What girl doesn’t dream about boxes of Ferragamo wedges, spindly heeled Louboutins and peep-toed Chanels?

Well, this amazing site invites shoe addicts to create their own designer stilts (from $185) customized to the client’s style and specs. You choose the fabric, style and colour, et voilà, your perfect shoe appears.

I’m all about bespoke ballerinas, and if they introduce monogrammed velvet slippers, watch me snap up a pair in every hue. —Athena Tsavliris

www.shoesofprey.com

Who remembers wearing fat, neon laces in their 14-hole Doc Martens? Fast-forward 20-years and we’re still playing with laces, only these days they’re finer and a lot less obnoxious.

Local lace shop, Stolen Riches (hat tip to the lovely ladies at Honestly WTF) has made laces ($14.50) for over four generations and is our go-to for attention grabbing threads. Think bright classics in a bunch of hues.

Maybe your heeled oxfords could use a splash of colour? I know mine could. —Athena Tsavliris

www.stolenriches.com

The difference between shoe shopping for ourselves and our little ones is that we are looking for the wow factor for ourselves, but the cute factor for our kids.

Life & Soles, a new-Vancouver based online shoe store has a huge amount of the cute factor, starting with these Native Fitzsimmons baby hiking boots. They are lightweight, waterproof, odor resistant, and absolutely adorable. The site also stocks Converse, Havaianas, and Salt Water, in mini sizes.

Now we can rest assured they are wearing something comfortable and stylish while accompanying us on our marathon shoe shopping trips.
—Alexandra Suhner Isenberg

Native Fitzsimmons hiking boots, $59.99 at www.lifeandsoles.myshopify.com

Don't miss our Editors' Diary for some tips on post-pregnancy dressing

It’s time for the little piggies to be free.

The adorable Salt Water Sandals, seen on stylish celeb kids including Suri Cruise and Matilda Ledger, are now available in Canada—and so cute we can hardly stand it.

Quality crafted in a rainbow of 14 colours from bright lime to shiny champagne, the four styles (Original, Sea Wee, Surfer and Sweetheart) range from infant to tween sizes and have a classic, European look that never goes out of style.

Even if she wants to wear them with a tutu and Dora tee. —MT

From $41 at ChloeinStyle.com and select retailers.

Hidden away in our cupboards are some dusty shoe boxes that haven’t seen the light of day since designer cobblers came into our lives.

Give your Choos a break and your cheapies a chance with ban.do’s shoe clips. A few sets could turn your discarded shoe collection into something of originality and whimsy. Pick from dainty bows, cheery pompoms or cherry red sequin hearts.

Even ordinary black pumps can be beautiful—with or without red soles.

Shop ban.do online at www.shopbando.com

Charlotte Olympia Dellal adores leopard print. She loves it so much that she wore leopard print shoes with a Giambattista Valli gown for her wedding this summer.

This cutting-edge cobbler designs shoes that stop traffic. If they’re not leopard print, they’re sparkly or stripey or made from some exotic skin. And they are always vertiginously high. A gold spider web adorns the sole of every shoe.

A globetrotting It Girl, Dellal studied at the Royal College of Fashion and Cordwainers in London and is a regular fixture in the society pages. Her sister, Alice, is a model and rock singer and her brother, Alex, is dating Charlotte Casiraghi, the granddaughter of Grace Kelly.

Shrinking violets need not apply.

At The Room at the Bay, 176 Yonge St., Toronto, 416-861-9111, www.thebay.com

They were an '80s style staple with punks and new wavers. And now, thanks in part to tastemakers like Agyness Deyn, Daisy Lowe and Alice Dellal, Dr. Martens are back on the street.

A Docs store is now open here in Toronto and boasts a wide choice (from $119) of bold colours, prints and metallics.

In the spirit of model Deyn, we’re pairing our favourite vintage sweater and skinny jeans with this pair (pictured, $170).

"My mum used to always dress me and my sister in matching Laura Ashley dresses," Deyn told Harper’s Bazaar. "And I'd be like, 'Mum, I just wanna wear my Doc Martens!'"

A girl after our own heart.

391 Queen St. W., Toronto, 416 585-9595, http://www.drmartens.com/

The "put your shoes on" tango just got a whole lot easier.

Modeled after its hip adult line, the kids Fall 2010 line of Native Shoes are super comfortable, casual and colourful (Hollywood Pink, Pencil Orange, and Gossip Purple are just a few of the punchy hues). Laceless and ultra light, we love that these too-cute sneakers are easy to slip on and off.

Well, as easy as it can be to get a 4-year-old to put his shoes on.

Kids shoes $35, Junior shoes $39; available at Young and Fabulous, 200-1700 Sprucewood Ave., Lasalle, Ontario, 519-962-8530, www.youngfabulous.com and Antisocial, 2337 Main St., Vancouver, 604-708-5678, www.antisocialshop.com

Like so many little girls, we dreamed of following in Margot Fonteyn’s footsteps. But these days we’ve ditched our pink satin pointes for ballerinas in every colour.

Chocolate Shoes in the Burroughes Building carries ballet flats ($45) in black patent, violet suede and tangerine lace, to name a few. You can even add a pompom, bow or corsage ($6) if you like.

So, if you see someone pirouetting down Queen Street, do stop and say hello.

Chocolate Shoes, 2nd Floor, 639 Queen St., Toronto, 647-558-3947, http://chocolateshoes-toronto.blogspot.com/

Picasso, Chanel, Colette – they all wore them – with a stripey sailor top, a cigarette and a suntan, no doubt. Yes, there’s something forever cool about espadrilles.

Featuring fabulous fabrics and colours, Gabriela Lanardonne’s chic espadrilles (from $130) are a must-have for summer. Now, do we pick the Greek Island inspired geometric print or the fuchsia and black soled-Poppy?

What would Coco do?

Available at www.net-a-porter.com