They are by Manolo Blahnik, of course. The high priest of sexy manolo shoes . The man who's been known for years for his stiletto heels and mules, but who is also recognized as one of the last great footwear artists, turning out his absolutely-everything-done-by-hand pieces from four factories in Italy.

His client list reads like a roll call from Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Princess Di, Fergie, Paloma Picasso, Madonna, Bianca Jagger, Anjelica Huston, Winona Ryder, Ivana Trump, Cher, Sandra Bernhard, Lauren Hutton, Jerry Hall, Elle Macpherson. . . . And we're not talking one pair apiece. Some buyers can tally their collections in the dozens of pairs. ...

Where does inspiration end and imitation begin? Is it a sign of respect to recycle another designer's style, or the reverse? Depends on whether you're the copier or the copied.

Leaving aside high street labels copying high end collections, designers have a great fondness for "paying homage", or "channelling", to use the common lingo, one another's styles.

Marc Jacobs has made a career out of taking styles from the past and, depending on one's age and perspective, modernising them or watering them down for the Paris Hilton generation. ...

HOW MUCH do you have to suffer to look good? The ideal is a Garden of Eden-like existence, where beauty comes in its natural form. Unfortunately, that s not the reality for most of us, who need a certain amount of aid and artifice to make the grade.

It does, of course, depend on what you define as suffering one person s suffering is another person s pleasure when it comes to appearance.

If you are used to high heels, it can be flat ...

Even the woman who fully embraces all of fall's ladylike looks - the satin, the fur stoles and even the mod miniskirts - has the occasional day when she wants to break out and be the "bad girl."

That's when she pulls out the black leather bag with grommets, the tight black jeans with hardware details and the metal-mesh lingerie.

For the more conservative, handbags with chain details or boots and shoes with dominant zipper touches can be paired with black pants and a white blouse and look perfectly appropriate at the office, says eLuxury's Jimenez....

It is always a surprise to realize how long it takes for a designer's ideas to make it from the drawing pad to the cash register. African inspirations -- feathered sandals, tribal carvings on ysl boots  heels, burnt-earth and blue-green Limpopo River colors -- will go on sale in early spring, although they were already on the runway in autumn. And this means that African prints, like the bold patterns at Junya Watanabe and Miu Miu, must have been worked on while Hillary Clinton still seemed certain to get the Democratic nomination. ...