These LD Tuttle shoes make me crazy. I don’t think I could wear them – I really am not that good at walking in anything taller than two and a half inches or so – but I do enjoy thinking about wearing them, and thinking about what I’d wear them with (cropped, baggy pants in almost-black gray; super faded jeans rolled and cuffed just an inch or so above the ankle strap; two contrasting layers of textured, lacy tights; a brown paper sack disguised as a spring dress).

It seems Tuttle was a ballet dancer before she turned to designing shoes but you could have guessed that just looking at these suckers. What I love about them is that they combine a gladiator sandal look, which, in my opinion is timeless and supersedes the year-and-a half-or-so trend they’ve been riding, with the platform ankle boot craze that, frankly, I was never that enamored of anyway. They also remind me of the huarache sandals we wore in the 80s with our stirrup pants but maybe we shouldn’t go there.

I feel like you would step into these heels and immediately the mailman, the grocery checker, and your boss would ask, ‘So how was Paris this year, darling?’

In other news these buttery nude flavored open-toe booties cut a trend all their own. Would you have imagined, a year or so ago, that’d you even consider a flat that covered your entire ankle but left your toes to fend for themselves? I don’t always go for flats – my perfect heel is thick, with an inch or so of lift – but these would be so perfect with paper-bag waist boyfriend shorts (you know you’ll go there) and full, knee-grazing skirts. Plus, they’d make your pedicure look like high art.

Tuttle and her crew are headquartered in LA; the shoes are handmade in Italy. Not quite regional but kinda close, at least on the design end. And, well, I guess we haven’t quite decided whether or not we can call a product like this one (one that is fabricated outside the country that is) American.

Both of these are at Lamb’s Ear in Fremont, which is where I stole the images from. But you probably recognize that crazy white cave wall and the girly-but-tough forward-thinking aesthetic.