He who must not be named

As you read this, I am on my way to D.C., but I wanted to leave you with some shoes for thought.

At the height of irresponsibility is your good old shoe pal Erin. My dirty secret is that I am ridiculously messy. To the point of embarrassment -- possibly even "Hoarders". This doesn't end with my car.

So, because of this messiness, I didn't realize that a SHOE fell out of my car as I was putting stuff in it, and I proceeded to shut the door, get in, and drive away. Of course this doesn't have a happy ending. This is what I came home to:



When I told my sympathetic shoe friends I was immediately asked... "May I ask... who it was?" Who it was indeed. If you're reading this Msr. Louboutin, and are inclined to help out a sad shoe lady who is sorrowful about the loss of "Double Strapper" (a vintage style, no longer in production), I am a 37.

All things considered I am pretty impressed. I ran over this shoe. With. A. Car. For the most part it's still held together and the break is clean at the heel. I could probably get them fixed (though it might be expensive), and while not good as new, would be decent. Otherwise my plan is to turn the other shoe into a wine holder or some other crafting extravaganza.

Bon week-end

In short, my weekend was incredibly busy, but spectacular. I've still got miles to go before I sleep, but let's talk about so far. Friday night I had tickets to see one of my favorite musicals, "Spring Awakening". I got really good seats, but I forgot about the fact that they also have stage seating... so while I was there, I asked if there were any seats available on stage. There were two left, so my fella and I got to enjoy the show up close and personal. As a side note, I've seen this musical three times, so I knew all the words... but if you're not as versed, stage seating makes it a little hard to hear the singing because of the band playing so close.

This is the second time I've worn these pretty shoes. I've had them nearly three years, but the heel is so delicate (made of "specchio" leather -- kind of a rubbed metallic leather?) that I was scared to wear them. Having beautiful shoes that just sit in my closet seems so silly, so I've been trying to wear them in all their fabulousness more often.

The dress was a great sale find while shopping when my dear friend Cecilia was in town for a wedding. After wearing it though, I think I may see if I can remove the ridiculous shoulder pads. Ignore that my face looks like I'm melting.

Christian Louboutin Numero Prive in Gold Glitter and Specchio, Black Halo Dress

Fit on the shoes can be found here, but as an update I will say that after two wearings these have stretched out quite a bit. These are a 36.5 and while the toe box was pretty tight when I got them and I worried about whether or not I needed to size up, I'm glad I did not.

Studly

My fella suggested going to the mall because he had a gift card and needed to replace his tea kettle, so off we went to Posh Park Mall and into Nordstrom... for you know, a cursory glance at shoes.

Pittsburgh is losing it's Saks, and while their shoe department was horrible, I'm terribly saddened by this loss. It looks like Nordstrom and a few other small shops will be the only game in town for pretty shoes.

I digress. Onward pretty! I'm in love with studs always, and thought these Valentino shoes were perfect.

Valentino Rockstud Open Toen in Red shown with Asos two-toned tights

Valentino Lace Mena Wedge and Rockstud

Fit on the Rockstuds was true to size for me. I found them perfect in a 36.5 with very mild heel slippage (which may or may not have been caused by my stockings). I have to say for 140mm they seemed very comfortable. The toe box wasn't narrow at all for me, and I could see wearing them without being uncomfortable for a few hours. Available at Saks.

I did not get to try on the Lace Menas because they didn't have my size, but they were super cute and I think would be wonderful with summer dresses.

While checking out the studs, I also saw a super cute pair of Sam Edelman heels. The crossbreeding of different styles of shoes was maybe a bit much for me, but if they weren't peep toe (and exorbitantly priced for what they are), it would have been love.

I really liked the narrow metal heel, though, and will try to make it my goal in the future to track down something similar.

Sam Edelman Scarlett in Black and Gold

Fit on these seemed true to size as well. I tried these on in a 7 and the size felt right. They weren't the most comfy to walk in, because of the steep pitch and narrow heel, but would be great for a car to door night on the town. Available at Nordstrom.

In the age of dinosaurs

Probably the thing I love best about my job is that we don't have any kind of official dress code. With some casual inquiries and slowly testing the waters, I'm happy to report that so far my quirkier clothes haven't raised any eyebrows -- in fact, my boss' wife called these my "dinosaur tights".

Having no dress code is good and bad. Most of the time, it makes me pretty lazy and indulge in yoga pants and tees. Despite those days, I genuinely like getting dressed up and try to make an effort at least 2-3x per week to ditch the house clothes and instead wear something I wouldn't be embarrassed to run into a frenemy in.

Today's outfit consisted of my favorite new tights, a sale find at Marshall's. When I first saw them I thought "huh. What's with the ruffle?" but the more I looked at them (and the price! they were cheap!) the more I loved them and couldn't wait to wear them.

Wearing something more ostentatious like these requires a bit more of a subdued outfit. I paired the tights (Trasparenze "Melbourne") with an American Apparel wrap dress, Express tank top, and t-strap maryjanes from Kimchi and Blue.

Trasparenze "Melbourne" Tights

The tights are a size 4, which I typically need in Trasparenze (aka "large"), and they are very cozy. They are nicely opaque but not too thick. The ruffle in the back is a chiffon that sways when I move.

I took these pictures while out and about during my lunch break, where I stopped at a thrift not far from work. I found a great pair of flat patent boots there, and for $6 I couldn't say no. They are fun and even better -- insulated! Perfect for the upcoming snow.


Not much else going on in the shoe front here! The snow is kind of getting me down about pretty shoes, but Spring will be here before I know it.

The replacements

Confession: I used to own five pair of Fryes. I now own one, and they aren't boots. Every other pair has been sold due to horrible stabbing pain from wearing, and the saddest betrayal was the Veronica.

They were so pretty, so perfect... so darn painful! I wore them on my last trip to New York and ended up selling them shortly after due to the blisters I received. (I actually wore heels instead for most of my walking which *didn't* cause me nearly the kind of pain those boots did)

Since they've been gone, I haven't found a great replacement. I have those Kmart Doc/Chloe Knockoffs but I really wanted something sleeker for dresses. I happened upon these Mossimo Kena boots while looking for shoes for kiddo at Target and they are fantastic.

Perfect flat boot that looks way more expensive than the $10 I paid for them on clearance. The non-leatherness is a bit off-putting, but for the comfort and style I'm a-okay with it.




Fit on these is true-to-size if you like thick socks with boots. These are the 6.5 and they are wonderful with thinner socks, a little tight if I were to wear thicker socks. I didn't measure the calf-circumference, but it is really forgiving. There are three snaps to change the size of the opening at the calf, and I imagine they would accommodate at least 16". They appear to be out of stock online, but it's definitely worth a trip to your local Target to find them because they are on sale in-store!

Happy New Year!

Good morning, sunshine!

Nothing like sale shoes to kick start my day. I only wish the selection at Saks had been better. I arrived bright and early around 7:45 am to be greeted by a crowd of maybe 50 people, most of them seemingly set on the shoe department as we raced in when the doors opened.

My first thought was "where are the shoes??" Then I noticed the racks that looked like this:

(size 7-7.5 rack of shoes)

And of course, the sad selection of boots.

I actually really love the Prada maryjane "fakeout" boots, but they were not my size (and really, I wouldn't spend that much on tacky no matter how much I love it).

Prada Bi-Color Suede Boots in Red-Nude FW 2011

I only ended up trying on one pair, a Suede Fringed bootie from Gucci. It wasn't love. I ended up going home with nothing but some much needed thrill from getting to (window-)shop.

These were the 36.5, slightly larger than what I usually take in boots (I find Gucci to run large in general, except for the calf-width of boots). I found the pitch to be a little uncomfortable, even with the platform. Suede is almost never practical in Pittsburgh anyhow. Very cute for a night out, though.

The only shoe that *really* stood out for me was the Jimmy Choo "Begonia". Very classic and understated, and of course, not on sale. I think these will be a sleeper hit for spring. Lower-heeled, but the netting makes them a sexier version of a classic pump. Didn't get a chance to try them on as this was the last pair in store!

Jimmy Choo Mesh and Patent Leather "Begonia" Pump

I've been wearing non-stop a pair of boots I actually got from Target. They were a $10 bargain buy I bought to replace my long-gone Frye Veronicas (which stabbed my feet to no end). They are fabulous and I will chronicle them later this week.

Happy Holidays!

Yeah, I know. It's been awhile. I keep apologizing for that, don't I? Well I haven't done much in the way of shoe shopping (though I do have some goodies to share later I suppose).

For a holiday party, I couldn't decide which shoes to wear, and actually I wanted to wear my Miu Miu "Ice Cream Pumps" because I thought they were more festive... but I couldn't find them in my mess. In the end, I settled on these bright and happy Ferragamos (as chronicled here).

The dress was a find back in the day when I felt Anthropologie actually had awesome sales (once in awhile there's still a good deal, but I miss when they did those extra % off sales), and this gorgeous dress was $10. It seemed perfect for the occasion and I paired it with black tights to keep me warm and matching shoes.

Salvatore Ferragamo Cera Lacca in Red Patent

I hope you are having a warm winter and fabulous time! I will try to be more regular in the New Year!