When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Don Alaïa

The threat of a full-bore '80s revival can give one pause, but it also summons visions of powerful women wearing Azzedine Alaïa, one true bright spot–a fashion lodestar, in fact, still radiating brilliance–in an era that now seems light years away. A recent dash through the racks at Bergdorf Goodman saw my beautiful 23-year-old shopping companion literally stopped in her tracks by an Alaïa dress and swoon-inducing shoes. This brought to mind Suzy Gershman's Moscow Rule of Shopping, from Born to Shop. It was written before Russia joined the global marketplace, but the advice is sound:

The Moscow Rule of Shopping is one of my most basic shopping rules. Average
shoppers...want to see everything available, then return for the purchase of choice. However, if you live in Russia...you must buy something the minute you see it,
[or] it will be gone. Hence this international law: the Moscow Rule of
Shopping. Buy it when you see it, understanding that you may never see it again.

Alaïa is a notoriously contrary designer: he doesn't court the fashion press, he doesn't advertise (other than dressing some of the world's most beautiful models) and his shipments to retailers are haphazard, at best. Savvy women who stumble across his creations tend to snap them up, knowing they won't have a second chance. These shoes are at Browns, London (online, too). But hurry: She who hesitates is lost.