I love shoes. "The kind of shoe that a woman wears is a way to signal to the world what she's all about." says Valerie Steele - Director and Chief Curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She believes buying shoes taps into something primal our ancestors experienced: hunt, chase, kill. 

My last hunt is a pair of Alaïa ballerinas in strass lambskin. Karl Lagerfeld and Azzedine Alaïa were not best friends. I admired Lagerfeld for his creativity but a lot less for the subtlety of his words. Lagerfeld said about Alaïa, "I don't criticize him, even if at the end of his career all he did was make ballet slippers for menopausal fashion victims." I have my thoughts, too, on ballerinas; they don't fit big feet like mine well. They make them longer and are a bunion enhancer. With my 11 going on 12, I always stayed away from ballerinas. I pre-ordered with skepticism; the strass all over is what convinced me. They are costly, but I will show you they can be a good bang for your buck. 

This week, I share three different ways to style ballerinas. Look 1 is an uninspired textbook lookbook copied from Tibi; the top is a super soft jersey, and the bottom is the balloon pants that could have its own post blog on variations on the same theme. This look is a favorite play on proportions as Amy Smilovic - Founder and Creative Director of Tibi, describes it - The big (pants), the slim (top), and some skin (ankles). Look 2, again, is a textbook lookbook from Tibi. The Sid is back in bleached wash this time. I won't get them in another wash; it would be too repetitive, but I like the versatility of a clearer wash for summer. The top is from Cos and has an open back not shown in the picture. The shoes work with the outfit. They aren't something I would have done before with such an outfit. Finally, for look 3, the ballerinas with a "little black dress" is a classic combination. The dress is from Aje - an Australian brand. I like the cut-out and the heavy linen fabric; it gives structure. Aje does fabulous dresses with a twist, and it is good quality. 

Conclusion: I will wear the ballerinas a lot, and the cost per wear is guaranteed to be low. I will walk across town and sit through long planes. I will run errands with them. Lagerfeld was probably right, they are a menopausal fashion victim's pleaser, but despite these shoes' indecent comfort, their irony and glam are real.

I am getting them in white. 

With love from Fannie

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