Month: March 2008

DSW is the Devil

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

Over the weekend I went to DSW not one, but two times! I haven’t been to a DSW in ages. There wasn’t one close by and in the last several years I have not had much luck finding stuff in my size that I liked.

But they just opened one in the shopping area not far from me. My dear friend Miss S’s birthday was Saturday so we decided to make a day of it. We went to DSW and then lunch and some of the other stores like JCrew and Ann Taylor that were there also. I gave Miss S a lovely multi-stone necklace and earrings in green and, as always, she looked beautiful.

What’s fun about going shopping with S is that we wear the same shoe size. But, we don’t compete for the shoes. Our taste is a little different, but it’s fun to both try on the same pair. Not that they always fit the same.

We made the rounds and hit the sale room and then camped out in one of the many booth areas to try out our spoils, of which there were many, and narrow down the selection. Here’s our pile in progress.

Miss S found some great items like these adorable yellow retro-y peep-toes. I may just have to borrow those! They’re super cute. She also got some great Nine West sandals and some vintage looking shiny champagne sandals to wear with her vintage dress. They are so perfect.

I actually went there looking for a particular style of shoes. I had decided I needed a pair of wide strap brown heeled sandals to wear with my new Target blue and white dress. I found this great pair of Franco Sarto “Million” sandals. I like that they have a texture too. They’re just perfect and just what I wanted as well as being comfy.

My other buy on Saturday was from the sale room. These I don’t need at all but how could I resist a pair of opalescent pink oxfords on a white stacked heel. Plus, they were on major sale. They are just Poochie-tastic!

On Sunday, my other friend Miss C wanted to hang out and since she had not been to the mall the DSW is in, we decided to head over there. Plus, who can’t use new shoes? Apparently me because I got two more pairs while I was there with her. What the heck!?!

I was totally seduced by patent leather and cannot be held responsible for my actions. Plus, I had 30% off coupons both days so bar-gain!

Just ignore all of those shoe boxes the new shoes are sitting on. They are completely irrelevant.

; )

I ended up getting these grey ombre patent peep-toe heels by Kelly & Katie. I tried looking this brand up online and found out that this is one of DSW’s store brands and I think they are actually manufactured by Liz Claiborne. I’m wearing them to work today and they are really comfortable. Plus they were pretty inexpensive. If I ever get around to making my ombre stockings I might pair them up. I am totally on a grey kick. What is this #4? Yikes!


Then I got these double strap mary janes from Nine West. I had seen these on Saturday but had dismissed them because the smallest size they had was a 6 and I am a pretty true 5 in Nine West shoes. But they were so shiny and sparkly and so red that I had to try them on and see if I could make them work.

Sadly, they were so frickin’ gorgeous on that I had to get them. What’s just as bad is that I convinced Miss C to get a pair too and she looked hawt! I promise to get better pictures of all of these. It’s really crummy and dark out and the photos do not do them justice, especially not the red ones.

Miss C did not fare much better. She got these saturated teal little mary janes (so adorable), some bright grass green flats, the smoking red Nine Wests like mine and some sexy brown and orange floral satin heeled sandals that Miss S and I had been dying over the day before. Sadly they didn’t come anywhere near our size (so we were out of luck). Therefore, Miss C was not allowed to leave without them.

I had been safe for a while but now that DSW is in town I am in a dangerous position. They need to hurry up with that birthday coupon!

Rain, Rain, Come Back Today

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

I am a sucker for a crystal embellished high heel. And these sandals from Alexander McQueen look like they are covered in sparkling raindrops.

And the nude color further enhances the feeling that you were running through a misty meadow. Is that too cliche of a picture? Too bad commercial-esque? Okay, probably, but they do have an amazingly delicate feel to them.

I would wear these with jeans or with a very very neutral outfit. Something like a crisp fitted white shirt and a khaki skirt, with only diamond studs for earrings. Basic but gorgeous.

Gah! They are amazing. They remind me of my Clichy heels. Of course, all this beauty comes at a pretty steep price – $1689 on Zappos. But, if I had the money, I would be all over these in a hot minute.

Le Sigh!

I’ll Fly Away

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

I saw these heels from Head Over Heels over on the Schuh’s website a while back but they didn’t carry my size so I sort of forgot about them. But then I was on the Shoewawa site and they were featuring them so I decided to take a quick peek at them again.

I’m still smitten and they carry my size. They’re winging their way to me now.

I’m not going to fill this with a lot of words, just take a look at how adorable they are. That’s pretty much all you need.

Adorable round toe, pink and grey bird pattern edging and lining (I love the secret pattern) and the bird applique. They are pretty close to perfect.

The only problem is that it was hard for me to choose the grey or the black, which is equally cute.

In the end I chose the grey. Maybe I’ll end up getting the black pair too. Too cute!

Slip into Summer

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

With all the amazing floral prints popping up on shoes everywhere it’s hard to decide which ones to pick. They’re all so gorgeous!

I am getting this pair of Bettye Muller slingback peeptoe heels named Coast.

The colors will go perfectly with my summer colors, especially the yellow accents in the pattern. Yellow is a color I can do in accents and accessories, not in big blocks, and this is perfect. Plus the chunkier heel has that kind of safari-ish vibe and will be great for running around work.

You can get a huge view by clicking on the picture or checking them out on SimplySoles.com.

Coast by Bettye Muller – $385 at SimplySoles.com

Spring Cleaning

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

I mentioned that I went to Target on Friday and went a bit out of control. There were tons of things that I liked and so I took several large bag-loads home. I think I scared the register girl a bit.

But mainly I just don’t like to try things on in the store. That and I get stuff home and change my mind about them. That’s why I never take the tags off right away. Sometimes I need to look at them for a while before I really commit to keeping them.

At the end of the day I’m taking back a dress, 8 shirts, a bunch of jewelry and two skirts. But what I ended up keeping were these lovely summery items.

I’m not a huge dress wearer so I’m trying to find more dresses that I feel comfortable in. I like these alot, especially the blue and off-white print dress. The 3/4-sleeve cardigans are right up my semi-preppy alley and the two light t-shirty tops will be good basics too. And I love the fun jewelry. I’ve already worn the pink bubble necklace. The elephant charm necklace has a retro/JCrew sense too it. And the green chain one is actually all made of beads, so that’s pretty cool.

If you click on the image it will take you to Polyvore where you can link to each of the items.

You can kind of tell where my colors are going for Summer: white, black, grass green, teal/aqua over khaki, white and black. Accent colors of pink, yellow and orange/coral.

I got a few headbands and footless sheer tights which are both super cute. More pics to follow. Once this crazy weather warms up a bit.

Decades of Decadence

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

Today was one of those rare days where you feel like you have all the time in the world and not much to do. I did most of my errands on Friday and Saturday, so today I was just reading and watching some TV with the pets.

I’m finishing up Antonia Fraser’s auto-biography of Marie Antoinette. It’s a great book with tons of information. Fraser is a writer who can give you the facts but keep you engaged through the human elements.

Then tonight we were watching the latest episode in the HBO John Adams miniseries, which is also great. In this episode, Adams is in France looking for aid against the British. Adams takes his job there seriously, of course, but he encounters the decadent French Court.

You could tell that this society had reached the peak of excess with their manners and clothes and vicious wit and I was struck by how like the 1980’s it felt.

This may have been top of mind because of I was watching some classic VH1 videos today, but I thought back to Bud Fox’s (Charlie Sheen) paper money apartment in Wall Street after Daryl Hannah got her “interior design” hands on it. With the tubs of gelato, pasta maker and sushi maker it was the dream life. And the fashions were just as excessive as the lifestyle.

I’m not taking Cyndi Lauper or Madonna, who were dressing more for performance than for real life, I’m thinking about squeaky-clean “every girl” Debbie Gibson. In her video you can see the over-the-top fashions – from the bicycle pants to tulle skirts, from big hair and jewelry to the polka dot gloves.

Now I’m not saying that I wouldn’t love one of those tulle skirts right about now. But what concerns me is how you could see in hindsight, the craziness at the “peak” and the ultimate correction that takes place in the society. in the 1700’s it was a bloody revolution against the nobles and wasteful rich. It only took about 20 years for this to come about.

We are in a similar time period, being 20 years after the 80’s peak. And there is an ever growing division between the rich and the poor. Celebrities and celebutants are acting as immature and wasteful and decadent. There are foreign wars and a discontent with our leaders. It will be curious how the next few years unfold. Fashion is a great predictor and reflection of the times. I wonder what it will be saying?

Cute as a Button

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

I knew that the Tibi line had a bunch of adorable clothes and prints but I was less familiar with their line of shoes. I’ve only seen them on Net-a-Porter and SimplySoles.

I just found these super cute ballet flats named Daisy. Perfect for Spring, they are grey suede and have this great button embellishment on the toe. Click on the image to get a close-up view.

I just got these last night and they are soooo soft and comfortable. And I’m a sucker for this shade of grey. Especially paired with yellow and pink. The mother-of-pearl buttons are shiny and just seem to glow. I’ll probably wear them with a drapey t-shirt and jeans this weekend since it finally has warmed up a bit

Tibi Daisy Flats – $315 at SimplySoles.com

My New Obsession – Vintage Slips

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

I once saw a character on a tv show wearing a black slip as a nightgown and it stuck with me as being so elegant and lovely. I’ve been a bit obsessed. When I went to the vintage store the other day and found the lovely nightgown, I decided to see what eBay had available as well.

The good thing is that these can be worn as a dress (depending on the level of sheerness), as a layering item, as a nightgown or just as a traditional slip.

Here are a few of my favorites as inspiraiton.

I like the shiny black taffeta of this one.

This one has a great bodice.

Even this half slip would be great. I love all the lace. It would be great to wear under a simpler skirt.

Fire engine red! Whoo hoo!

This is a great grey-blue color. I haven’t seen many like this. This would be great under my sheer vintage dress/wrap.

This has great lace and it looks almost coral-y. I want.

I’m really liking the blue slips. They are very elegant and unexpected.

I’m so bidding on this fawn colored one. The tiny pleats around the hem are just killing me!

I did get two so far. This 1950’s black one is by Emilio Pucci and has a great bust area. I like that the lace at the bottom has a shell feel to it.

This 60’s one has the most awesome ruffles at the top. So flirty and flouncy.

The great thing is that almost all of these go for $15 or less. So even if you just wear them around the house you are getting your moneys worth. I like looking for the vintage ones because of all of the detail work. Search in Clothing>Vintage>Woman’s Vintage Clothing>1947-1964>Lingerie>Slips

Then grab a pair of slinky slippers, turn on some Sinatra and be a gorgeous dame.