You are on Team Tuck if you prefer to tuck your tops into your skirts, trousers and jeans. You are on Team Un-Tuck if you prefer to leave tops hanging out.

I tuck in my tops quite frequently, especially when I wear skirts and more recently when I wear jeans and trousers. But I still wear lots of my tops un-tucked, more so than tucked, so I am on Team Un-Tuck.

This is probably the easiest poll to date. I am also willing to bet money that Team Un-Tuck will reign supreme. So without further ado, over to you. Are you on Team Tuck or on Team Un-Tuck? Tell us why and no batting for both Teams.

This is a sponsored review for Scarpasa. All opinions are 100% mine. Be sure to also check out the Scarpasa giveaway in the competition section.

I prefer wearing flat and low heeled footwear for two reasons: (1) my feet don’t like to arch too much, (2) and my lifestyle involves lots of walking. There’s just no way that I can accomplish what I need to when I’m out and about wearing high heels. I’d move too slowly, the balls of my feet would ache and my arches would cramp up. That’s why I reserve high heels for “sitting” occasions and tear around town with my clients in heels no higher than two inches.

So I was delighted when Christina Luhur, the founder of Scarpasa asked me to review a sample of her footwear. Scarpasa is an online footwear store that scours Europe and South America for comfortable, fab looking, flat and low to mid heeled footwear. Hello! This is sweet music to my ears! In a fashion world where three inch heels are no longer considered high, it’s become increasingly hard to find low heels at all – let alone styles that go the distance and don’t look frumpy.

Scarpasa’s clever slogan says it all, “lower your heels, not your expectations”. That’s brilliant and I’m in the bullseye of their target market. Browsing through the site, I saw all sorts of classic and fashion forward boots, booties, pumps and sandals. I immediately noticed that the styles are different to those you see on the mainstream footwear sites. I love that. Who doesn’t like to own a more exclusive style of shoe? As I browsed further, I thoroughly enjoyed that each style suggests an outfit pairing for the shoe, sometimes showing an actual outfit visual. For example, the outfit pairing for the Pons Quintana Melody ballet flat is: “toss these on with jeans, a tailored shirt and cardigan to run your weekend errands in sophisticated fashion”. Spot on and great attention to detail. I also appreciate knowing whether each style runs big or small, also information that is provided for each shoe.

I chose three footwear styles and they were on my doorstep a couple of days later, beautifully packaged in lilac tissue paper. First, the Pons Quintana Melody TC, a two toned black and white ballet flat. Second, the Gina Ventori Patricia, a grey snake skin round toed pump with pewter buckle detailing. Third, the Chie Mihara Tatsu, a crazy, colour blocked round toed pump with a bit of gold glitz thrown in.

Well-made shoes with flat and low heels are the start of my footwear prerequisites. I also need a shoe with soft leather and a cushioning foot bed. After years in the rag trade I’m a stickler for quality. And on top of it all, I refuse to wear a shoe that’s comfortable but looks unattractive. Bottom line: I’m a tough footwear critic.

As soon as I saw Scarpasa’s shoes, I was taken by their aesthetics and manufacturing quality. There’s no time like the present, so I slid on the ballet flats and paraded around the house. Unfortunately my long toes pinched in the toe-box as I walked, so these weren’t going to work. If you have a narrower foot or shorter toes they might work for you, and I might try sizing up half a size because I adore the shoe.

My initial disappointment was instantly forgotten when I tried on the two pairs of pumps. WOW! I was in foot heaven. Both pairs are extremely soft and don’t cut into my flesh. The foot beds are also soft, but I softened them up even more by adding an insole. The buckles on the Gina Ventori’s are perfectly positioned so that they don’t rub up against your foot as you stride. The toe boxes are fairly roomy for my regular width feet and my arches felt adequately supported. The heel heights, one at 1.5 inches and the other at 2 inches are as perfect as can be. I can’t avoid toe cleavage because of my long gangly toes. But honestly, it is hard enough to find comfortable shoes and toe cleavage is the last thing I’m worried about. Besides, Greg thinks my toe cleavage is cute.

So far so good with the pumps at home. But the real comfort test comes from putting footwear through its paces on the road. The pictures below were taken in an edgy, close-by Seattle neighborhood called Capitol Hill. I’m pleased to report that both sets of pumps passed “the fast walking test” up and down hills with flying colours. Happy feet.

I chose my favourite zippered skinny jeans to showcase both pairs of pumps (you’ll see the second outfit later this week). I’ve been in an androgynous style mood lately so I chose a strict non-crease Brooks Brothers button down shirt with one of Greg’s ties under my cream leather jacket. This combination was the perfect complement and contrast for the girly vibe of the Chie Mihara Tatsus. I finished off the outfit with a pewter clutch and black specs.

The only drawback of Scarpasa is that it’s quite pricey, but this is to be expected because they stock better end footwear. I for one am happy to pay extra for comfortable, good looking, fairly exclusive and quality shoes. I’d rather have one killer pair than three nice pairs. I’ll wear them more frequently, whittling down the cost per wear so it all evens out in the end.

After my lovely experience I highly recommend Scarpasa. The service was excellent, the site is a joy to use, the footwear assortment is unique, and above all, the pumps met with my high footwear expectations. I hope that you find gems here just like I did.

The dramatic Chie Mihara Tatsu pumps.

Giveaway

Scarpasa is generously giving away $200 to spend in their store. Take a look in YLF’s competition section for details.

You can join Scarpasa on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

The new season is young, but there are already great sandals on my radar. I’ve tried on all the styles below and had them on various clients. Each sandal has a stable heel and cushioning foot bed. The uppers, made either of leather or fabric are soft. These design details tend to make sandals more comfortable from the word go, which is why I look out for them.

Most of the styles are casual because of the cork and wooden heels. A self-fabric heel tends to look dressier and two of the styles here fit that bill. Make sure you click through the colours if you don’t fancy the ones represented:

1. Indigo by Clarks Long Pond Sandal: This sandal was recommended by forum member Antje who, like me, prefers flats and low heeled footwear. We both couldn’t believe the comfort level here despite the 3.5 inch heel and one inch platform. That being said, this sandal is still too high to be an 8-hour walking shoe for me. But it could be a walking shoe for you!




2. AK Anne Klein Audris Sandal: Generally, narrow straps aren’t as comfortable as wide straps, but I do have clients who prefer them. Depending on the placement of your pinkie toe, the strap on this style can dig into the flesh. Still a great all round sandal though.




3. Onex Christina Sandal: These look particularly good on feet with short toes, since the sandal upper starts quite far up the shoe. Long toes tend to look better in sandal uppers that start further down the shoe thereby shortening the length of the toe. Animal print is the cat’s meow and oh so fabulously 70’s for this season.




4. Onex Puffy Sandal: This is just what the doctor ordered for wider feet and feet with bunions. The leather is so, so forgiving and molds over the foot like a nylon stocking. They are too wide for my long bony toes that fall through the front of the sandal, but my goodness do my clients love them. On Zappos, they received 5 stars after 279 reviews. They are also available in a pretty gold shade from Nordstrom.




5. DV by Dolce Vita Pali Sandal: I’m recommending a monster wedge. Unbelievable. Well believe it because I was blown away by the comfort of this sandal. The heel height makes  this a sitting shoe for me, but it might be a walking shoe for you. You just have to try it on to appreciate why this monster wedge is a cut above the rest.




6. Clarks Thimble Clover Sandal: This is my favourite heel height and therefore my favourite sandal from this batch. It has the potential to be an 8-hour walking shoe. The suede is extremely soft. It also has strategically placed elastic inserts that facilitate comfortable striding. I am usually allergic to shoes with back zippers but I didn’t even notice them here. A superb sandal design for the low heel wearer. I preferred the black, but you might like the grey.

If the shoe is within your budget, fits well on the foot, you love the way it looks, AND it’s comfortable – buy it. There is no need to wait for a better style to come along.

Photos by Andrew Walker and Stephen Lovekin for Getty Images.

Over the last week I’ve watched live coverage of more than 40 Fashion Week shows and it’s been quite the marathon! When you watch lots of shows in a short space of time, the dominant trends jump out right away. Here they are for Autumn and Winter 2011:

• Black and cream outfit combinations: At last year’s Fall runway collections olive green, camel and grey reigned supreme. Things have changed.
• Red: Bright and tomato red were hot but many shades of red were represented.
• Cobalt Blue, Fuchsia and Emerald Green: Either in solid items or as trims. Purple takes a back seat.
• Longer hemlines: This is the trend I am most happy about. Welcome back midi skirts and dresses. Lots of maxi skirts and dresses in the pipeline too.
• Subtle 70’s influences: Expect dainty ruffled collars, bowed necklines and bohemian influences.
• Lace: Black lace comes through every season, but lace patterned clothing is new.
• A-line and flowing skirts: Pencil skirts take a back seat.
• Asymmetry: The fronts of dresses, tunics and tops are shorter than their backs.
• Front vents on skirts and dresses: This looks great on the runway, but it’s not that practical.
• Tapered trouser legs: Flares are popular for Spring and they’ll stick around for a while. But Autumn and Winter dressing is all about tapered trouser and denim silhouettes.
• Colour blocking: Both in low and high colour contrasts on blouses, tops, skirts, dresses, trousers and jackets.
• Sharp shoulders: Shoulder pads aren’t going anywhere, but not to worry if it’s not your thing. Soft shoulder dressing is also big.
• High necklines: Turtlenecks, funnel necks, crew necks and peter pan collars.
• Chain strap handbags and clutches: Still the most popular bags on the runway.

Of course, these trends will filter down to retail in many different variations – that in itself is fascinating to me. The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale in July kicks off the new Autumn season here in the US and I’m already looking forward to it.

Although I saw many shows, I only posted about the ones that I absolutely loved. Jason Wu still holds top position because my own style is very inspired by his collection. But all of the killer shows listed below run a close second:

• Wow, Jason Wu
• Jill Stuart’s Playful Simplicity
• Prabal Gurung’s Urban Romance
• NYFW: Rag & Bone’s Eccentric Hybrids
• DKNY’s Modern Magic
• The Marc Jacobs Polka Dot Parade

There were many shows that I enjoyed, like Carolina Herrera, Michael Kors, Donna Karan, Thakoon, Anna Sui, Betsey Johnson, Carlos Miele, Vera Wang, Nicole Miller and BCBGMAXAZRIA. Which were your favourite Fall 2011 fashion shows and which trends are you most excited about?

Finally, you might remember that Greg talked to photographer Andrew Walker during September fashion week and showed a few of his shots. Well, Getty Images were kind enough to share a few more of his shots this time round, and one from Stephen Lovekin too. Enjoy, and please click the the photos to see fullsize versions — they’re worth it!

Fergie in the audience at Diane Von Furstenberg (Stephen Lovekin for Getty Images)

Theatrics at the Betsey Johnson show (Andrew Walker for Getty Images)

Mercedes Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center (Andrew Walker for Getty Images)