FOOTWEAR Strappy sandals are seen as sexy style for summer

The shoes are supposed to make the wearer feel feminine, cool and confident.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
From delicate metallic sandals to sexy slingbacks to thick-strapped dominatrix delights, the strappy shoe rules this summer. Vogue's June edition features supermodel Karolina Kurkova crawling across gravel in a pair of Dolce & amp; Gabbana wraparound sandals that extend to the top of her calves. And the magazine's massive spring fashion issue showcased other strappy shoes in its coveted "Last Look" page.
"It's a very strong item," says Susan Lapetina, of the American Apparel and Footwear Association in Arlington, Va. "It shows no sign of letting up.
Toledo fashion mavens have embraced the trend, says Meg Monagan, co-owner of Scarpe, a high-end shoe store in the downtown district.
"We've been doing very well with strappy heels," she says. "We had one pair that was straps up the ankle that went really fast."
The appeal?
"Strappy shoes are supposed to make you feel very feminine, very cool, very confident, but really very sexy," says Ellen Goldstein, chairwoman of the accessories design department at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.
Particularly fresh are thin straps -- strands, really -- that tie rather than buckle, giving the foot a gift-wrapped effect. Pair them with a miniskirt, another break-out trend for 2003, and voil & aacute;! Instant Rod Stewart fantasy babe.
Still, straps don't always work. Remember Lara Flynn Boyle's pink lace-up ballet slippers at the Golden Globe awards last January? Disastrous. But it taught a strong lesson in how even a beautiful woman with a great figure can sometimes go astray.
As Goldstein advises: "If you have to think about whether or not you should be wearing these shoes with that outfit, don't do it."
Well-matched
One key to wearing strappy shoes well is choosing the right shoe for the outfit. Edgy '80s styles can handle heavier, multiple straps; ethereal peasant and vintage clothes need a more delicate shoe. In general, the sportier or funkier the outfit, the thicker the straps.
Body type always plays a role. "In Plus Style" (Plume, 1996), author Suzan Nanfeldt cautions heavier women against indiscriminate use of such styles.
"Larger women should avoid heel straps, Mary Jane straps, and other high-vamp styles that close up the foot with a horizontal line," she writes. "Be cautious with strappy sandals, which are hard for any foot to wear. Little piggy toes poking through the straps at odd angles are downright unappealing, and the small straps may be out of balance with your larger body."
Strappy sandals are nothing new, of course; archaeologists have found specimens more than 3,000 years old. "You go back to the Greeks or Romans and it's the same kind of strappy shoes," Goldstein says.
In modern times, straps started appearing on women's shoes when hemlines started to rise around the time of World War I, according to 20th Century Fashion: The Complete Sourcebook by John Peacock (Thames & amp; Hudson, 1993).
Cycle completed
Throughout the century, strappy shoes, like just about every other fashion trend, cycled in and out of style. Flappers wore them dancing in the 1920s - after all, women could not do an energetic Charleston without straps to keep their shoes secured to their feet. Fifty years later, in another liberated era, '70s chicks loved them with just about everything.
For the last couple of years, fashion has been a grab bag of past trends, with '70s fads catching on with young women. After the minimalist 1990s, femininity has surged to the front of the fashion stage. Even the Iraq war and terrorism fears may play a role.
"With the economy and all the things happening . . . a lot of designers decided to go really forward with their designs," Monagan says. Bolder styles send a message: "We're not going to hide from the world. We're going to go out there and have some fun."
And finally, they're just so darn cute. And sexy. And different.
Sometimes, that's just what a girl wants.