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The first time I saw them, it felt silly to wear them. That was until I slipped and let my feet into a pair of shiny purple patent shoes.

Cute-meets-chic, practical-meets-pretty shoes this season that also brings with it a rainbow of colours!

The first time I saw them, it felt silly to wear them. That was until I slipped and let my feet into a pair of shiny purple patent shoes. Suddenly, the colour aubergine (read baingan!) didn’t feel so uggh after all. Actually, they looked very chic, very fresh-off-the-ramp. “The colour is a hot-stepper internationally,” spoke Shoe Rack’s immaculately turned out merchandiser Kamal Singh as she listed out the glitzy options that went from blood-red to crocodile green at their Sector 8 store! Suddenly, black and brown seemed like staid choices. And that’s been the case all of this season. Purple shoes, yellow pumps, peep toes, zip-up boots…there’s enough and more to help you step out in style. “It’s a colourful affair all the way. It’s no longer about making do with black heels that will go with any dress. It is about matching your toes with your totes,” city’s own runway model Aanchal Kumar offers a style guide. When it comes to footnotes, Kumar puts the emphasis on patent. “There’s a lot of gloss now and the bling effect has shifted from your outfit to your bag and shoes,” she makes a point.

A quick recce of the burgeoning shoe stores in the city and we are convinced it’s a full rainbow out there with no one particular style having a leg up, literally. “Yes, colours are really at play. I never thought yellow or blood red would sell in the city but I have been proven wrong. In fact three colours in one is a bestseller,” tells Mohinder Singh Makkar, CEO, Makson Retailers who has brands like Momak (Sector 22) under his belt. Supplying to European stores, Makkar sure has an edge when it comes to shoe trends. And if you are thinking of flaunting your stilettos this season, Makkar doesn’t think it’s a really good idea. “The latest buzz are cone or kulfi heels. These are taller but broader making it a comfortable affair,” he says. The peep toes and ballerinas are safe bets though.

“There were times when all one saw was heels but flats are now really popular and it doesn’t have anything to do with height,” mentions Ravijit Dhillon of ‘5 Knot 3’ that’s got on its racks a range of lie-lows in vibrant tones. As far as embellishments go, all that goes into your designer wardrobe is on your shoe too. Buckles, sequins, bows, satin ribbons, lace, stones…your shoe’s equally well-dressed! Specially when it comes to wedding wear. “Dabka work is much in vogue along with sequins and stones,” adds Makkar. Hop over to Sector 17 and the trends are for all to see in the back-to-back shoe stores. At Drishti we caught peep toes and ballerinas in all “shade card” colours. Black turns ash grey, brown goes copper, red is plum…you get the drift, right?

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