Il Primo Passo

Don't admit to having a "problem." Instead, the first step—ahem, il primo passo—is accepting the fact that you get weak in the knees for pretty, pretty shoes. Step two: March into this Montana Avenue boutique and get inappropriately turned on by Christian Lacroix pumps (oh...) and strappy Celine heels (yeah...right there). In this bright shoe Shangri-la, adorned with baby-blue walls and black Venetian glass chandeliers, Santa Monica-appropriate flats are abundant but not plain; baubles, beadings and bows make every pair worth being displayed on a bed of pearls. (But only a select few actually are.) Behind the dividing wall—here's where the addicts are hiding and trying!—is a blue suede couch where feet in Barbara Bui stilettos are ogled. See, in that giant mirror, how they complement a 3.1 Philip Lim handbag and a too-stylish necklace from Diane Broussard? Hardcover books from hardcore fashion powerhouses like Tom Ford andVogue may just seem like decorative props, but we think they're the kind of "sponsors" that Il Primo Passo's shoe addicts can always count on. —Lien Ta

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