoe. So the phrase “high heels on my tippies” simply means that the author is wearing heels on her toes – and presumably on the rest of her feet too. The line comes from a song in Nicki Minaj’s fifth album, Pink Friday 2 called “FTCU.” The “F” stands for the F-word and the “TCU” is for “This Club Up”. After explaining she is wearing heels on her feet (“High heels on my tippies”) Nicki Minaj then goes ..read more

  The magic starts with a sketch. A Brian Atwood collection starts with the shoe designer extraordinaire sitting down at his sketching desk in his Milan design studio. The desk is crowded with coloured pens and pencils, fabric samples and – naturally – high heels. Framed pictures line the walls. There are many bookcases too, no doubt full of inspirational-design-producing reading material. “I’m always thinking of new things,” Atwood said on a video insight posted to YouTube in June 2013, “so I just love being surrounded by beautiful things.” Fast forward to the point where the sketch abo ..read more

Every year about this time we seem to run a story asking whether the shoe trend for cork high heels has returned. Perhaps it never really goes away. And while the move towards huge cork platform wedges in 2012 is not sorely missed, cork is reasonably priced and a whole lot of fun. Our inspiration for raising the issue this year comes from contemporary fashion label Schutz. The shoes in question are a 4 inch clear heel with a cork wedge base for stability as well as fashionability (click for more through our Zappos affiliate link). Benefits of cork heels It’s easy to see why we’ve always featu ..read more

  The origins of Halloween are a complicated and contentious topic, but one thing is generally agreed: the holiday really took off in North America with the mass wave of immigration from Ireland and Scotland in the 19th century. Something else we can also agree on is that tartan booties are another great nod to Scottish exports (click our affiliate link to see more via Amazon). Returning to Halloween, one tradition that the canny Scots brought with them to America was called “guising” – children disguising themselves in costumes and going door to door for treats and money, much in the way ..read more

Italian Heels is a high heel label that was well known in the early 2000s but is less-mentioned today. The Italian-based manufacturer makes exactly what its name says it does, high heels from Italy. Back in 2013 we bought these 4.4 inch black stiletto mules from ItalianHeels.com and were satisfied with them. The shoes are entirely handmade from quality leather and natural fabric by the brand’s highly experienced shoemakers. We’ve reviewed the mules further below, but first a word of caution. In 2023, we revisited the Italian Heels website and it doesn’t appear to have changed in about 20 year ..read more

Boat shoes are a nautical fashion footwear trend that took off in the 1980s. Traditionally a boat shoe is a leather lace-up, moccasin type shoe with a non-slip sole to prevent you slipping overboard when on watercraft. One thing that boat shoes do not have or need is a high heel. So what is the link between heels and boat shoes? The answer is that high heel boat shoes have been designed at least once. The only version of boat shoes with heels we know of was from classic French shoemaker Pierre Hardy. In the summer of 2010 boat shoes were very popular. So Pierre Hardy added a heel and created h ..read more

Much like the phenomenon of the “it” bag, there are shoes that now and then achieve the status of being a celebrity favorite. In 2010 one of these styles was the “Coussin” caged ankle booties by red-sole shoe-master Christian Louboutin. The caged boot was a common sight on spring shoe racks in 2010. Coussin was Christian Louboutin’s high end version of a caged bootie, replete with what look like leather laces allowing the style to look both strong and feminine. Lastly, the Coussin featured a 1.5-inch platform, which added support for the 5-inch stacked heel. Coussin was a big celebrity favorit ..read more

Evening shoes simply define footwear choices that are meant to be worn in the evening rather than during the daytime. The term “evening sandals” has often become associated with metallic heels (such as silver or gold) but other shades also qualify. For example, the Drop’s double-strap gold “bare sandals” (affiliate link) are a classical evening heel or evening sandal, perhaps for wearing to the theatre or to an awards night. Yet if you think that the idea of special “evening heels” is an odd one, you’re not alone. In truth, no shoes are specially created just to be worn in the evening. It’s ju ..read more

Wearing feathers on your feet is sure to be your new thing when you set eyes on these whimsical open toe, ankle strap sandals. The feather shoe trend is not new of course, but fluffy shoes have often been the backless mule kind (think slip-on Barbie-type shoes or gloriously impractical bedroom slippers). All of which makes the fluffy version of Karrie by Dream Pairs a real game changer (click to shop via our Amazon affiliate link, or read below for more). At 4.5 inches high, the heel is ultra wearable thanks to a 0.25 inch mini platform but it’s the feather adorned toe strap that really seals ..read more

If you want to be seen and flaunt your fashion then tall boots take a lot of topping. And by “tall” I don’t just mean the stiletto heel; I’m talking boots that are thigh high if not sky high. These are boots that help you stick out in a crowd, even if the whole crowd is wearing boots. Shoe N’Tale’s stretchy over the knee boots are an Amazon best seller for a reason and it’s not just that they keep your legs warm (affiliate link). We’ve picked out these thigh boots as our recommendation because they have so many good things going for them. BUY NOW VIA AMAZON Most importantly, though, these boo ..read more