It's Fashion Friday!: Pimp Slippers - Like Men With Robes Wear

Prada Fall 2012 at Saks Fifth Avenue

            My little (6’0 tall) brother has been anticipating fashion trends for decades. Mixing prints at age 7 (albeit, different plaids that perhaps shouldn’t have been mixed), sporting designer denim before most people even knew there was such a thing (he was even responsible for my introduction), wearing fur trimmed puffer coats before ghetto fabulous was even a concept (he borrowed them from little Japanese girls at Juilliard)… He wore orange and grey color blocked Miu Miu dress shoes to my Bitcho aunt’s wedding a few years back. Yes, he’s straight, and it’s never contrived, just one of his many loveable quirks. Not much surprises me when it comes to my brother, but he really threw my mom and I for a loop this past Christmas.

            When asked what he wanted as a gift his response was “Pimp slippers. You know… like men with robes wear.” Of course, my mom and I both immediately started thinking, “What the hell are pimp slippers?” It wasn’t until Tuesday afternoon when the Saks Fifth Avenue “Prada 2012 Fall Collection” email arrived in my inbox that I think I figured out, “Perhaps this is more along the lines of what he meant than the memory foam ones I picked out (that ended up being too small anyway).” Good thing I got him a robe.

            Apparently, pimp slippers are a big pre-fall trend. Who knew? I must admit, I have not been doing my fashion blogger homework lately. The weather’s been too nice to spend all my time at the computer. It’s gardening season, folks! I have petunias to deadhead. And ever since the Border’s Lending Library closed, I’m not reading quite as many fashion magazines. (Barnes and Noble just does not have the same feel!) I’m certainly not going to pay for them, given how pithy the writing is, and how often the clothes they choose to showcase are horribly ugly. In short, this email surprised me. Not only were the above examples pretty ugly (and I love Prada!), I can’t figure out how they have anything to do with the badass brightly colored wax dipped superheels that Prada exhibited in their FW2012 runway show.

            They aren’t all so bad though! There’s this lovely black sequin adorned pair that I think would be quite smart under a black pants suit (my musician/CPA brain is trying to figure out how I could legally acquire them and write them off as a business expense for tax purposes). The Miu Miu version, however, with the bow and the jewel studded heel is a bit more up my alley. They have patent at Saks and suede (in red) at Neimans.

            As with any trend, I’m sure there will be plenty of cheaper knock off versions to quell the masses. So, for those of you out there who are buying shoes just to look like everyone else and not because you actually really like them, the cheaper version is probably the way to go. I don’t anticipate this trend lasting very long. I will tell you right now, the thing that’s going to differentiate between the pimp slipper that “works” and the pimp slipper that doesn’t is the length of the tongue of the shoe. You’re going to want it to come up higher on the foot, otherwise it’s going to look like you stole your Grandma’s slippers from the nursing home (you ungrateful little turd!). For example, Prada slipper (left) YES. Manolo slipper (right) NO. Although, honestly, I don’t like either of them.

        Sadly, dear brother, I don’t see anything similar in men’s sizes. And even if I did, the ones I could afford to buy for you would be the ones I found at a yard sale and re-pimped the shit out of with supplies I purchased at Michael’s craft store. But if that’s what you really want, I will do that for you, because I love you THAT much.

Since it IS Fashion Friday, and I was a little hard on Prada this week, I would like to share with you this lovely short, featuring Ben Kingsley and Helen Bonham Carter, that Roman Polanski did for the beloved brand. Just click on the text below. Have a good weekend!

PRADA presentsMay 21, 2012. Prada presents 'A Therapy', film directed by Roman Polanski, premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.