Okay, so I hate leopard print. Always have. I hate it upholstered onto couches, I hate it on lampshades, I don’t like it on coats. It’s ugly. I don’t like tiger stripe either, and zebra is very, very iffy. I am, however, completely cool with tortoiseshell, as it is very chic, but I never find it on anything besides sunglasses. But the point is, 98% of the time animal prints are bad.

Except…

This season, leopard print seems to be working. When used in very small quantites to accessorize an otherwise perfect outfit, such as :

A ruffled black cocktail dress,

a killer red dress with trench,

or a black and white combo with fierce belt,

leopard print shoes can add just the right amount of pizzazz. I actually found an adorable pair of platform peep toes at Payless Shoe Source, and they were on sale for $11! Had they been half a size larger, I would have brought them home, but alas, they were too short. Which is probably a good thing, because I’m pretty sure this is just temporary insanity on my part, and one day I’m going to wake up and hate animal prints with my former fervor.

But for now, leopard print works for shoes. Also for sexy hipster panties if you’re built like Adriana Lima or have oodles of confidence.