A lot of women have an extensive shoe collection, building up a wardrobe of party-perfect heels, winter-ready boots and everyday flats over the years. Yet some are not content with a budget buy from the high street — they’re prepared to spend literally millions on a single pair of shoes!
Debbie Wingham’s gold heels
As the designer of the world’s most expensive dress, we wouldn’t expect anything less than a show-stopping pair of shoes.
These heels were crafted with the finest materials and came with a steep price-tag of £11.4 million ($15.1 million). The heels were made using super-soft leather painted in 24-carat gold paint and sewn together with 18-carat gold thread.
Embellished with rare pink and blue diamonds — worth £980,000 — the shoes are also decorated with four, three-carat white diamonds and trimmed with 1,000 pointer diamonds. For an extra special touch, each diamond is set in platinum while the zip is made from solid gold.
Dorothy’s ruby slippers
These shoes are recognised worldwide, yet they started life as part of a movie costume. Judy Garland’s ruby red slippers, as worn in The Wizard of Oz 1939 film, are part of film and fashion history — so it’s not surprising they’re some of the world’s most valued footwear.
Between seven and ten pairs of ruby slippers were created for the movie! Nowadays, each is highly sought-after — so much so that one pair was stolen! One pair was due to be sold at auction for a guide price of $2-$3 million but the pair didn’t actually sell at auction. Leonardo DiCaprio, Steven Spielberg and other unknown donors chipped together to purchase the shoes for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures before the auction went ahead. However, in 2011, a pair was sold for an eye-watering $612,000!
How did the shoes get so sparkly? This was achieved from red dye and sequinned netting. In 1989, in honour of The Wizard of Oz’s 50 th anniversary, designer Ronald Winston created a replicate pair of the iconic shoes, but swapped the sequins for 4,600 rubies totalling 1,350 carats. A further 50 carats of diamonds were included, bringing the total value to $3 million!
Stuart Wietzman’s expensive designs
It’s well-known that Stuart Weitzman only works with the finest of materials. Over the years, he has created a fabulous selection of dazzling heels — all of which come with a hefty price tag!
At the 2004 Oscars, singer Alison Krauss wore a pair of Cinderella-inspired heels. Complete with a four-inch clear heel to create the ultimate ‘glass slipper’, the shoes featured an intricate lace design made out of 565 Kwiat diamonds, each set in platinum, no less. Topping off the extravagant design was a five-carat amaretto diamond worth over a million dollars on its own!
And, in 2006, Weitzman blinged out a pair of shoes for Kathleen “Bird” York. Gemstone detailing on the toes had been added through a pair of earrings once owned by Rita Hayworth featuring sapphires, diamonds and rubies. They’re worth a total of $3 million!
Bicion and Mache’s trainers
The super-rich need shoes for relaxing in too. Back in 2016, Bicion and Mache Custom Kicks joined forces to create the world’s most blinged out sneaker — worth £2.7 million ($4 million).
They were inspired by the Chinese New Year. ‘The Fire Monkey’ sneakers feature a chrysanthemum pattern made using hundreds of white diamonds and blue sapphires, each set in 18-carat gold. If that wasn’t enough to justify the shoes’ sizable price tag, the shoes have a solid gold tag and are presented in a custom display case which — you guessed it — has an 18-carat gold base.
These shoes are for the greater good too. They were created to support Soles4Souls, a charity committed to fighting poverty through the distribution of clothing and shoes globally.
Josefinas Blue Persian Salt flats
These shoes were crowned the world’s most expensive ballet flats. The Josefinas Blue Persian Salt flats weighed in at $4,000 dollars in 2015. The shoes are part of the designer’s 1001 Nights collection.
They might look ordinary at an initial glance. However, on closer inspection, you’ll see a simple jewelled pendant embellishment, made using gold and blue topazes by expert Portuguese jewellers.
Which of these shoes would match in with your shoe collection?
This article was brought to you by QUIZ, retailers of plus size tops.
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