6 shoes; A playful pair is the most potent form of fashion expression.

I am a boot-buying freak!" declares Lisa Maas (41, public-relations president, Royal Oak, Michigan). "I love the slouchy Chloe boot this fall, and the Chanel over-the-knee boots-and I would wear them to the office! If I am not doing a boot, it is usually a platform sole; I like the height and the clunkiness. I have my eye on the YSL platform loafers."

This paean to the pleasures of the directional shoe is something that women everywhere identify with. The general idea is this: "If a trend debuts and I love it," says Alli Beckett (31, party planner, Boston), "I will incorporate it through my accessories." Right now, assimilating trends "through accessories" means buying into exotic skins, rich fabrics, and strong but not showy colors. Kelli Kickerillo (24, real estate VP, Houston) explained her modus operandi like this: "I tend to stick to basic clothes, and then indulge in shoe trends"; she has been known to wear her "crazy-tall Louboutin wedges" to sales meetings.

The demure pump with a practical heel, so popular in the Working Girl years, obviously went the way of the dinosaur in the stiletto-mad late nineties. But what are we wearing now that stilettos are starting to wane?

There are plenty of converts to the ...