GET IN HER SHOES FIT YOUR FEET LIKE CAMERON DOES IN FILM; STARS OF THE SHOE A LOVE AFFAIR WI
‘SHOES like these should not be locked in a closet! They should be living a life of scandal and passion.”
That’s Cameron Diaz, as Maggie in the movie “In Her Shoes,” reprimanding her older sister Rose (played by Toni Collette) while raiding her wardrobe – lined with supersexy stilettos, fluorescent patent leather boots and sky-high wooden clogs that she never wears.
Based on the best-selling book by Jennifer Weiner, the movie (in theaters Friday) is about two sisters who have nothing in common except their foot size. It’s the ultimate chick flick, because it’s about a love affair with shoes.
Rose has the brains. Maggie has the body. Rose has a closet full of vintage Stella McCartney, Jimmy Choo, Christian Loubotin and Chanel darlings. Maggie steals them – as would any woman.
“Every girl wants a closet like Rose,” says “Shoes” costume designer Sophie de Rakoff, whose credits include both “Legally Blonde” movies.
De Rakoff brought in some of her own vintage shoes from the past 10 years and sorted through hundreds of samples from shoe designers, including Delman, Anya Hindmarch and Sigerson Morrison, to create the dream closet – nicknamed “Aladdin’s Cave” by the crew.
“I have a collection of shoes just like Rose,” de Rakoff says. “It was easy for me to know what kind of shoes girls like. You can relate to these girls. You see them in yourselves or you have friends like them. And I wanted to make all these shoes something that every girl would want or has seen.
“Rose buys them because there’s a tiny percent of her that thinks she can get away with them, and Maggie wears them because they’re great shoes.”
The movie also delves into why so many women have a love affair with shoes. As Rose explains in the film, “Clothes never make me feel any good. Food just makes me fatter. Shoes just fit.”
Meghan Cleary, author of “The Perfect Fit: What Your Shoes Say About You,” a study of 30 different shoe girls, saw a screening of the movie and cried towards the end (yes, bring tissues, ladies).
“A woman’s shoes reveal her state of mind,” she says. “Shoes are like astrological signs, and you exhibit a certain set of personality characters when you are wearing different types of shoes.
“Shoes can change your mood. If you wake up cranky, you can rock your red stilettos and immediately turn your mood around. How you feel in your shoes can determine the rest of your mood and outlook of the day.”
The movie really captured that literal expression for “stepping into someone else’s shoes, especially with moms and sisters and granddaughters,” Cleary says.
“You’re so close to them, and they’re your family, but you don’t really understand where they’re coming from until you’re literally stepping in her shoes,” she adds.
“Putting on her grandma’s wedding shoes – that’s a beautiful thing.”
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PATENT LEATHER RED SHOES
THE INSPIRATION: Maggie’s (Cameron Diaz) killer shoes; “If you want to tone them down, put them with jeans for a peek of color,” says “In Her Shoes” costume designer Sophie de Rakoff. “They would look fab with a white ’60s mini dress. If you’re going to wear it, you might as well make a statement.”
BUY THE KNOCKOFF: The Highest Heel, $21 at Bonito shoes, 1024 Sixth Ave., (212) 869-9889
PLASTIC HOOKER SHOES
“SHOES” MOMENT: Maggie coyly wears these to the pool when she is staying with her grandmother at a senior citizen home in Florida with a short skirt and a bikini.
THE INSPIRATION: Paris Hilton. “They’re a fun, trashy, sexy summer poolside shoe,” says de Rakoff. “They are a modern version of Candy. There’s no point in pretending it’s a classy shoe.”
BUY IT: Casadei plastic heels, $444 at zappos.com
DELMAN RED LEATHER MESH PEEP TOE SHOES WITH A BOW
“SHOES” MOMENT: One of the first Maggie pulls out of the closet to help Rose express her passion.
THE INSPIRATION: “It’s a very retro looking, Betty Boop style from the 1940s, and 1950s,” says de Rakoff of the mesh Delman’s (above). “I like the idea of the girl that wears the company that her grandmother would have worn.”
BUY IT: Delman’s 2006 suede peep toe shoe with bow (right), $295, available at Shoe Candy in Chattanooga, Tenn. Call (423) 648-7766.
THE PERFECT STILETTO
“SHOES” MOMENT: Maggie uses these for job interviews, but breaks them.
THE INSPIRATION: Vintage brown suede Jimmy Choo stilettos (far left). “It’s a classic shoe,” says de Rakoff. “It Can be worn to a wedding or an interview.”
BUY THE KNOCKOFF: Kenneth Cole heels (near left), $40 at Shoe Mania, 11 W. 34th St., (212) 564-7319.
THE WHITE SATIN WEDDING SHOE WITH A BOW
“SHOES” MOMENT: Passed down from Ella (Shirley MacLaine) to granddaughter Rose
THE INSPIRATION: The shoes were made specifically for the movie based on a 1950s design.
BUY IT: Monarch shoe at Kate Spade, $245 at kate-spade.com
UGGS
“SHOES” MOMENT: Maggie doesn’t go anywhere without her Uggs and she always keeps them in her car in case she breaks a shoe. “Uggs are part of the fashion vocabulary now,” says de Rakoff. “Like slippers.”
BUY IT: The Sunburst Tall, $200 at uggaustralia.com
BUBBLEGUM HOT PINK PARTY BOOTS
“SHOES” MOMENT: Maggie wears these for an audition at MTV studios.
THE INSPIRATION: “Christian Louboutin produced these a while back,” says de Rakoff. “You can only wear
them with jeans or a rock ‘n’ roll mini dress or else they look very trashy.”
BUY THE KNOCKOFF: $20 at Daffy’s, 1 Herald Square, (212) 736-4477
WEDGE SHOES WITH ORANGE ANKLE TIES
“SHOES” MOMENT: Maggie, who borrows them without permission, spills ice cream all over these shoes (right).
THE INSPIRATION: Last year’s Delman pink and orange wedge shoes with orange ankle ties. “It’s a dressy day shoe,” says de Rakoff. “You can put it with blue, white or other pinks. You can put it with khaki culottes from the Gap with a green blazer, and it would be very Palm Beach.”
BUY THE KNOCKOFF: Laundry shoes by Shelli Siegel (right), $42 at Daffy’s, 1 Herald Square, (212) 736-4477
BLACK LEATHER SCRUNCHY BOOT
“SHOES” MOMENT: Maggie wears these boots while having sex with her sister’s boss
THE INSPIRATION: New York designer Edmundo Castillo black suede scrunchy boots with the cut out toe. “They are total rock ‘n’roll boots,” says de Krakoff. “They are also the pivotal shoes in the movie. They should be worn with a T-shirt in bed and nothing else. But you could wear jeans tucked into them like Kate Moss.”
BUY IT: Preview boot by Steve Madden, $79.95 at stevemadden.com
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