Festive Flats For Everyone

Tried 'Em & Liked 'Em

Great Summer Ballet Flat

Corso Como's "Festive"

If you read BeansTalk, you know we favor (as far as closed shoes go) little ballet flats. We've had a love fest with Lindsay Phillips, dated Tory Burch, and flirted with Yosi Samra. Monday, we met "someone" new: Festive by Corso Como.

Festive has a secret: it's lined with Ballasox. We liken this to built-in peds, if you're old enough to remember what those are (think thin, but not-as-thin-as-nylon-hose, little sock liners, hidden from view).

In other words, what you have with Corso Como's pretty little Festive is a little light leather ballet shoe with a sewn-in, substantial -- but not bulky -- hidden ped/sock. They come folded (and that has no effect on the wear, there are no pressure points caused by that folding; once you put them on, they feel seamless), and in a cute little coordinating drawstring bag (like the Yosi Samra's did).

Corso Como's Festive is one of those rare comfortable, fit-like-a-glove ballet shoes in which you actually want to twirl around, either to show them off, or to demonstrate how lithe and graceful they make you feel.

Festive is available in a bevy of accessible colors and you may just find yourself deciding that these are the only shoes you'll need for awhile. The Corso Como website sells silver, gold, red, orange, white, violet, pink, green, black, pewter (a BeansTalk favorite color -- it goes with anything; it's dynamic, too), grey and dark chocolate. We can't think of a color they've forgotten. Oh, we just did. Maybe bronze, Corso Como?

Other colors we saw from vendors include a black patent, a deep maroon, yellow and a spectator style, white with a navy/black toe. Since those colors aren't available on the actual Corso Como website, these may be discontinued styles.

We got the silver which is a faster, fun alternative to white for warm summer which is already descending upon us. Our only concern is that the Ballasox inside the silver is a bright white. Only super-clean pristine feet shall be donning these. There will also be no walking-barefoot then slipping on my silver Corso Como Festive ballet flats. We know our Ballasox won't stay as fresh and innocent as they are now, but we're going to do our careful best to keep them nice. We have our eye on other colors, believe me.

Celebs like 'em, too. Alexa Chung, Katie Holmes, Reese Witherspoon, and Jessica Biel have been photographed wearing Festive out and about. As we'd suggested with the Lindsay Phillips ballet shoes we adore, get the Corso Como Festive's a half-size up.

Here is our very favorite thing about Corso Como (from their website, www.corsocomoshoes.com): "Corso Como is committed to protect the environment by using recycable paper on all packaging. With this attitude we are saving about 2,000 trees per year."

Corso Como's Festive ($59) is available for purchase on their website, online, at boutiques and department stores (their website also has a store locator search field).

Flat Out


Little foldable Ballet Flats have made a huge comeback -- we remember our grandmother had a couple pair. They're terrific for traveling and many find them easy to carry in a purse for comfort convenience. However, we hadn't found a brand to suit us. A couple of years ago, Nine West made a big push and sold their ballet flats in a leather drawstring carrying case. Adorable, but frightfully uncomfortable (at least for us) -- they were also notoriously inconsistent and ultimately not terribly well made (and we are fans of Nine West!).

A couple of months ago, we finally discovered a pair of ballet flats that we could wear on our delicate, sensitive feet -- made by Switchflop queen, Lindsay Phillips.

Lindsay Phillips Ballet Flats
(seen above)

We discovered these amazing little gems at the Manhattan Beach Fresh Produce shop. We were skeptical because we nearly always wear some sort of sandal, finding closed shoes not too comfortable. Imagine our surprise when we tried them on and they were genuinely, sincerely comfortable. But, even at $65, they were a little pricey for us. Still, we managed to find some online at a great price. Do a little research and you may get a similar deal (Ebay is a good resource).

The "gimmick" of the Lindsay Phillips Ballet Flat is that they are part of the line's trademarked "Snap Ons." This means that the flower with rhinestone center that comes "standard" on the shoes can snap on and off and you can interchange with a variety of choices, ranging in price, generally, from $11 to $18.

We're not so keen on the change-y thing, but do adore the shoes and find them fantastic to wear, nearly all the time. The matte shoes are real leather, but the patent styles are man made. Both constructs are comfortable, but for the ultimate, we have to give the edge to the buttery soft authentic leather. The Lindsay Phillips Ballet Flats feature an air-soft foot padding and are edged in soft, comfortable, flexible material, rendering the shoes far more comfortable than any other we've sampled.

So far, we have them in Pewter Patent, Blue Patent, Black Patent (we actually got the Kids' Size 4, which is supposed to be comparable to a Women's Size 6, but is on the small side -- Lindsay Phillips Ballet Flats do run on the small side -- like the ultimate, but exorbitantly priced Lanvin Ballet Flat -- so you're likely to need at least a half-size larger than you normally wear -- we find the Size 6 perfect for our usually Size 5.5 feet), Bronze Leather and White Gold Leather. www.lindsayphillips.com