Like many hetero guys, Russell Jones liked what he saw in Stella McCartney’s black faux leather thigh-high boots from her Fall 2009 collection. The leatherwork was pierced from ankle to quad in sinuous wave and tribal details, allowing the slender stems of a lithe runway model to peek through. The boots looked more like painted-on leggings than armor-like footwear. But despite what some might think, Jones wasn’t as smitten with the obvious sex appeal of the style as he was with their likeness to a fashion contained within his own closet: wing tip shoes.

Jones owns a collection of the oxfords oftentimes outlined with small, perforated holes, and was reminded of them by the drilled-hole effects in the McCartney kicks. So he created a series of bangle and cuff bracelets as an homage. One cuff is black rhodium-plated silver, one cuff is sterling, another is gold-plated bronze, and a final style is a sterling bangle. His first number, the black one, was made to mimic the exact effect of the McCartney boots. “Her leggings were black and I wanted to do an oxidized cuff so the dark metal against the pale skin would look great,” Jones explained to JCK this week. “I am translating my favorite shoe design into metal.”

When the pieces were unveiled, Jones was immediately rewarded with editorial from Gotham, among other consumer books, and now he’s geared up to further expand the selection of hand-drilled styles. “I am totally inspired to revisit this collection!” he exclaims. And McCartney’s boots? Without a doubt, they deserve another season of wear.

Wing Tip bangles in sterling silver; $190–$390 depending on size

Large oxidized silver Wing Tip cuff; $750

JCK