Feel the Rhythm by Poetic Licence

It's Gonna Get You: Poetic Licence dances into spring with a floral motif pump.

Feel the Rhythm sounds appropriate for a Poetic Licence pump—their shoes always look like crystallized bits of music, as if whatever wackiness ensued at their magical footwear laboratory settled into the very fabric of the shoe itself. When we wear this pump we are hard-core channeling Gloria Estefan. This shoe is going to get us despite our best efforts to save our payche— What's that? $122? ... That's for both of them, right? Well. That's not so bad for some spring dancin' shoes.

(And if you've been paying attention on Facebook and our mailers, you'd know we regularly give some Poetic away, which is even cheaper, though you pay in anticipation.)

The flower motif is a perennial spring favorite and we've already seen a number crop up, including Poetic itself. What we like about Rhythm is that is doesn't sport flowers or floral patterns, it has been made into a flower. The upper is made of overlapping petals of rose leather, fronted by a bloom of dusky rose patent around a peeptoe. (Does this make your toes the stamen?)

Anyway.

Rhythm's not just for the dance floor. It's a versatile pump that can play it cute or serious. It sounds like a complicated and specific shoe, but the color-on-color treatment (it also comes in neutrals) holds the shoe together. Try it with a marine stripe top—both pieces are light and airy and the navy and white stripes will complement this fresh rose pump. Short dresses with a '70s feel—think busy patterns, chock-a-block geometrics—will highlight the Rhythm's internal lines.

Poetic always has a few surprises and Rhythm is no exception. The screaming lemon yellow sole is a bright surprise, and the yellow logo cutout on the heel is a nice touch. We love the patent-wrapped heel and heelcup. The glossy, dark back contrasts with the lighter forefoot to make your foot seem taller, even though at 4-1/2" with a 1/2" platform, the heel is fairly manageable.

Extra height without even trying? Now that's something we can groove to all night.


  

Toughen-Up by Poetic Licence

Is It Tough Enough? Poetic Licence's Toughen-Up is a riff on Victorian button-ups with a modern twist.

In England they must call this shoe the Stiff Upper Lip—it certainly has a heavy Victorian influence that we cannot ignore and must instead love. The Toughen-Up riffs the Victorian button-up boot, but deposits it squarely in the modern world. For one, you don't have to actually button it up. (This alone will save you 15-20 minutes.) However the buttons are operable and, as in a men's suit sleeve, working buttons are a sign of extra quality. Another modern touch is the nod to collar boots—boots and booties with a fold-over that extends all the way down the shaft to cover the upper and some heel. This creates a great silhouette and the extra material feels luxurious. (Also luxe is the metallic leather lining, but that's a private luxury.)

A 2-3/4" stacked heel is modest; Toughen-Up makes its mark not by height, but by details. We love the leather-covered buttons, the sawtooth edging on the fold-over and cap toe, the slightly Americanized snub toe which seems a compromise between a Western squared and an English equestrian. Other compromises also work for you: the shaft circumference is perfect for layering in leggings or a thicker sock and the middling boot height plays well with short jean skirts or a full jean, tucked or over.

Did we mention the leather? That's because we saved the best for last. This boot is so supple you'd think it were rubbed with butter (it's not). It proved to be a bit of a pain to photograph it was so melty. What that means for you is a die-for comfortable, easy, forgiving fit. You can probably even scrunch Toughen-Up a bit for a casual slouch.

Collar boots, vintage looks, short boots ... these are all the qualities of fall in 2010 and they are all present in this one beaut of a boot. Between the detailing, the buttery (but, we stress, not buttered) leather and the smart construction, Toughen-Up is the way to beef up a 90-pound-weakling wardrobe.

A Girl's Dream by Poetic Licence

Seeing Through the Hype: Poetic Licence's "A Girl's Dream" is a coy transition pump we fantasize about.

We'll start with a disclaimer: we got really excited about the toe detail on this shoe and stuffed it full of clear Lucite pendant necklaces. (The boys in creatives wanted to drive a point home.) The only gems that come with this looker are the rainbow-hued cluster over the toe. Box-cut, teardrops, princess cuts: these sit on a rosette of reptile-patterned leather and form the top of a lovely little peeptoe.

Available in Sandstone and Black, A Girl's Dream sits atop a 3.5" stacked and back-swept heel, giving it a cool lean. This is picked up in the upper that rides high against the sides of the foot like a starched Edwardian collar before plunging like risqué decolletage into the gems. The rounded high sides lend the shoe a distinctly retro look, the swooping lines and graceful arcs reminding us of early-20th-century Futurism, a fact reinforced by the metallic leather lining. Maybe Daisy Buchanan would have worn these into the city (maybe they're what caught Gatsby's eye).

The office loves this shoe. Chances are if you don't buy it, the staff will. And considering how many shoes these gals see in a day, that kind of Pavlovian response to one particular shoe says something. (That something is, roughly, "minemineminemineminemine.") What's the appeal? It's just so ... chic. Something about this pump just breathes style and ultimate cool.

We see it with skirts. Skirts skirts skirts. Preferably short to mini, but you could make a case for just-lightly-brushing-the knee and we'd listen. For the younger amongst us, the opalescent sheen of the gems could work with a bold legging, making A Girl's Dream a nice transition shoe. However you work it, this pump can make your look polished and hip ... and that is most definitely our dream come true.