Month: April 2008

Clothing Swap

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

I know I mentioned this before but if you have never done a clothing swap, you so have to! Just get a group of ladies (work, family, friends, dorms, etc.) and tell them to go through their stuff – not just clothes. Pick and date, make some cupcakes (not needed but so yummy) and watch the fun free-for-all begin.

We just did ours in the office and it was great. Even though we’re all different sizes and styles people found tons of stuff and had a wonderful time. In my opinion the best time to do this is right around the change of seasons. You’re going to be going through your stuff anyways, right?

What’s great is you know there are things in your closet you are just tired with or that you bought and forgot about or may not have liked after the first wearing. Sometimes you feel stuff is just too good to give away but you don’t want it. This is perfect for all those things.

Everything goes a first-come-first-served basis. Looks like my friend, Miss M here, found a skirt and top of mine that she liked!

What girly fun isn’t enhanced by Lavender-Chocolate cupcakes????

I wouldn’t say I took a lot of things but I did get a nice camel window pane skirt, a blue button down with front ruching, a light teal brocade bracelet-length jacket, a sweater-shirt combo in bright blue, a pair of yoga-y pants for wearing around the house and some cute faux snakeskin slingbacks. Not bad, huh?

I think this is even better than thrifting. It’s free and you know where the clothes came from. Plus its a fun bonding experience. All the guys in the office thought we were a little silly, but who cares? At the end, all the clothes that are unclaimed get taken off to Goodwill, so we can do a donation too.

Go. Swap.

Designer Focus – Daniel Green

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

I was sifting through the vintage shoes on eBay the other day and saw these amazingly decadent boudoir slippers that rivaled anything coming from Agent Provocateur or Victoria’s Secret. The shape was a retro heeled slipper and they were the perfect accompaniment for the vintage slips that I am loving.

I love the almost cupcake swirly-ness of this rosette.

The Daniel Green brand has a history that goes back to 1881, when he saw factory workers wearing shoes made of leftover scraps of piano felt to keep their feet warm on the cold floors. From those humble beginnings, the company grew. It started with Daniel and his brother creating shoes in a room over their kitchen to selling over 75,000 in their 3rd year of business. Pretty impressive!

In my opinion though, the company must have been in their heyday with the styles from the 40’s – 60’s, which are most of the ones you see here. The colors were rich and I’m just in love with the ruffles. They almost look like shoes from the French court of Louis the XVI.

Here’s a peek at some of the gorgeous pairs I found on eBay. Can’t you see someone like Lana Turner or Marilyn Monroe swanning around in these and a negligee?

I got a pair of red ones like the ones just above – with the tulle and button – and a pair with the stain ruffle rosette.

You can even see the decadence in these more house slipper styles. The shape is more conservative but still with sumptuous details and fabric.

The sad thing is that the styles of the Daniel Green shoes have seemed to age as their early clientele has. The company is still around but they are much less sexy than they used to be. Maybe in the 1960’s and 1970’s it wasn’t cool to wear feminine boudoir slippers so they had to adapt to keep going.

But now is the time to reclaim them. And eBay has some great pairs, many of which are pristine. And the cost is cheap. Usually around $15 or so. Maybe if they become big sellers again we’ll see a return to the glamorous styles. If anything, you can have a lovely satiny girl-y slipper to pair with your seduction ensemble.

Time to Buckle Down

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

Nine West is continuing to impress me with their latest crop of styles.

I’m very much smitten with these new strappy safari-esque heels. I know I’m a sucker for white heels but these have a tougher element to them unlike some of the others I fancy.

They didn’t go overboard with the straps, they look just right. And I think the leather has a Coach texture to them so they seem to have a good quality.

Do I need another pair of white heels? No. Do I think I want them? Yes.

I also like that they have a substantial stacked heel but that it isn’t too chunky. They also come in brown leather, but I much prefer the white.

Well done, Nine West!

All Tied Up… With Indecision

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

It’s sunny today!

I actually felt like I could pull out items that are suited for warmer weather. Finally.

I’ve been rummaging in the back of my closets the past few days. We’re planning on having a Clothing Swap at work, so I’ve been going through all my stuff for clothes and shoes to give away. Have you ever done a clothing swap? It’s great. What were doing is – all of the ladies in the office are going through their stuff as well. We’ll bring it all in one day and it’s just a big free for all. Everyone just sifts through all the stuff and you take what you want. Then anything that’s left over will go for donation. Since most people are just bored with their stuff, it’s a great way to “recycle”. We’re going to have cupcakes and make an event out of it.

Anyways, I’ve been going though all my shoes too and have been evaluating those shoes that haven’t received much wear and attention. Some are vintage but some are new ones that were great in concept but then not-so-great in reality – either because of fit or some style detail. I’m trying to be ruthless!

Anyway, there were a few pairs of shoes that are in the “maybe” pile right now. Today’s pair being one of them.

The shoes in question are black satin ballet style heels. I wanted to give them a shot so I paired them up with an outfit in black and white with a flippy graphic skirt from Target and a new cross-bodice jersey top I got on sale at Ann Taylor. The skirt hits me above the knee so it goes well with the ankle ties on the shoes.

Okay, here they are.

They’re not a fancy brand or anything. They’re Colin Stuart and I probably ordered them from Victoria’s Secret (before they got totally trashy) about a million years ago.

The “ribbons” are not actually satin ribbons but actually made of fabric so the bows are a little stiff. The reason these are up for debate is bacause of the shape of the shoe. What I look at them by themselves I’m not sure they thrill me. But when I see them on I kind of dig them.

The heel is pretty awesome and they are easy to wear. I don’t get a ton of use out of them but when has that ever been a concern. They already have a home in the closet so that isn’t an issue.

I do like them with this skirt.

I’m pretty sure they were inspired by of a pair of Chanel or Gucci heels if my memory serves. The remind me of the shoes that Carrie wore for the cover of her book in SATC (I need to find a picture of those to compare.)

What do you think? Stay or go?

I think I’m SAD

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

I think my wardrobe has Sesonal Affective Disorder and it’s making me have it too.

It’s no wonder April has been called the cruelest month. I feel like the weather has been trying to trick me. The lovely spring and summer clothes and shoes have been in for a while but they just sit there, unworn, while the chilly skies and dreary rain comes down. The flowers are leaves are out but we can’t go out and enjoy them.

Instead I’m still wearing dark greens and browns and dark grey cardigans and tights.

I tried to rebel yesterday by wearing my gladiator-esqu sandals, since I didn’t wear them with my dress for the bridal shower. But today I’m wearing black patent flat mocs since it’s rainy again.

What I want to wear are cute bright pinks and whites and greens. I think, as the description of the SAD symptoms says, I’m craving sweets.

So what better cure than to look at all the girly shoes from Sugar. I love the bright pink plaid fabric.

They’re ever so Irregular Choice but I still like them. Especially the stripe-y ones.

These are my favorites though. They look like lollipops!

Maybe if I had these I would be able to perk up a bit.

Showers and Flowers

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

On Saturday I went to a bridal shower of a good friend of mine. I didn’t know any other attendees, other than the bride of course. It’s always a bit apprehensive when you are planning what to wear to an event like this. I think the big challenge is that there aren’t as many rules any more.

In the past you would know what to wear to events depending on what they were. But nowadays, it could be anything along the range of very casual to somewhat dressy. And given that I didn’t know the group very well, I didn’t have a gague on the types of folks the would be.

So I erred on the slightly dressier side. Given that it was a bit warmer and Spring, I decided to wear one of my new dresses. It was also a good comfort test run with the dress before I wore it to work for a full day. I have to say, I liked it a lot. I brought along a cardigan just in case it was chilly, but ended up not needing it.

I had been planning on pairing this dress with the new Franco Sarto gladiator-esque heeled sandals I had bought, but when I tried them on together, I just wasn’t feeling it. So I ended up contrasting it with green because I was already using my green Dooney bag and I didn’t have time (or interest, frankly) to change it.

So I ended up wearing my dark green Jimmy Choo Thunder slingbacks. The color went really well with the dress – both have muted shades.

I have a feeling that this will be a great dress for summer.

One thing I do want to do is get a good brown belt to go with it. I’m not usually a belt person so I don’t have a lot of options. I think this dress calls for a good bold belt to break up the pattern and tie it back to the shoes. The fabric tie that came with it is in the same fabric and gets lost, plus it’s a bit wimpy for the dress.

The bride-to-be was wearing a great dress. She got the sleeveless beach dress from JCrew but in a cute brown and white pattern they don’t have on their site. It looked great on her and she also had some cute heeled thong sandals with some bit-looking hardware on it. She looked just smashing.

I had to return a shirt to Ann Taylor yesterday so I also popped into JCrew myself. I have been looking for a simple khaki pencil skirt and haven’t really found one I liked. JCrew didn’t have any but the did have a big sale going on with marked down items getting an additional 25% off. I ended up getting 3 dresses, including this swiss dot wrap dress in white, and a pair of patterned shorts. I’ll have to take pictures because I can’t find the rest online. But all of that came to well under $200.

I’m trying to get over my “fear” of dresses. I think they can be so pretty, I just feel like I need to be very selective about fit but still give them a chance.

On a scale of 1 to 10… They’re a 20!

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

As I may have mentioned, I have a deep and abiding love for two words – “limited edition.” And when they signify a truly limited item, not just as a marketing ploy, I get very interested.

That is the concept of the site 20ltd.

Each of the items for sale on the site are unique, special or limited editions. They are sourced by the founders of the site and each are created exclusively for 20ltd. It is a privately owned company and not affiliated with any commercial organization.

The site rotates the featured 20 items frequently and when they are gone, they are gone.

I’ve known about the site for a while but hadn’t checked it lately. Imagine my surprise and delight when I recently visited and saw these amazing Louboutin Mouche Zeppa peep-toe heels as number 14.

They are made of a light turquiose silk and antique lace.

The edition run for these is only 35. That means there are only 35 made like these in the world.

And yes, my heart pined for them. I love the color, love the lace, love the height. I schemed for ways to get them. But, even though they are not priced above a standard Louboutin price, I felt that must resist.

But that doesn’t mean that I still didn’t desire them…

Imagine my surprise when the sneaky but delightful husband told me he had a surprise for me yesterday. He wouldn’t let me know what it was and teased me about it for a day but when I got home he had me sit down and cover my eyes. When I opened them, he had placed in my hands a boxed tucked in a silk bag with the 20ltd logo on it!

It was the coveted shoes! Any they were spectacular. The even came with Certificate of Authenticity documents, also in their own 20ltd bag.

They are the most delicate shade of blue just a smidgen away from a Tiffany blue.

They are a little bit loose but I think I can fix that. The smallest size was a 35.5 so they are just a bit loose on the heel. They are not overly narrow either, as some Louboutins can be.

I had to think of what to wear them with today. It’s not like I could hold out!
I really wanted to pair the blue with red, so I ended up wearing my Luella Go International jacket which has a small stripe in the same blue. The denim skirt grounds the brighter colors. I also added a vintage clear rhinestone brooch for some sparkle.

Talk about fancy girly shoes!!!

I am totally spoiled!

BIG smooches to my Sweetie!

Stop The Seal Hunt!

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

I have been fighting against the Canadian Seal Hunt every year since I was about 6 years old.
If you haven’t signed the petition, please click on the link and do so. With the latest EU bans and upcoming trade bans on seal products, the end of this barbaric slaughter is in sight. If you can boycott seal products and Canadian seafood until this hunt stops, you will be helping to add pressure to the Canadian government to end it faster.
Thank you!
Luv
Poochie

High Glamour Weekends

Posted on by Shoe Daydreams

Most of the time on the weekends, I’m not doing much besides errands or cleaning the house or letting the chickens “free-range”. Now that we finally are getting some sun, I was to be found outside sweeping all the pollen and leaves off the drive way and letting the chicks run around.

Highly glamorous to be sure.


I’m holding my rooster Napoleon here. Love that fashionable plaid jacket which is actually the husband’s and my protective gloves (which are rose pruning gloves – so he can’t peck at me).
Hawt!
Even though I was not a big fancy-pants today, the flowers and trees look beautiful. Here’s a few pics from the yard –

That’s the side of the 100-year-old coop/stable.

The wisteria has really grown in the few years we’ve owned our house. Adding the arbor helped it since it can latch onto something. And it smells amazing.

Lots of butterflies and fat bumblebees out today.

If only I had something to wear as pretty as these.