The Belle Vivier style of the French footwear brand, Roger Vivier, turned sixty this year. One of my most recent footwear acquisitions, in a neon pink mesh and a mod color block, has never felt more relevant.
While I am just catching on sixty years later, the Belle has a storied past. The style was developed for the Yves St. Laurent Mondrian collection, black pumps adorned with a large square buckle in either gold or silver metal. Two years later, Catherine Deneuve wore the style in appropriately named Belle du Jour. Jackie Kennedy and Audrey Hepburn would go on to sport the shoe.
The block heel is perfect for anyone who does not want to commit to a stiletto but still likes a lift. Furthermore, I recommend a sturdy block heel for city dwellers who are deep down paranoid of damaging their fancy satin Hangisi heels via scampering about the cobblestone and paver-clad sidewalks. I find that the Belle Vivier runs as small as other high end shoes, but not as small as Manolo Blahnik.
This year, Roger Vivier released a collection of elevated and embellished Belle Viviers. Collect them all. (Or not all, not really.)
