Really, Cate? Wookie shoes?

At first blush, not so bad, right?

At last night's New York City premiere of her new film, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, the lovely Cate Blanchett showed up with a head of beautiful hair, a face of beautifully-applied makeup, a beautiful, fitted black textured-bodice silk Rodarte sheath with subtle waist cinch and not-so-subtle-but-so-very-my-taste shoulder adornment, and even managed to remember to rock a not-too-posed posture -- a real rarity these days on the red - er, black/tan geometric - carpet.

But let's take a closer look, shall we, at Ms. Blanchett's lower half:


I know, I don't quite know what to say, either.

I put up with this, tried to get on board for this, felt confused when you chose to wear a marginally more acceptable version of these with this, but these, Cate, these are just unacceptable. So unacceptable that I'm not even inclined to look up the designer responsible for their existence (okay fine, I still did - they're Roger Vivier) or even to proffer a complaint about the church-goer-edness of your sheer black hose, which, next to your hairy feet, actually serves as a much-needed respite.

Just like witnessing the emasculation of a man you once respected, someone you once looked at and thought, "Now that's a man," seeing Cate go through such successive style stumbles is a painful, painful experience.

Because while he might not be much more than his behavior reflected today, Cate, you, without doubt, certainly are.

So after you pitch the Wookie shoes, would you mind stepping it back up to somewhere between Oscar Night '05 and Babel premiere '06? K'thanx.