Fashion faithful follow trend of '50s styles with dainty flats

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
When Sofia Coppola climbed up on the stage to accept her Golden Globe Award early this year, she was wearing Marc Jacobs' pointed-toe flats.
The stiletto-addicted fashion faithful were flummoxed. Did she have a foot problem?
Hardly. She had the right idea. Flats are now flooding the retail racks, runways and the fashion media. They are "stampeding out of stores this spring, fueling a boom in women's shoe sales," The Wall Street Journal declared recently.
Designers from Kate Spade to Prada and Marc Jacobs have come down to earth. The shoes are rounded like ballet slippers or pointed with deep toe cleavage. They come in a wide range of prices. But all are light and dainty as compared to the traditional flat heavy shoe often worn for comfort, The Journal notes.
Perhaps it's because "Sex and the City," the television cult show that put stiletto king Manolo Blahnik on mainstream America's lips, is history. Alan Johnson, an executive with Shoes.com , told the Journal it's the inspiration of Audrey Hepburn. It may be because flats are perfect for the '50s-style clothing such as swirling skirts and Capri pants that are in the fashion forefront. Or maybe it's just time for women to be comfortable.
In any event, eBay, the popular auction Web site, boasts 170 listings for ballet flats and 737 listings for full skirts.