Christian Siriano For Payless Anklebreakers

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In life, we are big fans of the novel. We're not just talking about the novel, like a book (though we do enjoy those, too): we mean things that are odd, nonsequitors, or different for the sake of busting the status quo. Though it isn't always 'either/or', we frequently pick the novel over the good. (FYI: It's a really bad philosophy for choosing a boyfriend.)

Christian Siriano's claw shoes strike us as being exceptionally novel—both the form and the function are compromised for the concept—so naturally, we HAD to check them out and see them live in the flesh. These beauts aren't being carried at very many Paylesses around town; we actually tried five stores in LA and two in Orange County before we ran them down at the Payless on 3rd and Fairfax, across the street from the Grove.

There's no official display. You're going to have to do some unceremonious digging around through waitress shoes, sneakers?and oh, other celeb brands like Alice + Olivia for Payless and Lela Rose for Payless. (We found the latter surprisingly cute.)

Each of the Christian Siriano models is $79.99. They only come in full sizes; since two of the models feature oddly pointed toes, you should probably go up. That is if you're planning on walking in them.

Overall, walkability was shockingly good in these—less so in the blue pump which features no supporting ankle-strappage. Of course, we just walked about twenty feet on Payless carpet. The inch platform mitigates some of the funkniess, but these put your feet at a weird angle. If you're wearing these out to an event, make sure valet parking is an option.

In terms of sheer "comfort", the open-toed Cut It Out model affords the most of it, followed by the Mary Jane, then the blue shoe. We realize how subjective the aesthetic business is, but we just don't like the shape (not even the McQueen armadillo ones did it for us), and we honestly thought that the material for the buff and beige shoes looked like some kind of skin disease.

But regardless of what we thought about the shoes themselves, we love the idea of art shoes that are affordably priced and accessible to the masses. More variations on this theme, please!
· Christian Siriano for Payless Now Online [Racked LA]
· Payless Shoes [Official Site]