New Shoe Friday!

Sperry Topsider Westport Slip On

Raymond got me these cute new shoes last night! They're really comfy and I can't wait to pair them with all my nautical outfits this summer. I love theme dressing!

For the longest time, I wanted to have a blog called Shoes on Feet that was all pictures of various people wearing various shoes (clearly marked with brand and style name), so that if you wanted to buy them you could research what they look like in real life first. Zappos has their video feature, which is great, but you can't see how real girls would style themselves with the shoes or hear feedback about how they really are to walk around in. No one steal my idea! Dammit, I've totally screwed myself.

I also like how Shoes on Feet sounds vaguely sexual, or possibly just weird. But then you click on it and it's not!

Want: Nude Flatforms

all via Endless

Unwalkable, possibly. Super cute, definitely.

From left to right, top to bottom:

1. Dolce Vita Helen
2. Pour La Victoire Ciara
3. Eric Michael Sharon
4. Butter Ash
5. Kelsi Dagger Geena
6. Circa Joan and David Wictoria
7. Robert Clergerie Doucia
8. Butter Acai
9. Robert Clergerie Dinato

Elves, overnight

I sometimes dream of a world in which I have only "nice" things, with "nice" meaning beautifully crafted, lovingly handmade yet classically stylish items which will last me a lifetime, no matter how my style changes and evolves.

That will never happen, for better or for worse, because as Cliff Kuang pointed out in this Social Media Week panel, "I'm not going to buy my computer on Etsy." It's a good point; I don't care to know the sad backstory of the children who lost their eyesight making my amazing $6 set of Forever21 bangles, nor will I be wearing neons and gold spikes until I retire.

But at any rate, what I really wanted to share was this amazing story of Oak Street Bootmakers, found via A Continuous Lean, via Jay.

I'm amazed by the work that goes into each shoe, and it makes them seem so much more valuable knowing the time and effort that's put in.

Glitter shoes DIY

First I bought these last year on super duper sale:



But I never wore them because that leather flower on the side isn't really my style. So I took it off:



And then realized there's a bunch of holes left in the leather because of the thread that held the flower. So I decided that the only thing to do was to fill those holes with glitter.

First I taped up all the parts that I didn't want glittery, including the heel tap:



Then I scuffed up the to-be-glittered part with sandpaper.



Then I mixed about half ModPodge and half glitter from Michaels in the cut off end of a water bottle and painted it on.



Here they are half dried:



I ended up painting on three coats to get the glitter as opaque as I wanted, but the difference between one coat and three is actually minimal.

I let them dry some more and applied some Angelus Acrylic Finisher and voila!





They're pretty cool! I bought the glitter while at home in Memphis so I didn't compare the colors, and in the future I might get a color more similar to the base color. But I kind of like the spectator look these have now, and I'm happy with how they turned out! Not all of the thread holes are hidden, but I think the glitter distracts.

Mining the sale

God I hate it when shopping sites/magazines use the phrase "mining the sale." Yet that's what I'm doing.

Here's a few things I like in the current Jcrew sale:



I think if I got this sweater, I'd spring for the $10 monogramming.



Is it a boot? Is it a pump? I don't care, I still love it.



A trench cape is my dream, but in the meantime I suppose I could make do with this trench vest.



I love oxford shirts as much as I like subtle novelty detailing. /total lack of sarcasm

Whoa, freshness.

Ever since I started "helping" my bf shop, I've been paying a lot more attention to cool things happening in menswear. It's all about the details!










pics via Ronnie Fieg

These Ronnie Fieg x Sebago Spinnakers are so perfect for the look I imagine for him: sexy, sporty prep with just a pinch of edgy dandy to keep it from being too Polo. I love the subtle tonal difference in the colors of the leather on the upper, and the red laces are so saturated! I can see these standing on the floor of the Ace Hotel as well as walking into Vanessa's for some 4-for-$1 dumplings and a bubble tea.

We're probably going to end up going for this one though:



since the Ronnie Fieg ones are sold out in his size.

Take a risk

Remember those awesome Gap Design Editions (by Pierre Hardy) high-heeled desert boots? They were $200 and I guess those heady days of manically visiting every Gap in Manhattan to get them (not that I did that. ahem) are over, because they're now on sale for $60.



I tried them on in the store and they're pretty awesome, although very high. The risk in the title is referring to the broken ankles and humongous bunions I'll get if I try to wear these on a regular basis. They're not like the first Pierre Hardy for Gap boots, which featured a super high heel in preview pics but were actually very wearable in real life.



I totally have these.

Risk number two: white jeans. Should I do it?



And if I do, should they be..... JEGGINGS?

Fa- fa- fa- freaked out.

My, what big eyes you have! That's what I'd say to Tyra Banks. Here she is with Andre Leon Talley in her latest installment of Fa-fa-fa-fashion. This is the first one I've seen, and she's even more Tyra in this than she is/was in America's Next Top Model!



I am slightly uncomfortable with how she perches on his lap like she's telling her secrets to a Santa dressed in a suit and a black taffeta caftan.

Spring is coming...

Which means it's time to SHOP. Did you know that Leifsdottir makes shoes?

1. OOH, PRETTY



This isn't my favorite colorway of this shoe but the shot is gorgeous! Wildflowers! Clear plastic box! I can see them growing from the dirt, taking nutrients from the icky crappy stuff around and creating something beautiful. So inspirational, haha.



This shot I'm not so sure about. The whole series began with this one and was sort of dawn, morning, noon, afternoon, dusk, night. This one is dawn so I guess that's sort of a mist or something covering part of the moss, but it seems more swampy than romantic to me. Anyway I still love the shoe.

More to love:



Ilona heels. This is the colorway I love of the first shoe. It's so spring! I love black and white (with pops of color) for my clothes, but for some reason I really dislike most black and white shoes. I'm always in search of the perfect neutral heels though. I'm not sure why, since I almost never wear heels, but it's a quest of mine. In my dreams, I find the perfect ones and wear them every day, in a total change of look and lifestyle.



Lotta flats. I actually just bought a very similar shoe on sale for $25 at my local Naturalizer. Can I just say they have the absolute worst inventory system ever?

2. UM, EW



I actually do kind of like this shoe in theory, but in practice I'm not sure how it would work. I have a hard enough time walking around in flats and not tripping; do we really need to take away the part of the heel that supports me? Also, I love feathers, beads, snakeskin and cage shoes, but I'm not sure how much I love them together. They'd be amazing with just the right outfit, but I don't know if I own anything other than plain black that I could wear these with. Will they go with today's nautical Parisian look? Actually... maybe. Ok I love them, I take it back.

Next, Jcrew Spring 2011.

1. OOH, PRETTY



Love the monochrome tidily messy bagginess. Don't love the way her feet disappear.



I might knit this sweater! (I might already be knitting this sweater. I have a lot of unfinished ones on the needles.)



I am so going to experiment with stitch patterns so I can knit this! Also love the Uniqlo version.



Again, loving the monochrome and the way it goes from light to dark, top to bottom. Also, I've decided that shorts are going to be my new thing, year-round.



I LOVE these shorts. Or I did, until I saw somewhere else that they're Jcrew Collection and made of a very beautiful silk and are $400. The sweater I love too, but I think I can just get one and then put in the studs by myself.



Again with the monochrome! Love it! Not so much the shoes, but I love the neatly sloppy look of a sweatshirt over a button up (or button down, depending on what region you grew up in).

2. UM, EW.



I do not know what happened here. Suddenly monochrome seems like the worst idea ever, second only to the time I thought, "Sure, I can do a cartwheel." If you want to make sporty look cute, you should put a baseball cap on a girl with hair, and without strong sporty shoulders. I think this girl would look way better in something more feminine, whether strong or flirty. And I know socks with heels are the thing, but socks with expensive sandals is still socks with sandals.



I feel like I'm looking at an optical illusion where this girl's torso and arms have been made 20% bigger and her legs are still the same. How did they manage to make them look so short? Aren't those heels? Don't they know that the rule of the black ankle boot/bootie with the pale untight-ed leg is to show more leg, not less? (or way less, like a couple inches of ankle, tops)

More cute spring stuff coming up!

Wish it, want it, DO IT.

I know I'm wrong for this, but.....



I really like these Teva stilettos! Look how good I'm going to look while I garden, pushing my wheelbarrow around my Park Slope apartment complex, wearing my double-knit beekeeper's hat slash burka-lite.



And my legs are going to look AWESOME when I climb a tree in my sassy white shorts and chunky knit sweater and Thing ties me to the tree with a brightly colored bungee cord.



 

A Dream Deferred

Except deferred might not be the right word, since it seems that these totally awesome Pierre Hardy for Gap shoes featured in their fall/winter promos are not actually going into production.





Fashionologie reports that while the other black peep toe wedges are coming out next week, it seems the far superior shoes will NEVER BE AVAILABLE because they didn't make it to production. Depression.

I think what we need to learn from this is that this is a sign from Gap that I'm supposed to instead get these Dr. Martens Darcie boots. What do you think: red, black, or black with embossed flowers? Gap, if you're there, give me another sign! Guide me!