Cristin shoes: the strap, the low heel and the rhinestones
A Mary Jane is a closed shoe with a strap across the instep, and it is the shape on which Cristin builds much of the collection: pointed ballet flats, square-toe models, low-heeled court shoes. The strap is not a decorative detail. It is what keeps the shoe on the foot when the upper is cut low, and it is why a flat with a strap stays put where a plain ballet flat tends to slip off at the heel. Anyone with a high instep gains the most from it, because the buckle allows an adjustment in width that a closed upper does not give.
The materials fall into three families, and they behave differently. Velvet is matte and absorbs light: it softens volume and is the most discreet choice for an evening shoe. Glossy leather does the opposite, reflecting light and visually lengthening the toe. Pony hair, that is leather with the short hair left on the surface, is what carries the animal prints, and it should be brushed in the direction of the hair and never against it. On most models the insole is leather: it absorbs the moisture of the foot and gradually takes on the shape of the wearer, making the fit more precise after the first few weeks.
On heels the collection stays largely below six centimetres, and where it rises it does so on a spool heel: wide at the base, narrow in the middle, wide again under the heel. At the same height it is a steadier solution than a stiletto, because the surface touching the ground is broader and the weight is not concentrated on a single point. That is why an ankle boot on a five-and-a-half-centimetre spool heel can be worn all day, while a stiletto of the same height is kept for a few hours.
Rhinestones run across the whole page, but not always in the same way: sometimes concentrated on a buckle or a flower, sometimes covering entire straps or the whole upper. It is a more useful criterion than colour, because it decides how much the shoe is noticed: a contained detail sits well with an already busy outfit, a fully covered surface asks for flat tones around it. To see how this selection sits within the rest of the range, the place to start is women's shoes.
