The best way to make any outfit pop? A fab pair of shoes, of course! The second best way? Consider an eye-opening scarf! The best news is it’s not an either/or choice—in fact, we highly recommend both/and, i.e. great shoes, boots, or sandals AND a sensational scarf!

With the mercury on the rise, we’ve stocked up on lightweight cotton and linen scarves for the summer season. They’re airy enough for daytime wear but also ward off the chill after the sun sets. Let’s take a look!

The sunniest of our many sunny scarves is Epice’s Girasole Scarf:

It’s as if Epice took the spirit of a bright June morning and wove it into soft cotton to yield this featherweight confection!

If you lean away from florals and more toward bold geometrics, Epice’s super-chic Moderno Scarf may have your name on it:

Perfect for you Ped fans who love all things black, this scarf, which is wide enough to wear as a shawl, is a luxe blend of cotton and linen! (But if you want a juicy dose of color, we also offer the Moderno in a vivid green, which I love!)

Another wrap that dazzles with geometric abstraction is Sophie Digard’s Dream Scarf:

Truly a work of art, this 100% linen scarf is absolutely mesmerizing with its spirals within squares and tiny flower-like suns, all laid out in successive horizontal bands of color along the length of the scarf! Fantastic!

One of the many reasons we love Sophie Digard is her sense of whimsy, which is on beautiful display in the Puzzle Scarf:

We particularly like the unusual edge created by the interlocking puzzle pieces’ shapes, as well as the little open windows scattered across this linen masterpiece! Get ready for a lot of scarf envy!

On days when even a light scarf might seem like too much to wear, you cans still put on the charms of Sophie Digard, by slipping her Petal Necklace around your neck:

A garland of fun! Each linen and velvet crocheted flower on the necklace has a split personality (in the best kind of way) since the back and front offer two different color schemes.

Of course, this is just a taste of our textile delights. There’s more lightweight loveliness to feast your eyes on over at Ped’s main site! Entwine your neck with an airy scarf or necklace, and wrap up your summer style!

(Any one of the beauties above would look fantastic with this week’s Sweet Treat, the Cliff Dweller Emma sandal! Just click “be sweet to your feet” at the bottom of the box on the left of most Ped pages to land at the Emma with the “Sweet Treat” designation. Then pop the sandal in your bag to get 20% off at checkout!)

Ped fans, have you taken a gander at all the beautiful socks we’ve recently received from Antipast and Bonne Maison? They are really something this season!

We realize embracing the socks-with-sandals trend is a stretch for many of you, but these sock-tastic designs really deserve to be seen! Plus we love the vintage sweetness of the look!

So without further ado, here are several ways to give your saucy socks air time!

The Argila Rosa is a lovely and understated neutral sandal on its own, but add some striped socks and KAPOW! Suddenly, it’s no longer shy but still oh-so chic!

We love the Rosa with both Bonne Maison’s Calm Stripe Socks in Grey/Khaki and Antipast’s Beach Stripe Socks in Ivory! Talk about pizzazz!

One of the prettiest shoes in the Ped house this season is Chie Mihara’s Amor. Why not take its femininity in a whimsical direction by adding even more flowers?

Bonne Maison’s Brocade Socks in Geranium Red offer a whimsical way to take the Amor‘s sexiness in a new direction! (The green toe is especially fun peeking out from under the Amor‘s rosette.)

Another unabashedly sexy sandal is the Coclico Shae. Give it a different twist by wearing it with Antipast’s Bubble Socks in Khaki, or go for full-on fun by pairing it with Bonne Maison’s Flamingo Socks in Honey.

Everyone will admire your bold style (and wish they knew how to look so edgy and cool)!

If you prefer wearing socks with a closed toe flat, but still want to show off, here are a couple of ideas for jazzing up the Cydwoq South!

If you’re feeling sweet and girly, tie up the South over Antipast’s Bouquet Sock in Beige. Feeling bolder? Then make it a luau with Antipast’s Lei socks in Beige!

Another skip-around-town style that looks terrific both barefoot and with socks is Fiorentini+Baker’s Leda clog!

Add Antipast’s Bubble Socks in Blue, and it instantly gets a jolt of juice! The bubbles look great effervescing through the Leda’s star-shaped cutout!

Many other possibilities for sassing up sandals with socks await you at Ped’s main site. So open your mind to summery socks with sandals and frocks!

Ped fans, it has been quite a while since I’ve gotten swept away by a new line! But off my heart went when I discovered Bonne Maison at the Paris Accessories show last March! Truly, love at first sight!

French for “good home,” Bonne Maison offers socks that give your toes a beautiful place to live! Using the finest Egyptian cotton, spun and dyed in Italy, Bonne Maison creates the loveliest patterns to liven up your legs, all produced in a small family-owned factory in France. Here are a couple photos to give you an idea of their headquarters:

A worker overseeing a Bonne Maison knitting machine. (Image courtesy of Bonne Maison.)

Beautiful yarns about to become beautiful socks. (Photo courtesy of Bonne Maison.)

Ready to see the textile wizardry worked by these machines? Get ready to ooh and aah!

The way to get any day off to a good start is to put on Bonne Maison’s Colorful Bird socks. Talk about an instant pick-me-up!

Perhaps you’re more inclined toward geometric rather than representative patterns? Check out these sweet Peas socks:

Bold and fun, these dot-a-rific socks are easy to wear with almost anything!

“Flowers, give me flowers,” you say? Done and in the prettiest way:

The pattern and colors of these Autumn Flower Knee Highs are soooooo luscious! (Don’t be surprised when you find yourself building outfits around your socks!)

Ped fans, you know how much we love a good stripe! Bonne Maison clearly has our number:

Bonne Maison calls these Calm Stripe socks, and although they’re understated and soothing, they still have just the right zest! We adore the contrasting toe, heel, and top band!

We’ve saved our favorite pattern for last. Who can resist the charm of Bonne Maison’s Rabbit Knee High?

Every time we look at the tiny bunnies hopping amid the flowers, we go weak in the knees! Sweet for your feet, indeed!

Such soulful homes for your deserving soles! You may find yourself living in beautiful Bonne Maison.

Photo courtesy of Bonne Maison.

(Yes, we DO have the fantastic Diamond Socks pictured above—now you just need some lemons to accessorize…)

(As long as we’re making parenthetical statements, you still have a couple days left to snag this week’s Sweet Treat, the chic and edgy Coclico Tecla! Just click “be sweet to your feet” at the bottom of the box on the left of most Ped pages to land at the Tecla with the discount 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!

Did you see this New York Times article about the versatility of scarves? Apparently, stylists and trendsetters have suddenly discovered the myriad ways a beautiful scarf can rework a wardrobe—something Ped fans have known for years! The NYT may have declared the scarf the “IT” item of the season, but an exquisite scarf is timeless and will never go out of style. Many families pass them down from grandmother to mother to daughter.

Whether you’re new to scarves or a connoisseur, you’ll recognize Ped’s are delightfully different and true works of art. We’ve recently added a few new designs to let you wrap up summer in style!

Printed scarves my be pretty, but they can’t compare to the luxury and beauty of a loomed textile, where the pattern is actually woven into the fabric! Epice excels in just this area, hiring the most highly skilled and respected weavers in India to produce their designs. One of our summer favorites at Ped HQ is Epice’s Toulouse Scarf:

A tad smaller than Epice’s Rose Garden scarf, the Toulouse is still wide enough to wear as a shawl when you need just a little something on your shoulders. We love the “latte” color palette shown here, but this beauty also blooms in terracotta and marigold yellow.

Another pretty floral that will complement so many things in your closet is Epice’s Monte Carlo Scarf:

So light and soft, this all-cotton lovely is a luxury you’ll find yourself wearing every day. (Think beach pareo, think sarong, think sash…) Aqua not your favorite? We also have it in juicy lime green and dreamy lilac!

If you’re a Ped regular, you know how much we love stripes! So, Epice’s Avignon Scarf is right up our alley:

The combination of linen and cotton make this striped treat the perfect weight for warm-weather wear. We think the aqua / mocha combo pictured looks so fresh, but the Avignon in rose /mustard/ mocha is equally beautiful!

Another stripe-tastic creation from Epice is the gorgeous Chamonix Scarf:

Whereas the Avignon’s understated stripes run vertically, the Chamonix’s bolder stripes are arranged horizontally. Also available in a black / brown / blue palette, this sweetheart just happens to be the “Sweet Treat” through tomorrow, Tuesday, July 11. Just click “be sweet to your feet” in the upper right corner of any Ped page to reach the Chamonix with the discount code that will bring 20% off at checkout!

Speaking of deals, we recently added Sophie Digard’s wonderful Love & Chance Scarf to the Ped Summer Sale:

Sophie has scattered a beautifully loomed linen background with 85 hand-sewn velvet flowers—so pretty on a hot summer day! This Sophie Digard treasure also comes in fresh grass green. A labor of love well worth the original price of $398, it’s as refreshing as a glass of lemonade at $299.

Perfect for wearing to a garden party or wrapping around your shoulders during an al fresco dinner, Epice and Sophie Digard scarves are the summer romance your wardrobe has wished for!