Brrrr! Ped fans, in the ominous words of Game of Thrones, “Winter is coming.”

But you know what? Now that we’ve added the beautiful Scottish woollies of Ben Alder to Ped’s lineup, we’re looking forward to chilly days! 

Named for the highest mountain in the Scottish Highlands, Ben Alder began in 1991, when Sergio Beccuti, an italian knitwear designer fascinated by all things Scots, decided to travel through the villages of Scotland in search of ways to combine his Italian taste in fashion with the native Scottish colors, patterns, and smells he’d come to love. His goal was and still is to work with traditional looms and small factories, and to knit goods using only the purest new wool.

When we discovered Ben Alder at the Paris Accessories Show last year, we fell madly in love with the quality of the virgin wool and the zesty striped patterns. It takes a lot to turn our heads (our standards are high—probably even higher than Ben Alder’s namesake!), so you know these scarves and gloves are truly something special! 

So get your stripes on for the frosty days ahead! The weather outside is frightful delightful!

Ped fans, you know we are all about beautiful, fun, artistic and comfortable shoes, but style cannot live on shoes alone. It needs a few other items to make it zing—like zesty socks or an eye-opening scarf or the perfect bag!

We’ve already introduced you to our fresh line of Bon Homme socks, but we have new goods in the Ped house from Antipast, Epice, Sophie Digard, and Trippen, too, to amp up your flair as the temperature drops. Let’s take a look!

As always, Emiko and Junko at Antipast have made it easy to walk through fall and winter with a smile, thanks to their always-fun sock designs! Even if you’re not quite ready for snow yet, who can resist Antipast’s Snowball socks?

We love the shift in color and dot size from top to bottom!

Snow also inspires  the charm of Antipast’s Winter Skier Socks:

These sweethearts have everything we like: stripes, dots, colors, and a fun narrative! Prefer your socks longer? You’re in luck because we also have Winter Skier Knee Highs!

On the other hand, maybe you’d rather have your woolies remind you of warmer days, in which case the Antipast Spangle Knee Highs are singing your song:

Birds, beasts, and blooms—it doesn’t get any better than these beauties! By the way, we also have trouser-length Spangle Socks.

Now that your toes are toasty, let’s sample a few lovely ways to bedeck your neck! When it comes to exquisitely loomed textiles, Epice has our hearts! The new Licorice Scarf  is the sweetest way to spice up an overcast day:

A solid-color wool coat becomes infinitely more interesting when you add a lick of Licorice!

If you prefer to keep cozy in a more understated way, perhaps Epice’s Lunares Scarf will light up your sky:

Luminous ivory moons dot the charcoal background, all sweetly bordered by ivory and periwinkle stripes. (We also have offer this woolen beauty in royal blue with golden lunettes.)

Sophie Digard also has moons on her mind this season! Bask in the dazzling glow of her Velvet Lune Scarf:

Soft velvet moons shine from within hundreds of hand-crocheted merino wool squares! Your fans will be starstruck when you wrap this gorgeous scarf around your neck!

Another multi-textured masterpiece is the Sophie Digard Manouche Scarf:

Velvet and wool squares of all sizes mix it up in this wearable work of art!

Perhaps our favorite of the new Sophie Digard scarves, though, is the Cercle Pop Scarf:

We adore the fresh colors of this crocheted mosaic of joy, guaranteed to make winter days a lot more fun!

Your ankles are covered, and your neck is nice and warm, so all that’s left is to find a stylish way to carry your essentials! Happily, the genius German shoemakers at Trippen have now ventured into designing fantastic bags! Need to haul a lot? Check out the spacious Trippen Claudia Bag:

You can tell how buttery the leather is just by looking at it! Choose either the black version of the Claudia pictured here or the equally beautiful and versatile brown version.

Need to carry a little less? Then sling the Trippen Carola Bag over your shoulder:

We love this boxy little bag—so streamlined and modern!

Of course, there’s still more to see over at Ped’s main site. So rise up and accessorize—it’s the easy way to add soul to your soles!

(Psst, the Sweet Treat this week is the Argila Madrid boot. Let your inner cowgirl kick up her heels by clicking “be sweet to your feet” at the bottom of the box on the left of most Ped pages, which will take you to the Madrid’s page, where you will find a magic code that will bring 20% off at checkout! Yee-ha!)

Ped fans, we are loving the current emphasis on COLOR—all the new shoe hues have the Ped warehouse looking bright and lively! It’s amazing how an infusion of color makes the daily grind less grind-like and more like a party.

Quite a few of you, though, are mystified by how to work the new shades into your wardrobe. It’s easier than you think! You simply need  to realize things don’t have to match as long as they “go.” In fact, matching too precisely can make an outfit look “twee,” as the British say. (Laura says a friend of hers calls it the “flight attendant look.”)

You’ve also told us you worry that you’ll only wear colorful shoes once in a while, with one specific thing. To demonstrate the versatility of some of our more show-stopping shoes, we’ve incorporated them into not one but two outfits, often quite different in tone and purpose, to help spark your imagination. Let’s take a tour, and along the way, we’ll offer a few colorful tips.

First up, the Trippen Calexico:

This fun boot offers a lot more options than simply wearing it with jeans! We love the Calexico with the easy day look on the left, but it can even go after-five when paired with the dress on the right. We’ve also included Jamie Joseph’s Round Rock Crystal Ring since it looks stellar with the white in both the top and the dress.

Another shoe that’s more than simply casual is the Cydwoq Lodge:

Sure, it’s great for weekend apple-picking in the outfit on the left, but look at the chic edge the Lodge gives the argyle sheath dress on the right! The Cydwoq Bright Bag also easily transitions from brunch casual to workweek sleek. OD-ing on all that red? Simply add the Epice Plaza Scarf to change the flavor!

Perhaps your personal style trends toward conservative, and although you like to browse at Ped, you can’t imagine how you’d incorporate a colorful style into your wardrobe. The answer is to let a shoe, like the Cydwoq Larkspur, punctuate your outfit, like a great piece of jewelry.

What a way to jazz up a suit!

Chie Mihara’s Tunisia is a shoe that immediately produces oohs and aahs, but the unusual color and patterned heel mistakenly lead people to think it might be hard to pair.

The key is not to worry about matching the color and instead simply let it “go.” The Tunisia‘s checkerboard heel echoes the black and white photo on the dress on the left and complements the variety of patterns in the skirt on the right. Since the shoe and clothes are doing the heavy lifting style-wise, it’s nice to go with a simple bag, like the Cydwoq Bright.

Sometimes it’s not just the color but also the cut that gives Ped fans pause when they think about how to wear a design. Case in point, the Trippen Drama boot:

A couple options: 1) contrast the Drama‘s fabulous flared top with simple straight lines up top, such as wearing it with a pencil skirt and streamlined top; or 2) let its shape play up the lines and movement of a flirty A-line dress. We tossed in Jamie Joseph’s round carnelian ring for a little extra red zing!

If you approach dressing with a sense of adventure, it won’t matter an iota if you don’t own anything blue to wear with the Trippen Tender:

When you want to reference the color of your shoe, accessories can work that magic. We like the contrast of the floral of the skirt on the left with Epice’s Baya Scarf, which includes a periwinkle color that calls out to, but doesn’t match the blue of the Tender. On the right, it’s fun to mix the squares of the dress with the circles on the Epice Los Lunares Scarf.

Finally, let’s consider  Chie Mihara’s Kalendu, which is simply too juicy to miss!

You don’t have to go be a girly girl to take advantage of its delicious greenness! The Kalendu adds such fun to the workweek look on the left (again without actually matching any of the colors in the sweater) and is utterly chic with the casual jeans and top on the right. We also like Cydwoq’s Bright Bag and Jamie Joseph’s Organic Circle Earrings with both outfits.

As you’ve probably noticed, many of the shoes above work equally well with outfits paired with other shoes. We hope these ideas bolster your confidence that colorful shoes truly can be your constant companions and not just once-in-a-blue-moon friends! Life is so much more fun in color!

(Psst, you only have a few more days to snap up this week’s Sweet Treat, the Trippen Yard. Simply click “be sweet to your feet” at the bottom of the box on the left of most Ped pages to reach the Yard with the code that will bring 20% off at checkout.)

Ped fans, we know how it is. You fall in love with a pair of rockin’ shoes, sandals, or boots, but then you resist their siren call because you can’t envision what you’d wear them with—and who wants to spend money on something that’s lovely yet languishes in the closet?

Don’t despair, we’re here to help! Below, you’ll find ideas for how to wear several of our bolder designs this season. With luck, these outfits will jump-start your own creativity, and before you know it your imagination will be off and running with ways your sole desire would work with your wardrobe.

Not surprisingly, one of the most whimsical styles this season comes from Chie Mihara! Her Ingra is the essence of  “summer,” but its color palette may seem challenging at first glance. It’s actually more adaptable than you might think. Here’s one way we’d love to wear it:

This easy-going dress from Cotélac falls just above the knee, with a hint of a drop waist and a dash of 1920s pizazz, which works perfectly with the Ingra’s oxford sensibility. We’ve added Sophie Digard’s Etoiles necklace for added flapper-esque flair. Nothing here matches per se, but it all “goes” in a wonderful way! Sunday brunch, anyone?

Another Chie Mihara shoe that we adore is the Obara, with its mix of textures and colors. Don’t underestimate its versatility:

The lovely Accessoire Babeth is perfect for a night on the town, but it plays equally well as a casual day shoe:

We love the look of a wedge platform with cropped trousers—it’s the ideal antidote to frumpiness! We’re also all for mixing patterns! Combining Epice’s striped Montauk Scarf with the abstract floral of the Cotélac top creates a visual party that will have people smiling everywhere you go.

As every Ped fan knows, we advocate boots all year long, but we realize some people think boots and sundresses look a bit jeune. But they don’t have to, as illustrated by this use of Fiorentini + Baker’s Nicky Boot:

This is how to go retro-mod while still looking sexy and modern! The clean and bold lines of Cydwoq’s Bright Bag work beautifully with the dress and booties—three easy pieces for day-tripping in the city of your choice!

If your penchant for vintage runs to an earlier era, check out this idea for showing off the Vialis Zarita:

Red will always turn heads, especially when you look like a 1940s Hollywood starlet! (By the way, read this study of just how persuasive wearing red can be.) Just for fun, we’ve pushed the red envelope with Jamie Joseph’s knockout Round Carnelian Ring!

See? When you open your mind to the possibilities, every pair of Ped shoes becomes infinitely wearable! (Otherwise, we wouldn’t carry it.) The whole idea is to have fun with what you wear! Go forth and be bold with your soles!

Spring is in full bloom at Ped!!!

New VIALIS, new TRIPPEN, new  FIORENTINI + BAKER, new PEP MONJO, new CYDWOQ, new ACCESSOIRE, new ARGILA, new COCLICO,  new SOPHIE DIGARD, new EPICE, and new ANTIPAST are waiting to be picked in Ped’s beautiful garden!

Pictured above:

Left flower: Epice Boca Scarf, Vialis Alegria stem, and red Vialis Alegria and yellow Vialis Elyse blossoms.

Center flower: Sophie Digard Velvet Flower Scarf, Cydwoq Accelerate stem, and Accessoire Babeth blossom.

Right flower: Trippen Montauk Scarf, Trippen Todi stem, and Trippen Strahl blossom.

Have fun in the springtime sun!