Friday, February 27…The Cut comes through with some major shoe porn, including a great round-up of the shoes of New York Fashion Week, and a survey of new spring shoes…Hapsical gets some good shoe pics on, with views of Giuseppe Zanotti’s ad campaign and shoe designer Chrissie Morris’s collection (For a closer look at some of the new Giuseppe Zanotti styles, check out today’s Daily Shoe Video)…Some folks are still spending: Customers discuss their purchases of the nearly-$7,000 Marie Antoinette-inspired shoes at the Christian Louboutin boutique in SoCal…Not sure what this is, but I like it nonetheless…One of the survivors of the USAir flight that ditched in the Hudson credits his Johnston & Murphy shoes for keeping his feet warm as he stood on the wing of the plane and waited for rescue…Nine West’s Fred Allard speaks on the key shoe trends for spring, including studding and something called “white haute”.

I imagine him working in a women’s shoe store. Like, ‘Oh, I have a pair of shoes for you. Stay there. You’re beautiful.’ Mr. Smooth.

-Sharon Cambridge

For this week’s Favorite Thing, I am pleased to introduce you to SimplySoles.com, a shoe site that targets stylish professional women with quite a well-edited collection of shoes, from such brands as Taryn Rose, Tory Burch, and Chie Mahara.

In addition to these well-known brands, SimplySoles founder Kassie Rempel designs and sells lillybee, her own line of really fun shoes that are refreshingly affordable. I love the peep-toed, stripey-heeled Halle model. Also fabulous is the Jessica, patent peep-toes with an ankle strap, top stitching, and wood detail. The lillybee flats – available in orange and taupe – are simple, comfy and chic, and add polish to any outfit.

Take a look around the site, and I’m sure you’ll agree that SimplySoles.com offers some fabulous shoe shopping.

What’s even more fabulous is that SimplySoles is giving away a free pair of lillybee shoes to one lucky Fantastic Toe member!

To enter to win a free pair of lillybee shoes, just post a picture to your Fantastic Toe collection between now and March 19, 2009. (If you’re not already a Fantastic Toe member, you can join here.) If you’re the winner, you’ll be able to pick your new pair of shoes from among all the lillybee models – including the new styles for spring. We’ll do a random drawing on March 20, 2009, and notify the winner by email. You must be located in the USA to be eligible to win.

Thursday, February 26…Fashionista lusts after the two-tone platform wedges shown on the Josh Goot runway…Charlotte Dellal, the designer behind the Charlotte Olympia shoe line, celebrates her fall 2009 line, which includes towering, striped-wedge over-the-knee platform boots…FabSugar has a surprise meeting with Mary-Kate Olsen, gets sneak peek at her new line of shoes for Elizabeth and James, which are reportedly either very flat or very heeled, nothing in between…PopSugar alerts us to the trend of metallic shoes (a trend that has been going on for quite some time now)…Wow…Shudoo gives the lowdown on the key shoe trends – including novelty heels and keyhole cut-out – seen on the runways of London Fashion Week…Fantastic Toe blogger Shoe Diva reports on the scene at the Christian Louboutin boutique in Orange County, CA, where purchasers of the limited-edition Marie Antoinette shoe met with the man himself (Check out today’s Daily Shoe Video to see footage from the launch event at the boutique)…Fantastic Toe blogger JayPEll learns that MBTs aren’t miracle workers.

They always come up to me and say, ‘I want those shoes, can I have yours?’

-Track star Joanna Hayes