Shoe Challenge Catch-Up

I'm claiming moving and wedding planning as excuses for being completely AWOL on Shoeperwoman's shoe challenge.  I'm actually going to have to do a re-assessing post on my shoe collection, since I had to downsize for the move (which meant that many of my less-worn or more-difficult-to-walk-in pairs were put in storage/given away to Goodwill).  

But, before the re-assessment begins and I order a re-count, here are the pairs worn (well, documented) before we moved abroad:

Shoe #18: Seychelles Taxi Yellow Sandals

Ah, springy rain when it was warm enough for shorts and no jacket!  How I miss you.  I've had these shoes forever; they're super comfortable (probably because they have a mid-heel height) and the bright yellow always cheers me up.  On this occasion I paired them with this DVF wrap top I got off ebay after seeing it on Gossip Girl, and my Target navy chambray pleated shorts.  And yes, we're hanging out in parking garage - it was the only place big enough J and I could find to practice our dance skills out of the public eye.  I definitely changed shoes for the dancing practice since I kept kicking these off. :-)

Shoe #19: Calvin Klein Lizard Print Carley

Easter Vigil outfit requires a hat.  This year, it also required tights and a jacket - a bit of shock considering how lovely it had been a few days before.  I find these shoes to be entirely versatile - the silvery color and the sturdy-ish platform & heel make them pretty easy to wear.  They also make me really tall, which I love.  I managed to put together an Anthro-heavy outfit for mass that evening: Learning Curve tweed dress, grey Ring around the Ring belt, floral cardigan, dotty tights.  The hat is something I got at Urban a billion years ago, and the anorak is an MK2K piece I picked up for a steal online - far ahead of the anorak trend, handily. 

Shoe #20: J. Crew Pink Satin Slingbacks

Look!  Summer!  

I've read online complaints about J. Crew shoes being horribly uncomfortable; I haven't found that to be the case, but these do definitely require insoles.  The ballet pink is a bit girly, but it works really nicely as a kind-of-neutral in the spring and summer.  I decided to play up the girly aspect by wearing an even lighter pink top with a deep-v and bow back (from Victoria's Secret, actually!), and a turquoise silk Tracy Reese skirt, paired with a pink belt.  Too matchy-matchy, maybe?  But it felt like a wonderful embrace of springy weather.

Shoe #21: Miss Albright Knotted Sandals

Hanging out at J's and tooling around Lansing.  Too lazy and hot to put together much of an outfit: Cooperative Designs sweater dress & sandals.  This is another dress I scored in a major deal after seeing it on Gossip Girl.  Hooray for stalking tv characters' wardrobes!

Shoe #22: Jack Purcell Canvas Sneakers

Yes, these are boring.  I started lusting after the Jack Purcells when they were paired with a slim-fitting suit in a J.Crew catalogue - and it looked so blasé and cool.  I got a coupon code from Lucky and just had to pull the trigger.  J hated the at first (he's morally opposed to Converse - which, well, they do look like teenagers' shoes), but I think they've grown on him a bit. 

 I had packed a pair of sandals for our vacation to Mackinac, but the sneakers definitely got the most use.  What else are you supposed to wear on an island where you have to bike, walk, or horseback ride everywhere?  

Shoe Challenge #16 & #17

Jas so was opposed to my owning boat shoes that I knew I'd never be able to splurge on Sperry Topsiders.  So when I found these pair at Target for $10, I had to jump on them.  

They're a blue that's a bit difficult to match with things, but they do work really well with all the blue in my wardrobe.  Perfect with this gap breton-stripe tee and my skinny jeans.

And unfortunately, they got all washed out in my pictures.  

They're not as versatile as my ballet flats, but I just love their laid-back style during the summer.

Being summer - it's time to wear my sandals while I can!

These Nine West sandals are some of my favorite shoes, but they're so barely-there that I don't get as much use of them as I'd like.  They fit perfectly, so I don't worry about stepping out of them (my usual worry with d'orsay shoes), and I love the big buckle on the heel.

Their olive & brown colour scheme works basically as a neutral, but I combined them with this animal-print J.Crew jacket which I threw arbitrarily over my pink Tucker for Target dress.

Check out how pale my feet are!  

Shoe Challenge #15 - Schuh Herringbone Kitten Heels

Ugh.  After days of nice weather, we got hit with snow and rain in quick succession.  Ick.  Guess Spring is coming on a little slower than before.  At least our grass is super-duper-green.  And it was so nice to be out of the apartment, even if it was still damp and ugly outside.

Hey - rainy day hair!

Rain stopped and we meandered downtown to drop off some books at the library and pick up a pair of trousers from the tailors.  Very exciting, all around, right?  This was my first chance to wear my new LilaMolly cardigan that I picked up from Anthro during the Chicago trip (on double markdown - score!).  I did a little brown/black mixing with the b/w shoes and these dark brown J.Crew bootcut cords to coordinate with the cardi.

I've had both these kitten heels and the awesome pashmina from my first year in Scotland nearly 8 years ago (geesh!).  I'm surprised they've both held up so well, but I don't honestly wear heels this low very often.  They're very pointy-toed, which was apparently very in around 2004 since I have several shoes from the era in a similar style - many of which didn't survive the shoe-collection-culling that began the shoe challenge endeavour.  I think it was the fab herringbone tweediness of these that forced me to hold onto them.  And they're actually pretty great for a comfy dressy shoe that is really easy to walk in.  Glad I saved them, I think.  :-)

Rainy Chicago and Shoe Challenge #14 - Seychelles Apple-a-Day heels

The Chicago weekend was a blast.  This was our view from our hotel room: 

Yep, that's the old Marshall Field's building, now sadly a Macy's. And yes, it was rainy all weekend.  But fairly warm, so that's something. Macy's was having its annual flower show, and the store was covered in these absolutely gorgeous fresh flower arrangements.

It smelled wonderful - and not like overly mixed perfume like the cosmetics area usually smells.  Although they've added a Lush counter and you can literally smell it from outside.  Heh.  All those amazing flower arrangements did make me sad for a bit that we're not having impressive flowers for the wedding.  Ah, well.  Priorities, priorities.  It's not really a "flower" style wedding anyway.  I've always wanted to be one of those people who has fresh flowers in their house/apartment.  Maybe that'll be a mark of being a grown-up?  

Some of the other bridal shower attendees (including my SILs, who brought along my new nephew!) joined me Saturday morning for a trip to the Art Institute of Chicago, my favorite museum in the city.  

We didn't actually get through the whole museum (their collection is massive, and wonderfully curated, if you've never been).  I made a beeline for the visiting exhibition of renaissance art (no pictures allowed - not surprising, but still sad), then made sure to hit up the a few of my favorites on the second floor.  Unfortunately, I didn't get over to the mod art wing to see my fave Kandinsky, but we did get to see the Chagall windows, which have been in storage for the last few years I've gone while the Institute was under construction.  

I wore my tan Seychelles with a BR wrap dress and threw on an old J.Crew cabled cardi because I knew I'd be cold.  I love these heels - they've got a sturdy heel and are neutral, so they go with anything.  They are also remarkably comfortable, but I was starting to get blisters because (long story!) I had to super-speed-walk from River North where the El had issues down to the Institute.  The shoes may be comfy, but my baby toes had blisters after walking a mile in under 20 mins.  Luckily, a friend of mine had plasters in her handbag - problem (temporarily) solved!

Post-art browsing, we had a blast at the shower - I've got some great friends and family.  Then I "dragged" my SILs and my mom down to Water Tower Place for some evening shopping and a nice, slow walk back to the Loop for dinner.  

We stopped by the Wrigley Building to get some pictures in the drizzle. Definitely needed the scarf and trench coat by then.

Thanks for the fun weekend guys!

Shoe Challenge #13 - Jeffrey Campbell thigh-high boots

I had flats on originally today, but decided it was too cold still and I didn't want to put on tights.  Thigh-high boots to the rescue!  I purchased these last year when the thigh-high boot trend was at its height.  Unfortunately, I don't get as much wear as I should like to from them.  I see Amber wearing hers, and it always reminds me they're in my closet.  Part of the deterrent is that it takes a bit of thought to pair them with outfits that don't result in me looking like an extra from Pretty Woman.  

The real trick is wearing them with skirts long enough to cover the tops when sitting.  The platform on these seems a little high when I look at them in the box, but it really improves the comfort level - they don't even feel that high!  They're faux-suede, which also tones down the sexiness factor a bit, I think.  Jeffrey Campbell is really good at making these trend-heavy shoes at affordable prices.  

I upped the casual factor by pairing my new Swept Swag Sweatshirt from Anthro with a full, pleated skirt from Banana to add some color.  I couldn't be bothered to dry my hair today, so I pulled it back into a tight bun, and added fun dangly earrings from Sundance.  (I'm so glad my hair's long enough that I can just pull it back when I don't want to deal with it!)

Now, I'm off this afternoon to Lansing for another round of ballroom dance.  Hope I remember all the steps I learned last week!

Shoe Challenge #12 - Poetic License wedges

I don't know how much these really fall into the "wedge" category - they're more a weird cross between heel and wedge.  They're dark brown, which is actually a color I don't wear too much, but the bright pink preppy accents were too cute to pass up.  

It's still a little chilly here, despite signs of Spring finally popping up, so I'm largely sticking to sweaters and long-sleeve tees.  This ensemble served fairly well for our ballroom lesson (last week!  I'm so behind!) - I was a little worried that silk trousers were perhaps not the best things to wear while dancing, but they actually worked out well.  

J.Crew sweater
J.Crew silk cupro cropped trousers
Target tights

My mom was in town working on making the alterations to my dress, so I drug her off to witness our attempts at dance.  We actually got a ton done - nearly 2 minutes choreographed.  I'm really excited to see how it all turns out.  And now that my dress has a bustle that works, I'm feeling more confident about doing it in a relatively heavy skirt.  

I decided to take my new cerulean blue nail polish out for a test drive.  It's Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Blue Me Away.  InStyle mentioned the trend in blue nails, and I just had to try it out when the polishes were BOGO at Meijer last week.  I kinda love it, and think it'll be great for fun summer nails.  Just make sure to wear a basecoat in order to avoid looking like you have hypothermia when you take your polish off!

Shoe Challenge #11 - J.Crew flats

So, J and I started our private dance classes to prepare for the reception first dance.  Which meant a trip over to Lansing.  Which surprisingly resulted in some nice outdoor shots.  I cannot wait until it's sunny again!  

Dressing for ballroom dancing when it's still cold outside means comfortable trousers (I tried jeans once, and what a pain that was) and lots of layers.  I tried out my new Gap tuxedo trousers that I pick up on clearance during the Give & Get discount.  

I wore my convertible Anthro sweater/dress/coat/cardigan as an outer layer.  I LOVE this thing; it's so versatile and cozy.  

These are my true "ballet flats" flats.  They're also the once exception to my "I don't pay for than $15 for flats rule" since they were a Christmas gift.  I know that not everyone agrees, but I find the J.Crew shoes to be fairly comfortable.  I love the little gold bows on these.

Of course, I switched to my ballroom shoes for the lesson.  Dancing ballroom in flats would just be weird.  

Shoe Challenge #8 - Nine West mixed media boots

I like calling these "mixed media boots" because it's like they can't decide what they are - leather upper, suede shaft, faux-snakeskin cap-toe, heel and cuff.  Yeah, they're slightly schizophrenic, but rather practical as dressy brown boots.  

When I was sorting out my shoes for the Shoe Challenge, I realized I had four pairs of brown boots - two dressy that looked almost alike (the others were tweed instead of suede) and two casual that also looked almost alike.  The cheaper pairs got pitched, since I don't even wear brown boots that often.  

I bought these in an after-Christmas sale at NineWest many years ago, but they still look fairly new since I don't wear them often.  The real problem is that the soles are really slick, and therefore the boots fail in the season during which I most need boots - winter.  They were perfect for today, when it was still wet, but not rainy.  I really need to get rubber soles put on them, but I keep putting it off.  It would make them that much more wearable.

It really is that time of year.  Amber posted today about how she still had to deal with cold weather.  We've gotten rid of the snow (hopefully until next year, but I'm not quite that optimistic), but it's still pretty icky out.  The most frustrating thing is that my apartment building has shut off the heat (which is awesomely included in our rent - the main reason I live here) because it's supposedly "warm" outside, but (a) it isn't warm outside, cretins, and (b) even when it is warm, my apartment doesn't get warm because it gets no direct sunlight.  So I've got the spaceheater running, and I spent all of yesterday in my sweats and bundled in a blanket.  Sexy.  

Isaac is wondering what the crazy girl is up to.

Today, however, I had to actually leave the house to take my car in to get serviced.  Since I'm a weak southwesterner, I piled my thickest sweater-dress (hooray for merino wool, and from Victoria's Secret, nonetheless - seriously an underused winter clothes resource), belted it with this Anthro belt and put the boots over brown dotted tights.  The necklace is actually an antique quizzing glass that I got from my mom's jewelry drawer.  

 The boots have a 4inch heel, but are surprisingly sturdy and make for comfortable walking.  My favorite part of the Nine West shoes are that they're actually narrow and so actually fit my narrow feet.  

Looking at that at this very moment, they suddenly strike me as very slightly "rich bitch" shoes.  Now all I need is a mink coat.  

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

aka, Shoe Challenge #7

It was absolutely beautiful today; this RealSimple cover exactly embodied the weather's inclinations toward spring.  Of course, we'll be back in the 40s next week.

I can't believe I own so few pairs of green shoes.  Fortunately, these coordinated pretty well with one my favorite dresses - this flirty green shirt-dress from Catherine Malandrino.  I don't recall actually buying these NineWest loafers, but they're some of my go-to shoes. (Seriously - does that happen to anyone else?  Guess I've just had them too long.  Hmm...)  The green is neutral enough to go with lots of things, the heel is pretty low for me, and they're remarkably comfortable and sturdy.  

I scored the dress on ebay after much keeping-my-eyes-out.  It's another Gossip Girl outfit, this time worn by Leighton Meester's character Blair, that I just had to have. We brunettes like our jewel tones. The silk lining feels amazing, and it actually buttons up without gaping.  The flippy skirt of this dress is my favorite part, besides the gorgeous green colour.  

As the last image proves, however, too much twirling leads to wardrobe malfunctions!  I really try to not wear the dress on windy days, to avoid flashing anyone.  Whoops!  I've contemplated sewing some sort of weights into the hem (like Chanel puts chains in their jackets), but I'm worried about ruining the dress.

Today, my friend M and I went to JoAnn's to load up on Vogue Patterns while they were on sale.  I finally drug my sewing machine out, but I haven't made clothing in a long while, so I got several "very easy vogue" patterns to get back into the groove.  I think I'm going to dive into this one first:

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I've got some coral fabric I picked up off the clearance shelf at JoAnn's after Christmas.  Fingers crossed that it goes well!

Hope everyone has a wonderful St. Paddy's day.  This non-beer drinker is going to have some wine instead.

Shoe Challenge #5 & #6 - flats!

I always feel like I should be standing in first position when I wear flats.  Even though they aren't "ballet" flats.  Ah, well.  Look how poor my turnout is.  

This past week was the week of flat shoes, waiting for my knee to stop locking up every time I walked around too much.  I twisted my knee while skiing over a jump during our vacation in Colorado, and while it didn't really cause any injury, my knees are prone to problems from years of running.  So I'm attempting to not exacerbate the problems.  Hence, the flats.  It's the perfect transition-from-winter-to-spring weather for these shoes, so it all works out.  

Look, real clothes!  I actually had dressed up since I was going to a speaker at a nearby campus, and wanted to not look like a college student.  I felt like having a little fun by mixing up the plaids on the shirt, trousers, and shoes.  The top and sweater are JCrew, but the trousers I got at the Banana Republic outlet, and besides the fact that they're too short for heels, I love them.  It always amazes me that dress pants are often much more comfortable than my jeans.  

I got these flats from Target for less than $10, and I have another pair in black.  They're remarkably comfortable for cheap flats.  I was tempted to get them in many more colors, but the already-extensive shoe collection made me think twice, and now they don't sell them anymore.  I think these shoes might last one more year of wear, but probably not much more, which makes me a little sad.  I never want to spend very much on flats, but then they always fall apart and I have to find new ones.  But when I see flats for $70 or something, I say "That much for flats!  I can get good ones at Target for $10!"  And so the vicious cycle continues.  Ha!

  I actually prefer pointy-toed flats, since I have narrow feet and typically ballet-style flats are too wide in the toe box.  This does not prevent me from owning ballet flats, of course, as you can see.

These flats are like slippers, not exactly supportive.  And they're fuzzy!  I like the animal-print look, but I'm on the lookout for nicer ones to replace these, especially if they had a pointy-ish toe.  (And yes, I did wear black-trimmed shoes with navy tights.)

This is definitely discount dressing at its best(?).  The sweaterdress I got from Old Navy about 6 years ago.  It's such a nice blue color (I like blue, if you couldn't tell).  The faux leather jacket is from Target from 5 years ago.  The tights were a gift - they're cabled and come in very handy in the cold winters.  

The basket was part of my exciting errands for the day, which included (finally!) mailing off my wedding invitations.  It was so nice to get them done and out of the house.  And they fit so nicely in the basket J got me for Valentine's Day.  Though, when I brought the basket up to the counter at the Post Office, the woman asked me if it held an animal.  Um, no.  Just lots of envelopes!

 Since I was actually wearing my hair down for once (I don't do this often - I'm growing it out for the wedding, and the length is getting a little crazy for me), I threw in a headband instead of trying to figure out jewelry.  This headband is great since it doesn't have the little nubs on the ends that dig into your head.  We glasses-clad gals have to be careful in our headband choices.  

Ah, the mirror pic.  Playing with the camera is fun!

Shoe Challenge #4 - SteveMadden boots

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I web-stalked these boots FOREVER.  They weren't obscenely expensive, but I have a condition wherein it's nearly impossible to spend full price on anything.  And they are boots with holes in the sides, which somewhat limits their usefulness in snow and such.  I just couldn't pull the trigger on them at full price.  In spite of all this, I couldn't let them go. They seemed to satisfy my need to bend to the clog trend without falling head-first into the ugly.  Of course, if you ask J, they're still ugly.  Whatever - I think they're fabulous.  

So, when I got an email from Steve Madden regarding sales, I always checked to see how my precious Geemas were doing.  And last month, by chance, I clicked and they were on clearance.  And the only remaining pair just happened to be my size.  Fate, it seemed, had stepped in.  And happily, I do actually like them as much as I thought I would.  

Apparently, Isaac wanted to be included

This is a step up from casual day, but I do wear professional clothes occasionally, really. The Reed Shirtdress in plaid is very popular on the Anthro blogs, but I have found that it's hard to make it look any different than the last time I wore it, aka shirtdress + wide belt.  Sometimes with tights, or boots, or sandals, but largely somewhat boring.  In an attempt to change it up a bit, I threw this super-cas Jcrew sweatshirt over it, added an acrylic bauble necklace, tights (cause it's still cold!), and the booties.  I'm not completely sold - it turns out I like the slightly-boring girlyness of the dress with a belt.  Ah, well, the booties look great.

In related news, my wrenched knee came back with a vengeance as I was climbing the stairs home in these boots, so the shift back to flats for a day or two was on.  Sad.  

Shoe Challenge #3 - red wedges

Check out my messy apartment!  Yay, casual days!  With my schedule these days, more often than most my days are casual days.  So, my old Delias jeans, navy tank, Anthro layered sweater, and these beat-up Payless wedges that J hates and I wear all the time.  They're so durn comfortable.  And check out the cute "bows" on the front:

Before I started this, I think I would've said that I didn't have any red shoes.  Whoops!  I've already shown you two pair, and I've got more to come.  Hmmm.  Guess I should get out of that way of thinking before I buy another pair of red shoes.  

Of course, by the time I had to leave the house to walk downtown, I looked more like this:

Oh, fabulous winter in Michigan.  But, happily most of the snow has disappeared, so I can fall back into wearing shoes that aren't boots.  Of course, if there isn't any more snow, the boots are going back in the closet until next year.  I'm sure I'll get wear out of them again, but they'll have to shift to the end of the Shoe Challenge.  

So...the layers: navy infinity scarf, Gap knit jacket, black gloves, socks, grey beret.  The coat is too big, but I HAD TO HAVE IT.  Heh - seems to be a pattern with me.  My mea culpa - it was on sale!  Typically I don't button it, so I used an antique brooch to create a double-breasted look.  I got this from my grandma (along with random others), and it works well as a nice accent to all the black & navy I use in my wardrobe.  

Shoe Challenge #2 - CL grey boots

I bought these boots years ago after seeing them on Blake Lively in the first season of Gossip Girl.

Unfortunately, they're made for someone with much larger calves than I've got (with a shaft circumference of 15"), and I've had to stitch them up the back.  Ha!  They still tend to droop down from the knee a bit, but I still love them.  They have a tiny wedge heel, and are super comfortable.


I played around with posing today.  And Ta-Da!  I look really angry - I don't really do "serious face".  Ah, well.

I love this H&M dress, and figured I'd make the super-summery style work for late-winter with a general grey scheme of tee, tights, and boots.  I'll tell you a secret: I got the dress on clearance three sizes bigger than my typical size.  I figured, hey, it's supposed to be flowy.  Plus, then it's not too short.  Just needed a little fitting in the bust so it doesn't gap.  Easy peasy.  I declare that a victory.

Shoe Challenge - Day 1

I figured a little touch of red was perfect for Valentine's Day.  These are Lela Rose for Payless, and I picked them up when they went on sale in December.  I had to order them from www.payless.com, since unfortch, the Payless stores of southwestern Michigan are somewhat limited in their in-store stock.  Payless does have this awesome thing wherein you can have the shoes delivered to your nearest store for free; the girls were so cute when I picked up my shoes - they made me show them off.  

Check out all those shoe boxes put away again!

No big events for the holiday - we did dinner on the weekend when J was in town.  I stuck to my old basic of navy tee and this gorge Lauren Moffatt skirt.  It was definitely nice to have sunny weather today, but the bare legs are probably pushing it.  I hate wearing tights inside the apartment, though, so this is the picture I got.  

Aren't they pretty?