Celebs including Charlize Theron, Christie Turlington and Rita Wilson caught the eyes of the red carpet fashion gurus, and were spotted in designer dresses from the Pre-Fall 2009 collections, and simple, elegant shoes and sandals; Charlize Theron strutted her stuff in a pair of eye-catching silver ankle-wrap sandals and finished her ensemble with an elegant black clutch.

Julia Roberts made a rare fashion move by choosing an all-white sheath dress, paired with a pair of black square toe heels.

Red Carpet Trends in Shoes

Many stars are sporting the looks from the Pre-Fall 2009 runway, which means we won’t be seeing these famous labels in our closets any time soon.  But, if you’re dying to get your hands on the shoes you saw on the red carpet this week, you can find a few comparable pieces online:

A close match to Charlize Theron’s strappy ankle-hugging sandals are these Calvin Klein Nevada sandals, a sinfully rich silver pair of metallic sandals with large, octagon shapes across the toe strap to catch the light. They’re a sleek and sexy pair that are perfect for any evening soiree or gala:

If it’s Julia Roberts’ black square toe heels you’re after, try on a pair of these J.Renee Annette pumps. They’re a little more dressy than the pair Roberts was wearing on gala night because of the large crystal rhinestone jewel:

They’re a great match for any ‘Little Black Dress’ you’re sporting for the evening, or to dress up a plain skirt or pair of dressy capris.  Match them up with a gunmetal silver or pewter handbag, and you’ll be pulling off your own red carpet look.

Red Carpet Trends in Handbags

For bags, the hottest looks for the season are the oversized patent leather or croc-embossed clutch.  The bigger the better, and stick with the black if you want to sport this look for the long-term.

This Kooba Mandy clutch is a great match for day and evening ensembles, an oversized wallet-inspired clutch made with shiny textured leather:

This Alexander McQueen Clutch is very similar in style and shape to the one Rita Wilson was holding at the awards ceremony. You can get yours in a light brown color for a more versatile piece, and it’s a super sleek embossed patent leather accessory that will match up with most evening ensembles.

First stop was Sephora’s, which was just around the corner from the Flamingo where we stayed. We then carried on and went to The Venetian. The shopping gallery had a Euopean feel, with canals running through it. Then we had a bite to eat at the Tao restaurant. I had the Tao Shabu Shabu, which was awesome. My girlfriends shared a sushi thing. I’m not big on sushi – I’m more of a dim sum fan.

After some more shopping we hit the casino for some gambling. I stuck with the nickel slots, my friends played quarters and dollars. Basically we all lost, but I lost less with my nickel game. For dinner we went back to The Venetian for a fabulous dinner at Grand Luxe Cafe. I had pasta with jumbo shrimp in a lemon cream sauce that was amazing, and the girls had steak and ribs if memory serves correctly.

By now our feet we’re getting sore, but we needed the walk after dinner so we marched down the strip a little further to see Treasure Island and The Wynn, then went back to the Flamingo for some gambling in our own hotel and back to our rooms.

The next day we visited a fashion mall and an outlet mall that we had to take a bus to, just past the Stratophere and Fremont Street. We spent most of the day there and had some bad pizza in the food court. Lots of deals, and so many stores, it was a great afternoon. I actually had to buy an extra piece of luggage as there was no way it was all coming back in the one suitcase I had. The hotel shopping areas had a lot more shoe stores, but the fashion mall and outlet had lots of everything to keep us busy most of the day. I haven’t shopped this hard in a while and had to have a few rests as my feet were getting tired. And I wasn’t even wearing heels!

Afterwards, we jumped on a bus to get back to the area our hotel is and went a block over to Bally’s for an ok dinner and an over-priced glass of wine. After dinner we jumped in a taxi to check out the Rio’s male revue, but we arrived too late and it just wasn’t meant to be.

On our last day, we checked out and checked our luggage into a hotel holding area. We didn’t need to be at the airport until about 9 pm so we had lots of time to do some final sightseeing. Had a great time at Caesar’s Palace shopping area, which had almost every shoe brand I wanted to see. From Jimmy Choo to Zanotti, it’s mostly there. The only thing really missing was Christian Louboutin, which we saw back at The Venetian. If, or I should say when I go back. I might just check in at Caesar’s Palace next time…

But did you know we got a chance to go dancing?

I would also invite the Manolo, because he is Super Fantastic! And Miss Meghan!

Representation from one of the ladies at Stiletto Jungle would be great.

An invite goes out to Kristopher Dukes, Tina from the Bag Snob, and Susan of GlamChic.

What would I serve? Our little mixer would start with cocktails before dinner, some cosmos or something. And then we dine! Not sure about appetizers, but I think I would make marinated chicken breasts stuffed with ricotta and spinach, with pasta and asparagus.  And if there’s room for desert, help yourself to a drumstick from the freezer!

They all have their own local chapter of the Beauty Bar! Where else can you enjoy the luxury of sipping cocktails with a manicure?

If you’re not lucky enough to have lived through this mind-boggling shoe era, there’s no doubt that you’ve heard the stories, seen the pictures and videos of Elton John’s fanatical platform shoes and Gene Simmons’ death-defying, demon boots.  But this was so much more than the current youth trying to outdo their parent’s infatuation with Elvis, it was an historic turn of events in the fashion world, as shoes were becoming a focal point of the wearer’s ensemble.

I vividly remember the first time I saw Gene Simmons’ platform boots.  It was on Paul Lynde’s Halloween Special in the mid-seventies- a time when KISS was becoming a household name (usually not a good one), and their fiery antics, blood spitting, loud music and of course, their makeup was instilling fear into the hearts of every mom on the planet.  I remember Mr. Lynde asking Gene Simmons how long it took the band to put on their makeup.  Their response? “We don’t wear makeup!” Yup, every kid who had ever heard of KISS was completely convinced that these bad boys were born with black, white and silver (with a dash of green and red for good measure) paint on their faces- and every mom thought KISS was, in fact, the devil.

But what about their footwear?  Gene Simmons’ boots were, and still are, an absolute gravity-defying work of art.  Metallic silver scales adorn the entire leg and foot of the boot.  The toes were quite interesting, with two large, red glistening eyes to create a life-like effect.  But what demon would be complete without ferocious teeth?  Long, spiked dagger-like teeth were painted onto the actual 6-inch full, black platform to create the illusion of “walking on fangs”. Joints were added to the knee area for Gene to commence with the necessity of walking on stage, breathing fire and spitting blood.

My next personal favorite footwear of the day goes to none other than Sir Elton John. In addition to some of the most colorful and eccentric stage-wear of the day, Sir Elton had the shoes, and wore them most eloquently. Rhinestones adhered to a 5-inch platform in the shapes and colors of the rainbow.  “Who Wears These Shoes”-?  You do, Elton, you do.

 For my honorable mention of the day, David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust takes the cake and everything else.  In addition to boas and slinky-knit tops traditionally worn only the female gender, the boots and shoes that were seen on Ziggy left a generation relatively stunned and confused.  Bright-red patent leather from knee-to-toe atop a 4-inch black platform certainly made a statement.  What the statement was, I’m not exactly sure, but I think it had something to do with “Anything Goes”.

Look like the premiere was a celebrity circus, but it quickly turned ugly in the crowd of ticketholders. Apparently they’ve overbooked the premiere and up to 2,000 people who had gotten tickets through promotional giveaways authorized by movie studio New Line Cinema were shut out of the 7:30 p.m. screening.

The mostly female crowd surged against police barricades, cursing and stomping at the cruel turn of events.

Starting with our top 10;

Elton John – Who Wears These Shoes

Adam And The Ants – Goody Two Shoes

Depeche Mode – Walking In My Shoes

Paul Simon – Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

Beatles – Old Brown Shoe

Paulo Nutini – New Shoes

KC & The Sunshine Band – Boogie Shoes

Kenny Loggins – Foot Loose

Carl Perkins – Blue Suede Shoes

Nancy Sinatra – These Boots Are Made For Walking

But wait – there’s more…

Amy Winehouse – F Me Pumps!

Tears for Fears – Head over heels

Go Gos – Head over heels

Crime Mob – Stilettos

David Lee Roth – Sensible Shoes

Patrick Macnee & Honor Blackman – Kinky Boots

Eagles – Those Shoes