On a recent wintry Saturday in Dumbo, I took a wrong turn and, instead of reaching the new minimalist home-furnishings mecca West Elm, found myself staring at a huge sign that read GIRLS LOVE SHOES. Talk about stating the obvious.
If you fully identify with that sign, get your feet over to the Girls Love Shoes temporary space (37 Main Street, Dumbo, Brooklyn; 917-250-3268; noon to 7 daily through the holidays), where designer Zia Ziprin has accumulated more than 1,500 pairs of vintage shoes and boots dating from the thirties through the nineties. You’ll find brands you’ve heard of (Ferragamo, Mia, Miu Miu, I. Magnin) and some you haven’t (Troylings by Seymour Troy), in a rainbow of colors. Women with smallish feet will score big here, but larger sizes are well represented, too. And what a selection: very right-now alligator pumps, eighties-are-back heels in colors we never thought we’d wear again (but we are!), festive silver numbers, sixties-groovy kelly-green flats, even over-the-knee gold-lamé boots. All priced from $28 to $105 and waiting for a girl who loves shoes.