Critical Shopping

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This week, Jon Caramanica visits Soho's brand-new boot emporium Fiorentini & Baker. He suspects the store might offer solace to fashion week attendees who feel obliged to tiptoe through the snow and ice in six-inch heels, but when he arrives, he realizes that it has one major drawback: All the boots look the same. They're all flat, slouchy, and artfully distressed—the only difference is in the number of buckles (three, four, or five.) Writes Caramanica: "The style is anonymous, more in keeping with how men wear shoes, which may be connected to the fact that, even though the women’s line has gained more traction, Fiorentini + Baker began as a men’s line." [NYT]