Happy Monday! I had a fun weekend and I hope everyone else did too. (Looks like Meagan had a great time at Barney’s!) What, you may ask, was I up to this weekend? Well, last night my band played a show with one of my favorite local acts, an amazing (almost) all-girl band with incredible songs and - to keep on topic with the LatestBeauty m.o. - an equally incredible sense of style. I was particularly struck by their awesome taste in footwear: Sassy yet elegant, unexpected yet pretty. And who makes these covetable shoes? After grilling the lead singer/guitarist for details, I uncovered the name of my new favorite shoe company: Jeffrey Campbell. Here are a few of my favorite styles:

These are the heels that the singer/guitarist was rocking last night. I absolutely love the wrap-around ankle strap with oversized buckle, the rounded toe and the soft look of the leather. I’m not entirely sure (it was a little dark in the club!), but it looked like the pair she was wearing were a lovely shade of violet.

The drummer also caught my eye with a pair of mid-calf flat gladiator sandals, similar to this pair. I love the effect of the multiple straps running up the leg and, again, the buckles. The best thing about a bold pair of sandals like this is that you can wear them with something extremely casual, like a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, and you really look like you’re making a Big Fashion Statement without putting forth too much effort. I mean, you could throw on a pair of flip-flops from the drugstore, or you could wear these - the choice is obvious, right?

Now here’s a pair that I didn’t see modeled on any of the ladies last night, but I did fall in love with them while browsing through Jeffrey Campbell’s other styles. Such an interesting twist on the Mary Jane! I’ve truly never seen anything like it:The strap goes over the foot and then under the shoe in order to button on the side. Shoe lovers know that it’s all about the detailing, and I think Jeffrey Campbell really has that in spades.

So what have we learned from this? First of all, you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars for really remarkable footwear (these pairs are all available for less than $100). Second, support your local music scene! There are tons of great bands that you can see any night of the week, and the cover charge is usually less than 10 bucks - that is, when it’s not free - which means that you can see an incredible show for a fraction of the cost of what you would pay for a big touring band. Plus, when you see a local band and someone is wearing something fabulous, you can walk right up and ask them where they got it after their set. Try doing that with yer Shirley Mansons or Gwen Stefanis. Which brings us to our third lesson: If you see someone wearing something you love, don’t be afraid to ask them where they found it. That’s how fashion discoveries are made!