There’s no base like foam

For the 70th anniversary of MGM’s The Wizard of Oz — Warner Bros. and Swarovski have commissioned twenty designers to update the Ruby Slippers; the actual shoes they produce will then be auctioned off, proceeds to go to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Among the designers: Betsey Johnson, Oscar de la Renta, Diane von Fürstenberg, Manolo Blahnik (yes!) and Christian Louboutin — and Gwen Stefani, who these days has more of a rep as a fashionista than as a singer. At one level, the prospect is frightening: for all I know, there may be sparkly Crocs in the offing. Still, those slippers are as iconic as a Chanel jacket or Schiaparelli’s prototype skort; the temptation to "improve" on the original is no doubt irresistible.