FOOTWEAR Shoes are the soul of hot fall fashions

Detail work and colorful styles will help you put your best foot forward.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Why buy new clothes when fall shoes are so attractive? Everyone's going to be looking at your feet.
Fashion favors slim-heeled, classic pumps and slingbacks, often with pointed toes and always with details such as piping, studs, cutout patterns, decorative stitching, buckles, buttons, bows and even zippers. Two-tone spectator styles and color-blocked designs are popular too.
For evening colorful satin and metallic sandals offer a change from black (still the most practical choice).
What's hot
All lengths in boots are in vogue as are platform 1940s-style high heels and flats with pointed toes.
"Last fall pumps wouldn't move. Now everybody loves them," said Brandee Trimboli, manager and buyer at Lola in Germantown, Tenn. "There's lot of retro looks: pointed toes, round toes, spectators and patent leather."
But the hottest shoe with her customer is entirely different: a suede, platform clog with a wedge heel and retro styling by Robert Clergerie. "Comfort is big with our customers," she said, and this shoe adds height while feeling like a flat.
Satin pumps and satin boots are must-haves for evening. They move well from day to evening and go with all the season's trendy satin evening dresses, she said. Colors are plum, fuchsia, and every shade of green from emerald to pea. Evening shoes in gold and pewter are other good choices.
Shoe exhibitionists (and they're out there) will pair fall's new miniskirts with provocative over-the-knee boots. For the rest of us, there are knee boots, ankle boots and mid-calf boots with all kinds of heels.
The right pairing
Ankle boots, which confuse some shoppers, work like knee boots for shorter women. For average and taller ladies, stylists say they're best paired with extreme hems: very short or very long.
Stockings in dark opaque or bright colors, strong on the runways, should create a more pulled-together look with all short-top boots.
Need a quick fashion fix for not a lot of money? Check out '40ish styles with round toes or peep toes (little openings), often with platform soles or ankle straps.
Flats, or shoes with just the tiniest heels, complement fall's feminine feeling and give feet a welcome break. Dressed-up styles, such as Steven Madden's cutout shoes), look fresh with '60s-style sheaths or A-line dresses (think Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby if you go back that far) and move well from the office to dinner and cocktails.