Protect Thy Shins...

I was checking out The Cobra Snake earlier this weekend and spotted a strange new trend that makes me feel in all kinds of ways: the fashion shinguard.

Seen most frequently protecting the knobby knees of soccer obsessed teen boys across the country, this curious new trend has claimed the style and put a high-fashion spin on it. Designers such as Balenciaga, Marithe Francois Girbaud, and Jean Paul Gaultier use snakeskin, woven leathers, and stripes to craft the protective gear in various sillhouettes. While some verions are traditional in shape and size, others are smaller in size or more creative in shape. The look can be seen as an evolution of the knee-high gladiator sandals that a few fashonistas were rockin this summer (check up on Mary Kate Olsen in Chanel), just less constraining. With the option of slipping the shinguard on to match a variety of shoes-- in fact, one of the posts I saw on The Cobra Snake featured a girl who matched her pair of basic white keds to some shinguards--these seem like a more cost-effective version of the soaring sandals.

Initially, I thought this look was CRAZY! If I wanted to rock shinguards, I'd sign up for the soccer league and buy a pair at sportsmart, not spend ten times the price on them! Plus, they make you look weird!

But then I saw everyone's favorite Princess, Rhi-Rhi, in a Balenciaga pair on an appearance at 106 and Park.

They kind of looked really spiffy to me now! Could I just have been swayed by my Rhi-Rhi style crush? I had to do more research...

A more extensive search came up with Posso the Spat's "The Preacher", featured on Trend de la Creme, made me even more excited.



I love the height, and the way that it can accentuate everything from black kicks, to cute flats, to funky heels. The black kind of makes it a weird basic, but the snakeskin allows it to stand out (at least more than shinguards regularly do anyways). I went from being disturbed by this trend to liking it! It's a fun accessory that will most def take an outfit from boring to avante garde with very little effort, and no pain! No killer heels (unless you're loca enough to rock those on your own) or blister forming pumps involved-- you choose the shoes and the result is a chic outfit. I could see myself strapping these on with some shorts and a beat up vintage tee and not looking all that crazy...







But I generally look crazy on the regular and don't mind it, so I could be wrong... any thoughts?






(Thanks to Stylelist and Trend de La Creme for images!)