The Phantom Back-Bow

October 5, 2008 7:10 AM

Shoefilter: Are these Valentino shoes vintage? An urban legend?

A friend asked for help finding them, and I feel I'm just chasing shadows. Do they even exist? Can they be purchased? Or are they simply a figment of my friend's imagination, conjured by a hyper-active fabulousness gene?

posted by Edelweiss to clothing, beauty, & fashion (8 comments total)

With Valentino is hard to teel vintage from new line as the style fo the open toes and strap heel do not change that much. These look like ones I saw at Neimans last time I was there about years ago.
posted by bjgeiger at 8:48 AM on October 5, 2008

Should not try to type before breakfast.
posted by bjgeiger at 8:50 AM on October 5, 2008

What is the source of that photo?
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:54 AM on October 5, 2008

They definitely exist because I saw that picture a few weeks ago on fabsugar. Some actress wore them to a recent event, but I just can't remember who or what the event was.
And... after way too long looking at their archives... here!
They don't seem to be on the fall/winter Valentino collection, but I bet if your friend called, they could track some down. I don't think they were vintage.

Someone else is looking, and here is what was suggested.
posted by rmless at 10:45 AM on October 5, 2008

Yes, my friend's source was the fabsugar photo. I hadn't thought of calling Valentino; I'll do that tomorrow and report back.
posted by Edelweiss at 4:41 PM on October 5, 2008

Um, yeah, so there's no phone number on Valentino's website. I sent an email via the "contact us" link, and here's the response I got:

Thank you for contacting our Online Store.

In reference to your request, on our Online Store you will find a selection of products from our latest collections. The assortment of the new Autumn-Winter 2008 collection is regularly updated. We would like to invite you to visit our Online Store regularly as our collections are always updated with new items.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any other questions or concerns.

How helpful. Ugh.

Any other suggestions?
posted by Edelweiss at 9:28 PM on October 5, 2008

Why not try asking Diane Kruger, herself, where she got the shoes? Probably directly from Valentino, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Here's her rep's addy.

Girlie, I hunted, and I mean *hunted* for those shoes last night online and couldn't find them. They are just awesome!
posted by dancinglamb at 6:13 AM on October 6, 2008

Also, try calling Valentino USA's number in New York: [phone]
posted by dancinglamb at 6:14 AM on October 6, 2008