Half the reason I ordered Ann Taylor‘s “Perfect Flats” was a spiteful attempt to find a way in which they are not, in fact, “Perfect.” But I needed new black flats and didn’t want to spend $500 to replace my Lanvin regulars as they became increasingly less wearable, though I assumed the $98 Ann Taylor substitutes would be nothing but a short-lived band-aid on the problem. As it turns out, I was wrong. Not only do they look good — far better, in fact, than their picture — the leather is soft, the sole padded and the toe cleavage perfectly balanced. If this is what Ann Taylor’s new designer and sleeker approach is going to look like all the time, consider us interested. [$98, Ann Taylor]
