High Shine

Just when it seemed like the sun was the brightest star in the sky, the Grand Mademoiselle found a new obsession to obscure even the glaring light of our fiery, celestial friend.

What better way to drag oneself out of the mid-summer doldrums than a fabulously shiny, high-gloss accessory! Forget the breezy, easy, laid-back, ethnic patterned empire-waisted dress and lets get seriously feminine with a return to the seductively high shine, reflective, frenetically gorgeous appeal of patent leather.

The difference, my fellow Grand M's, is in the tone. Lose the traditional black for alternatives like silver, navy, rich mahogany and even the subtle glow of diluted magenta. The Grand M way to pull off gloss is to pair high-shine accessories with mellow, demure and delicate garb. Be bold and wear wide-leg, indigo trouser jeans with a flouncy ivory tie-neck blouse (the Grand M absolutely loves the new Libertine for Target collection specifically for its focus on the frilly without the fussy). What makes this get-up really sing? A pair of Richard Tyler Rumba heels - with their lusciously glossy, deep purple hue and suggestive open toe, they're just what the Grand M wants to convey her patent attitude without pushing the neon glow envelope. The point, my dear Grand M's, is that patent doesn't mean pushy. It means subtle and conveys attention to detail. Witness the Prada Vernice Sfumata clutch in Rossa, available at Saks, or the Henry Beguelin Patent Leather Messenger at Neiman Marcus. This is the new patent, the less obnoxious patent, exhibited in the gracefully graduated shading from deep fuchsia to ivory in the Prada clutch, and revealed in the tasteful and reserved forest green of the Beguelin. The new patent goes anywhere and does anything by adding that extra something to an otherwise simple outfit. Carry your patent bag with a linen suit, and wear your glossy pumps or even your subdued Eileen Shields Juliette T-Strap flats with a gabardine pencil skirt and Oxford button-down. The Grand Mademoiselle invites you to go ahead and indulge in your inner Vegas by slipping into a pair of Delman Reno's and breaking the patent mold ...


All of the shoes pictured above are available at http://www.barefoottess.com