^ The point of a closed shoe isn't to hide your feet, it's to protect your feet from cold, dirt, wet, etc. The fact that closed shoes are also a form of fashion statement is besides the point, but I don't think most people wear them to hide their toes.
I actually love SJP for wearing those for the sheer fact that she clearly didn't care whether or not people would think they're ugly. I think a lot of posts in this thread have blurred the line between ugly and strange so thoroughly that they now mean the same thing.