Cap those toes!

Give your outfit an instant fashion forward look with cap-toe shoes. They add an ultra-modern edge to any style, and give a throw back to the queen of fashion. A cap-toe shoe is simply what it sounds like: the toe part of the shoe, whether it is a flat, pump or running shoe is made of a color contrasting material. Fashion matriarch Coco Chanel is one of the first designers to make the cap-toe look fashion forward. Her design house, which began in France in 1909, pioneered the cap-toe pump in 1957. Today, her cap toe shoes design can be seen all over Hollywood, and in many different designers’ collections. Fashion house Lanvin crafted a crème leather ankle-strap pump with a bronze capped toe. Yves Saint Laurent took the design more gothic, with a black leather sky-high pump, with an invisible high platform and black patent toe-cap. Manolo Blahnik, the designer made enduringly famous by Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex in the City, designed a modest navy pump with a silver metallic cap; the design takes on a vintage feel with the strap positioned in the middle of the top of the foot. Miu Miu crafted a crystal cap-toe sneaker, similar to the one that made Lavin’s cap-toe sneaker famous when worn by US first lady Michelle Obama. Hollywood has taken this look straight off the runways. DJ Solange Knowles, sister to famous singer Beyoncé, wore mint green Stewart Weitzman silver capped shoes on a recent outing in New York City with a lemon silk mini-skirt and white sleeveless sheath top. American actress and role model Gwyneth Paltrow wore suede turquoise capped shoes with dark denim capris, a chic crème blazer and multiple layers of chunky silver necklaces. British fashionista and Vogue UK contributor, Alexa Chung, wore crisp black metallic capped shoes with a non-fitted thick silk shirt and lightly eyeleted skirt with a floral bag. While Kerry Washington, Fergie and Demi Moore all wore the same Chanel white-capped pump as an ode to the brilliant designer. Cap-toe shoes can be worn in a plethora of different ways and styles. Themetallic caps seem to be the way to modernize it, with bronze, gold and silver toes. Also in contrast to the original Chanel design, fashion houses are using bright suede fabrics for the body of the pump. That said, any toe-capped shoe will look brilliant this season. Pair with your favourite spicy dress for a night out on the town, or with tapered capris and a fitted blazer for a work day. That’s the fashion scoop for this week. Got a thought? Trend? Style you hate? Send it my way.