Dear Melbourne Darling,
Where can I find the best wedding shoes?
(I’m looking for something metallic/silver?)
My main advice when shopping for bridal shoes is to invest some time to look around as many different stores as you can. Even if some stores are not ones you would typically think of for bridal shoes. I recommend trying on as many styles as you can as. This will quickly help you determine which styles you like and which suit you, especially since many shoe styles can look dramatically different sitting on a shelf opposed to when they are worn on the foot.
As always, the style of shoe is dependent on the style of the dress, so I am going to make some general shopping suggestions to help any bride to be (and bridal party) to help with your shoe hunt for the big day.
1. DESIGNER SHOE STORES:
- David Jones and Myer – Bourke St
These department stores are a great place to start off with, especially to get a feel for the different types of styles and designers available. I recommend the city locations as the flagship stores tend to have the biggest and best selection available in comparison to their suburban counterparts, although Chadstone and Highpoint are your second best locations.
- Miss Louise
The go-to place in Melbourne for a wonderful selection designer shoes. A fancy little spot showcasing a stunning selection of high designer heels.
Shop G4, The Westin/205 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: (03) 9654 7730
- Hermanns
Hermanns are the sole distributors of Stuart Weitzman, Edward Meller and own the Giallo stores with most locations in the CBD, Chadstone or David Jones. (Edward Meller and Giallo are a bit too casual but Stuart Weitzman do feature a few ultra-modern and fashion forward designs. So if you like their styles online, I’d suggest visiting a retail store)
http://www.hermanns.com.au/pc/
Stuart Weitzman for Hermanns
Chadstone Shopping Centre and
175 Collins Street,
Melbourne, 3000.
Phone: (03) 9522 9709
- Loula
149 Toorak Road,
South Yarra, VIC 3141, Australia
Phone no: + 61 3 9820 8006
- Dolci Firme
162 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000 VIC
Phone: (03) 9650 1522
and
299 Toorak Road
South Yarra 3141 VIC
Phone: (03) 9827 2166
2. ONLINE STORES:
- The Iconic
Offers a wide selection of shoes to choose from as well as free overnight shipping for all orders over $50 and free returns for 100 days. For bridal heels specifically in silver and metallic, I’d have a look at the following selection of strappy silver heels:
http://www.theiconic.com.au/
and take a look at these beautiful silver Guess heels:
As well as these metallic Verali heels:
- Cinderella Bella
(This business used to have a great store in Melbourne for designer bridal shoes, but operate through their online store only. While their selection has dramatically decreased, if you’re lucky you might find a suitable style from the limited sale items that remain on their site.)
I also found these two styles by Jimmy Choo from the Jimmy Choo Australia website to be a steal of a price and a gorgeous style for a fun, stylish and modern bride:
- Panache Bridal Shoes Australia
A more traditional selection of bridal shoes
3. CUSTOM MADE:
Finding you’re not happy with the selection of heels you come across on the shop floor or have your heart set on a particular style you haven’t been able to find? A pair of custom heels for your special day could be your best way to go. You may even find that a custom pair are not as expensive as you’d think.
- Novat Shoes
Don’t be disheartened by their limited, more traditional and slightly dated styles online, be sure to check out their retail store in Thornbury as only a small selection of the styles they hold are featured online. It’s also worth the visit to ask about their custom shoe design service.
594 High St
Thornbury 3071
Phone: (03) 9484 5736
Mob: 0438 319 258 -Bianca Novat
- Shoes of Prey
Online custom shoe store where you get to play the part of shoe designer and be as creative as you wish. Whip-up your own design from your computer and have them delivered straight to your door.
4. RETAIL STORES:
Often overlooked because they are not your typical bridal shoe stores, an offering from the high street may pleasantly surprise you. Links to each website provided below, where you will be able to find information on your most convenient store location:
- Peeptoe Shoes
- Tony Bianco - Not only their retail stores, but if you are heading to the Thornbury / Preston area to check out Novat, also have a look at the Tony Bianco Warehouse for some bargains. 113 High St, Preston, Victoria, Australia 3072
- Diana Ferrari - If you have a bigger shoe size, you may also want to try Diana Ferrari and the Diana Ferrari Warehouse (also right next to the Florsheim warehouse) 262 Darebin Road Fairfield VIC 3078
- Alan Pinkus
- Midas
- Jo Mercer
- Wittner
- Santini
- Merchant 1948
- Mollini
- Nine West
- Zomp
- Sidewalk Soul
My suggested itinerary would be to make the city your first stop, as it’s the best place get a feel for the types of styles available and the designs you like.
Start off at David Jones and Myer then head to Miss Louise and Stuart Weitzman then while you are still in the city, make a stop to the high street brand stores as they are alllocated fairly close to each other.
From there you can head to the Preston / Thornbury area to visit Novat shoes (check out their store or look at their custom made options) and then to the Tony Bianco outlet, Diana Ferrari and Florsheim outlet. That way, when you’re ready to look online you would have already tried on a number of paris which will help you make it easier to distinguish which styles would suit you when browsing online.
Happy Shopping!
Love,
Melbourne Darling xo