Vivienne Westwood's Iconic Shoes

You have to love Vivienne Westwood. Excuse me, I meant Dame Vivienne Westwood, as she was made a dame in 2006 by the Prince of Wales in classic Vivienne fashion (she accepted the honour wearing no underwear and sporting a pair of silver horns).

Anti-establishment, imaginative, innovative, a little crazy - Vivienne Westwood is a fashion force to be reckoned with.

In an age where there's so little fun in fashion, Vivienne Westwood manages to come up with crazy designs such as winged platforms and foot-shaped shoes. And the surprising thing is, people love them. Or maybe it's not so surprising, seeing as our collective thirst for a little uniqueness, a little avant-garde, has led to the birth and subsequent popularity of Lady Gaga and other acts that capitalize on their outrageousness.

Dame Vivienne Westwood was a former punk rocker who made her start in the fashion world as the designer and part-owner of a punk clothing boutique on King's Road. Initially called Let It Rock, then changed to Sex, then changed once again to Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die, one more time to Seditionaries, and finally, World's End, the boutique sold bondage-inspired clothing of Westwood's own design. The one-time schoolteacher's designs were then primarily influenced by punk, and she helped turn the humble safety pin into a must-have fashion accessory for punks, bikers, and members of other sub-cultures.

You can still see the punk influence in Westwood's designs today, in their utter disregard for convention. You would think that her shoe creations are too quirky to be wearable, but celebrities are frequently spotted wearing them. Kate Moss and Sienna Miller are just two of the celebrities who love Vivienne Westwood pirate boots.

At £350.00, Vivienne Westwood pirate boots are not cheap. However, you could argue that what you're paying for isn't just a pair of shoes, but a wearable work of art. Her pirate boots, with grey suede uppers and 100 percent leather soles, are the most popular shoe style that Vivienne Westwood has yet produced.

Vivienne Westwood's shoes run the gamut from whimsical to biker-tough to quirky or a combination of all three. Case in point, her black Anglomania Wing II rocking horse shoes, made of PVC, and features ankle straps adorned with outstretched angel wings. The result: equal parts whimsy and gothic sex appeal.