Avant-Garde High Heels from the early 2000s Forgotten Shoe Street of NYC

Eighth Street in downtown New York City used to be the Shoe Street. Stores on Eighth Street carried the kind of shoes you couldn’t find on Fifth Avenue. Besides, many of them were even more expensive than the ones sold on Fifth Avenue.

A lot of the stores on Eighth Street specialized in Italian and American brands that were very sexy. Some of those pairs were too sexy, which made them look cheesy and cheap even though they were not inexpensive. Eighth Street was also the popular shoe shopping area among affluent strippers. I have never been a stripper, but it was a known fact.

Santini Mavardi from 2000

Santini Mavardi sandals I bought from a select shoe store on Eighth Street, NYC in the year 2000.

Santini Mavardi had a lot of square-toe shoes and plexiglas heels. I don’t think I’m ready to wear square-toe sandals again yet, but I’m going to archive these for a few more years and see if I can wear them again instead of donating them. 

I’m keeping them because these sandals were anatomically super correct. They hugged the right bones at the right spots which made them so comfortable. I’m not sure if Santini Mavardi is still in business. If they were, I’m sure that they would design some nice shoes that are beautifully wearable in 2019, and comfortable at the same time.

Sky from 2000

I got these Sky shoes in 2000 from a select shoe shop on Eighth Street in New York City. Sky shoes were it. The rapper Eve also mentioned them in one of her joints around that time. Do any of you remember which song that was?

Sadly, the company seems to have been closed. There’s no trace of the brand anywhere on Google. Is that possible? But that’s what’s happening. We realize sometimes that not everything is on Google, and some facts are not recorded. At the shoe stores on Eighth Street, Christian Louboutin, Santini Mavardi, and Giuseppe Zanotti were often grouped and displayed together with Sky shoes.

Sonia Rykiel from 2003

A few blocks down from the Eighth Street, there was the sophisticated avant-garde West Broadway shopping area that didn’t have neither Eighth Street’s cheesiness nor Fifth Avenue’s old-fashioned madame-chic vibe.

I bought these Sonia Rykiel sandals from a select shoe store on the east side of West Broadway by Spring Street in 2003. Many said that they looked like bananas, and they do! The French design house Sonia Rykiel certainly still exists today.

I often bought shoes first, then I made an outfit to go with them. I made a late-19th-century-style corset with yellow twill to go with these sandals.

I never had to spend money on clothes because I had already started making all of my clothes at the time in the early 2000s. So I used to spend most of my disposable income on nice shoes after paying all of my bills including $750 rent for one-bed-room apartment. As a salesperson at Fendi on Fifth Avenue, my pay was $15 an hour plus commission at the time, and that was the average in the area.

I wouldn’t spend money just like that anymore. I would have put the money towards an IRA first if I was smarter. But I was very young at the time and shoes and sneakers were more of a priority for me then. Nevertheless, I’m glad that I chose the shoes I can still love in 2019. Besides, I’m delighted to share the photos and the stories of these forgotten shoes with you.