Despite its prevalence on the fall runways, the all-over animal print look is just not for everyone – at least not for those of us lacking the New Jersey mob mistress style gene. When you’re rocking an animal print, forego the eighties excess of big hair and red nails and turn your exotics chic by kicking your way into the trend with animal print heels. Think of them as baby steps toward a leopard-print Dolce & Gabbana extravaganza – after all, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one well-shod step, whether it’s toward the altar or simple fashion infamy.
Ease into the wonderful world of exotic animal prints with this cat-friendly incarnation of the ocelot print: the D&G Heels pictured above. The peep-toe and saucy crimson heels make for the perfect accent to a pair of super-skinny jeans and a fitted white button-down – when you have statement shoes like these, why not let them do the talking for you?
Leave it to Kate Spade to make zebra print somehow prim with these Zebra Print Georgette Heels. There’s something simultaneously cocktail party and business lunch about these, matching black suits and sequined dresses equally well. You probably couldn’t get away with wearing them with your wedding dress, though – or could you?
Prim not quite your style? Givenchy offers these fierce Red Croc Heels for bridezillas of a more cold-blooded bent. We’re not saying you have to make caterers cry in these, but if they run out of petits fours three days before your wedding and you have to do a little “convincing” to get them to spent 72 consecutive hours creating the tiny wedding cakes of your dreams, well, these are the shoes to stomp as you do.
Oh Roberto Cavalli, there are few others we’d trust to deck us out in snakeskin, and these Snakeskin Slingback Heels are exactly why. They’re bold enough to retain the inherent moxie of snakeskin, but the multi-strap look and the comfy cork heel make them office-acceptable. Well, maybe not entirely acceptable, but who’s going to argue with a bridezilla on the rampage in shoes that might have once been an animal? Just tell any detractors that you skinned the cobra yourself to make these and you’re not above a matching pair made out of interns or other subordinates.
