Why you need to go nude this summer

Nikki Parkinson Fashion 40 Comments

Get your mind out of the gutter, people.  I’m not proposing an excursion to Noosa’s Alexandria Bay.  No, I’m talking shoes.  Of course.

The nude shoe is not a new topic on this blog. And this won’t be the last time you hear me espousing its virtues either. In fact, I’ll continue to talk about the nude shoe until someone decides that it’s no longer a fashionable footwear colour.

In my humble opinion, I think the nude shoe is safe.  Women know a good thing when they’re on to it.

I call it the female fashion effect.  Trends that appear and just stick because women would scream and shout if they were ever moved on.

This same female fashion power has seen the maxi dress return season after season.  What other garment makes you look immediately dressed-up, yet understated?  From barbecue to black-tie dressing, there’s a maxi to suit you. Yep, and you don’t have to panic if your legs aren’t shaved or tanned.

Ditto with leggings.  Yes, they’re polarising – especially when *interpreted* as pants – but when worn under tunic dresses they offer women a casual chic alternative to jeans in the cooler months.

Which brings me back to the nude shoe.

The nude shoe and I became best friends two summers ago.  It started with a Sambag platform sandal and continued last summer with a nude platform pump, nude chunky Natasha wooden-heeled sandal and a Witchery pointed-toe ballet flat.

This season, I’ve found a new object of my nude obsession.

It’s not a new design, fashion-wise, but it’s a new nude addition for my shoe wardrobe and one that fits nicely and complements my existing obsession collection.

It’s the Giselle nude peep-toe pump* from Florsheim’s new fashion range, Zizi.

Zizi Giselle at Florsheimn $199.95

Zizi Giselle at Florsheimn $199.95

Florsheim, better known for its work-orientated footwear has stepped out (pun intended) into the fashion shoe arena with a female fashion range that amps up the style factor of this much-loved brand.

I was looking for a dressy nude heel option and the 12.5cm patent leather heel certainly offers that. (I know non-heel lovers will not believe me but these shoes really are comfortable. Truly.)

The all-leather lining softly moulds to your feet and the cushioning under the ball of your foot is something I’ve never experienced before.  Together with the rolling incline of the arch, it really does make for wearability.  (I’ll be testing them out this Friday at a charity lunch I’m on the committee for.  I’ll be running around before and during the event … and at the after party.)

So, why did I settle on nude, when the Zizi range offers a range of pop colours in line with this season’s fashion colour offering?

It’s simple really.

Because I’ve already been seduced by this fashion season’s explosion of colour, I was looking for a shoe that wouldn’t compete with that explosion.  Nude also works just as brilliantly with the black and white neutrals in my wardrobe.

Plus, and it’s a big plus, a nude shoe has this almighty power to lengthen your leg.  Yep, that’s right, it can give the illusion that your pins are more model-like than they most probably are.

There’s no truncating of the leg like what happens with a coloured shoe. Ankle and gladiator styles in any other colour than nude are guilty of this. But nude shoes just become an extension of your leg. I’ll take that any day. Thank-you very much.

My ideal nude summer shoe wardrobe would include: nude ballet flats, nude flat sandals, nude wedges, nude kitten heels and nude pumps.

After you’ve tried Giselle, try these on for size:

nude shoes from Florsheim Zizi, Sambag, Witchery, PeepToe Shoes and Country Road

Click on the image to enlarge

 1. Country Road Farah espadrille $89.95 | 2. Sambag Helena stone fish cut leather ballet flat $160 | 3. Zizi for Florsheim Tia kitten heel sling backs $199.95 | 4. Witchery Jannica sandal $99.95 | 5. Peep Toe Shoes Miss Devonshire pumps $275

Are you ready to go nude this summer?  Can you wear a heel or do you prefer to hang closer to the ground? 

* These shoes were gifted to me in accordance with my disclosure policy.

 

Comments 40

  1. Hi Nikki, sorry to ask you about a blog that you did a while ago, but I need your advice! I have recently bought the Witchery sandles you have pictured, but I also then bought the black ones! Do you think it’s excessive to have two of the same styles of shoe or should I look for something else (or keep my hubby happy and just wear my other black sandals I already have!). What do you think? All my friends think it’s OTT so I want a profesionals opinion! haha!:)

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  2. Love the nude heel, the simpler style the better. Love your florsheim pair but I simply couldn’t walk in heels that high! I bought a similiar pair but much lower recently and LOVE them SOOO much. If they became as unfashionable as white shoes were a few years ago I’d still wear them 🙂

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  3. I tried the most lovely pair of nude sandles on over the weekend and I feel in love with them! Problem was my regular size seemed to be way too big but the size below seemed to be quite snug and I was worried they would rub on my foot and therefore I would put them in my cupboard and not wear them again. I will keep searching but oh why couldn’t they fit me? I would love to buy a pair of nude heels too as I think they look very sexy.The ones you have pictured in the first pic are smokin!

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  7. Totally agree with nude, Nikki.
    I love heels, but I’m finding I don’t have too many occasions to where them these days. The practical woman in me, loves flats. The impractical, wild woman LOVES heels. Depends on which one of me feels like coming out to play 🙂

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      I’m exactly the same! These are coming out to play for a huge charity event I’m involved with on Friday and they’ll come out again for Melbourne Cup. We’ll see what else crops up in between 😉

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  9. They are beautiful Nikki,enjoy them! I would give anything to wear shoes like that, bummer they dont make them in a kids size 1! 😉

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  10. HUGE fan of the nude shoe, in fact am wearing Country Road nude ballet flats with cuffed jeans and a blazer right now (it’s my official spring “cold day” uniform)

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  11. Ok i simply must have those flats!

    I actually have some shoes very similar to those peep toe pumps, except they’re wedges. Love the nude shoes. Also they don’t show as much wear as white would 😉

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  16. Oh but how good would those new nude shoes look on an excursion to Noosa’s Alexandria Bay. I was after a great pair of Nude wedges for Summer & I think those Country Road ones may just be them – and the flats I LOVE those flats – spoilt for choice 🙂

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