The Toe Zone Shoe Blog on Fantastic Toe

Monday, January 5…Happy New Year, everyone. If you haven’t let go of 2008 yet,  Shoeblog.com brings us a great wrap-up of the shoes of 2008, while WWD lists 2008’s top 5 shoe stories…If you’re over 2008 and ready to move on to 2009, Footwear News brings us designers’ sketches for their fall ‘09 collections…New Year’s resolutions of top-tier shoe designers: Christian Louboutin plans to brush his teeth more, Alejandro Ingelmo plans to eat less ice cream…Jimmy Choo founder and president (and aspiring soap opera star) Tamara Mellon dishes on all kinds of stuff…Shoes say it all…Even though it’s 2009, booties are still your most important wardrobe element…That’s Hideous blog doesn’t care for these Alexander McQueen stilettos…FabSugar hopes to increase your knowledge about heel shapes…Thousands of shoes inexplicably materialized on a Miami freeway over the weekend, snarling traffic for hours…Dallas company Heelskinz launches a new product designed to protect your high heels while you’re driving…Fantastic Toe bloggers were busy over the holidays, bringing us tons of shoe tidbits, including coupon sites where you can save money on shoes, D-I-Y tips for dressing up your shoes, absolutely gorgeous vintage Lucite heels, and the 10 ways to spot a shoe diva.

Pretty much everybody loves to get great deals on great stuff, especially these days. And, if you can also get early access to all the hot products, that’s even better, right?

Well, that’s just what the very cool shopping site, ideeli.com, promises: Privileged access to sought-after products in fashion, home and beauty, at insider prices. Join today, for example, and you’ll be able to save up to 85% on clothes by Malandrino and up to 74% on bags by Linea Pelle. Of course, new sales are announced every day.  

Even if the economy, or the holiday season, or your credit card statement has you too traumatized to spend money, it still makes sense to join ideeli.com. Why? Because ideeli.com is not just about sales - they sponsor giveaways too. For example: Today’s Holiday Series giveaway is a black Fendi bag!

Ideeli.com is a members-only shopping community. Luckily, that’s not a problem for Fantastic Toe members: The kind folks at ideeli.com have set up an invitation code exclusively for you. What’s more, it comes with a $25 referral bonus - everytime a new user you refer makes a purchase, you will receive a $25 shopping credit! To join ideeli.com, just click through, input invitation code fantastic, and start shopping!

Just in time for end-of-the-year festivities, I bring you this week’s Favorite Thing, the sparkly, kinda fussy shoe place-card holders available from Neiman-Marcus and Horchow.

The set of four place-card-holding shoes - in fuchsia, green, blue, and even the trend-making purple - are decorated with gold beading and silk fabric, and evoke the court of Louis XIV (both king and courtesan). They even have leather soles. What a perfect way to add a touch of verve and whimsy and eclecticism to your holiday table.  

Fun, right? Even funner: We’re giving away a free set of shoe place-cards to one lucky Fantastic Toe member. To tell us you’re interested in winning, just post a picture to your Fantastic Toe collection. If you’re not yet a Fantastic Toe member, you need to join to enter. Anyone who posts a picture or joins between now and December 18, 2008 will be automatically entered to win. We’ll do a random drawing among all entrants on December 19, and notify the winner by email.

John Milton, the English poet and author of the epic poem Paradise Lost, is 400 years old today.

Why, in a shoe blog, do we mention this? Did he wear high heels? Or fringe boots? Was he awarded Accessories Designer of the Year by the 1660-equivalent of the CFDA?

No, to all of the above. (But you already knew that.) In fact, John Milton penned the poem L’Allegro from which Fantastic Toe takes its name. (This is what happens, by the way, when your business partner was an English major.)

Here’s an excerpt from the poem:

Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee
Jest, and youthful Jollity,
Quips and cranks and wanton wiles,
Nods and becks and wreathed smiles
Such as hang on Hebe’s cheek,
And love to live in dimple sleek;
Sport that wrinkled Care derides,
And Laughter holding both his sides.
Come, and trip it, as you go,
On the light fantastic toe;
And in thy right hand lead with thee
The mountain-nymph, sweet Liberty;
And, if I give thee honour due,
Mirth, admit me of thy crew,
To live with her, and live with thee,
In unreproved pleasures free … 

Happy 400th, John!