Web Weaver

It's been a while since I've talked about one of my favorite independent designers, Ashley Dearborn, but when ever I put on one of the shoes I have from her I'm reminded all over again how much I love her work.

Not only is the quality great but I love her witty designs. From her Pegasus heels (which I so wish I had) to ROY G. BIV, the more clever the inspiration, the more I like them.

I only have 3 pairs from her - Euripides, Roy G. Biv and these Charlotte sandals. I can't believe I've never taken photos of them before!



Spider, Spider webs, Charlotte - get it? Wink, Wink!



The tie around the ankles is the 8th arm of the spider. and the little aqua bits on the end are flies, I believe



The web stitching on these is so great.



I wore these with a simple black skirt and top so all the attention went to the shoes. They're very comfortable and summery.

And, of course, clever!

Buying in Belk

I was randomly in the mall yesterday and went into a department store I almost never go into... Belk. Belk, to me, is in the same tier Dillards, Macys, etc. Somewhere between JCPenny's and Nordstroms. I almost never even go into these stores.

[REVISED: I received a comment (which you will see below) that I came off a bit harsh in describing the stores above so I revised my text a bit to what is there now. I wanted to clarify - I generally don't go into any of these department stores because I don't like the overall experience. It doesn't have much to do with the price or the merchandise (although quality can vary which is why there are different stores) but generally I find them a pain. Personally, I like the shopping experience at Target 100x's better than I do at any department store in the mall. Is is the lighting, the layout, the sales people? I don't know. ]

As I walked around with my friends we noticed a few cute dresses and were looking at the brand. They were Kristin Davis. Charlotte York Goldenblatt of SATC fame. And she was everywhere in that store. They had clothes and purses and jewelry.

And shoes.



As I walked through the shoe department and saw her display, I wasn't overly impressed by the styles of any of them. But one shoe did catch my eye, although not in a good way. The "Amber" Platform sandal.



Ummmmm.... remind you of anything?



Not only was this line not overly expressive of her style or the character's style, but they are ripping off shoes identified with another character!

What's going on here?

I'll grant them that some of the dresses are kind of cute but this is just wrong!

Hey, Sparkler! What's So Great About You?

That's right! More Sparklers headed your way! How can you resist them?!?

I love that I got the darling fabulous Ashe Mischief of Dramatis Personae and Mischief My Dear (featuring Etsy's sassiest hair pieces and more!) to contribute her list.

Not only is this lady talented and a great writer but she's wonderfully supportive and is my go to for all things fabulous like corsets, circus outfits and top hats!

But enough of my yapping! Let's hear it from the lady herself:


I feel so self-indulgent doing this! It's kind of weird....

* My mother instilled in me the importance of buying grocery store made birthday cakes (our favorite) just to celebrate being alive. I try to buy one as often as I want (but I try not to more than one a month!).

* While I can see a life for myself without children, I can't see a life without pets. When I see a puppy on the street, my voice gets high pitched and I bounce towards them.

* I love my nieces & nephews like they're my own, even though the oldest is only 8 years younger than me! I often call them "my kids," even though they're not as large a part of my life as I'd like.

* I get "adopted" by every friend & lover's family, and it makes me glad to have such a big "family" of my own.* My love of the 80s and all things 80s is unabashed and true. It may stem from having a sister 12 years older than me, and her giving me Billy Idol & Axl Rose pictures for my walls...

* During undergrad, I lost about 40 pounds when I discovered clubbing. Nothing makes me feel healthier, sexier, fun, and engaged than a dirty bar, a dance floor, and great music. Preferably 80s.

...

Love her! Can't wait to party with her! Need her to take me to NOLA so we can shimmy!

Okay... who'se next?!? Come on, Sparkler, Spill it!

Minor Modifications

Since it's been a while since I posted one and the some of my favorite ladies on Twitter were talking about embellishing their sneaks, I thought I would share an old shoe customization project with you.


This was a pretty small and fast one so I didn't take step-by-step pictures but I can describe it pretty easily. Basically I just added some sparkle to my step.

I found some sneakers that I liked that would lend themselves easily to a crystal pattern. The Converse-y ones actually came from the Target kids section a year or two ago. Their canvas so good for gluing on and had a stitched wave element on the sides.



All I needed to do was to get flat backed Swarovski crystals from Michael's (arts & crafts supply store), fabric glue and tweezers. I got a few colors of pink and clear in regular and a tiny size. I also bought some cute oversize laces in white with pink polka-dots.

Then I just glued the crystals on. This whole project took almost no time at all.




On the back tab I did a pattern with clear crystals and some randomly placed pink ones.

Insides -

Here's where the small crystals came into play... Yes, I actually did put my name on them in tiny crystals. Yes, I am ridiculous.

So there you go. A pretty simple project. One thing to note. I should try other glues because every once in a while a crystal will fall off. I just end up gluing on a replacement.

I wear these to work and to walk around. They're a lot of fun, extremely sparkly in person and, I have to admit, little girls adore them.

Top Pick - Joely by Boutique 9

This isn't my typical style of shoe to buy but I'm liking this particular peep-toe more and more. I think it's the color and shape, which are very classic while the graphic cut outs are more modern.

What do you think?



Joely by Boutique 9 at Nine West - $170

TopShop Shoe Department - NYC

Image via me!

In spite of this, I didn't buy any shoes there and really only wanted one pair... a pair of the Kameryn Flat Brouges in deep pink.

They didn't have my size and I can't find them online at all.

*sad face*

I <3 This

I love that I am seeing one of my Sparklers over there to the right! Hi Mademoiselle Robot!

Welcome!

Magic Shoes

I try not to rank the items in my wardrobe. When people ask me what are my favorite pair of shoes I usually say I can't pick just one because I love them all.

But these might be near the top.

I bought these Marc Jacobs peep-toes in 2005 on a business trip to Ohio. I went into the Nordstroms at this really nice open air mall and just instantly fell for them. I didn't even have room to pack them but I had to have them. I think I actually wore them out of the store.



They have such a great retro look to them but the colors are just so modern and fun. This is the Marc Jacobs I like. Some of his newer stuff, not so much.



Mixed materials in burgundy, purple and pink.

Because the shoes are so vibrant I wore a simple black pencil skirt with a kicky pleat in the back and a pink cami under a purple cardigan. This shade of purple is one of my favorites. I need to find more tops in it because I always get compliments when I wear the color.

(yes, I should have put some lipstick on for this!)

Since cleaning up my closets for Summer I'm determined to wear more of my existing shoes, so get ready for more pinks and whites. I have my new New York purchases to work in too, so I really need to get on the picture taking!

Black & White & Red All Over

I almost forgot to mention the other pair of shoes I bought while I was in NYC.

I was walking down the street back to my hotel and saw this huge picture of these really pretty shoes in the window. Peep-toe heels that looked like they were made of wide black and white grosgrain ribbons with red edging. They were fresh and pretty and, since I wear those colors all year round, pretty much perfect for Summer.

They were at Payless...





I've actually really liked the other Lela Rose heels I've bought, so I'm hoping these will be good as well. I probably won't be walking all over town in them so, I think I'll be fine.

These are very pretty in person, so if you like the style, I would say check them out.

I ended up having to order mine online because the stores in NY were all out of my size. Don't forget, you can have them ship it to a store near you for free.

Final Days in NYC

So, to wrap up the almost week in New York, I ran around and did some more meets and greets and shopping (of course).

On Monday, I had the opportunity to meet Sarah from Style It and Beka from ReLyme for a quick lunch. It was so nice to meet more of my online friends in person, plus it gave me an opportunity to wear more of the ginormous amount of clothes I brought with me.

I finally got to wear my other vintage hat that I bought (along with the brown feathery one). I guess you would actually call this more of a fascinator rather than an actual hat.



Isn't it cute?

I purposefully bought a pair of cropped fuchsia gloves from Sermoneta to go with it. After meeting the girls for lunch and then finding another cupcake bakery, I made my way back to the hotel. Miss Wendy B. came by and picked me up and we went on our adventure down to Christian Francis Roth's studio so I could try on the fabulous kilt pin skirt. More on that in another post so you have to be patient!

Sadly, after being wine'd and dined by Wendy and Mr. B the night before, I had to get up and get packing to head back home (*sad face*)... but not before I crammed in some last minute shoe shopping!

Well, can you blame me? Barney's was having a sale!

Anyways, did you happen to see these cute Chanel booties in the March Harper's Bazaar as worn by SJP?




They're very cute, right?



Yeah, well, they aren't that great on me. (*another sad face*)


But I did get a pair that I'm going to share with you later (mainly because they aren't even online and I didn't take a picture. What a dope!)


What I did take a picture of are these:




Lime green Manolos with a super skinny, super tall heel. We are talking spindly here.

These babies are winging their way to me now. I also tried on the YSL Tribute Too pumps in black patent but quickly ran out of the store before I shopped more.

Not that I'm not still thinking about them....

More More More New York

So I've tried to be a good blogger while I'm on the road but in spite of having my handy new mini HP (which I'm using right now) I have still been totally slack and quite a slug. On Thursday when I came in I was feeling a bit homesick but haven't had a chance to anymore because I've been running around so much and meeting so many people in person finally!

Yesterday Sarah (Miss @StyleIt) graciously invited me to be her "plus 1" to the Dolce and Gabbana Pat MacGrath make-up event at Saks. Sarah did a great post about the event here. We both got a lovely session with the talented artists. I had dashed down there from my hotel, got to stay for about 40 minutes and had to dash back out. Luckily Sarah got to stay longer and came away with quite a selection, so check out her full review!



I bolted back down to Grand Central to meet Miss WendyB to go to some crazy sounding place called Spuyten Duyvil. Okay, it's actually a stop in Riverdale but I didn't know if she was kidnapping me to sell off out of the back of some hookah bar or something!



By they way, I totally feel I am not living up to my shoe reputation because I've been wearing flats all over the place and not heels. What's that about?!? I'm from car driving country so I'm a wimp. But at least I'm not wearing big touristy sneakers and have a camera or a fanny pack!

While in Riverdale, I got a new dress that has a great yellow and black pattern (soon to be showcased when I get home and have more shoe options) and met some cute ladies and cats. Actually I liked the ladies so much that even though Wendy ditched us, we still all went to a yummy fun dinner and cute bar. Our dinner waiter plied us with drinks and desserts so you can't beat that, even if it did start to pour down rain right when I was trying to catch a cab.

Today I got up late ate some more NY bagels and decided to head over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I don't think I'd been there in a good 12 years, so if you are also on Twitter I'm sorry for all the crazy TwitPics I've spammed you with.

My favorite parts were the medieval unicorns, the armor room and this plate which reads: He who washes the head of an ass wastes the soap.



Truer words have never been spoken, right?

Actually this Joan Miró painting may be my new favorite thing. It's called "This is the Color of my Dreams."




Isn't it amazing?

Lucky me, Miss Wendy met me at the museum so we could see the new Model as Muse exhibit. Personally I thought it was a bit of a stretch compared to the premise they presented. The whole point of the exhibit was that models influenced fashion but, at least based on the show, it seemed to be more about models and photography not really designers and models working together. Frankly it felt a little flat and superficial to me. Some pretty photos though.

Afterwards I had lovely dinner with Wendy and then got to meet her sweetie pups and Mr. B. I know it's been said before but Wendy's even more fun in person! And cute! Yes, it's disgustingly true. I'm trying not to hate her for it!

No seriously, I luv her!

Now, what shall we do tomorrow???

New York Day 1 and 2

So just a few quick updates from New York!

On Thursday I landed and got to the hotel. Lucky me, they had a room ready so I could drop off all of my stuff and unpack a bit. I then ventured out in the rain and walked all over! I went to ABC Carpet and Home (gorgeous!)...



And then popped into Forever 21, TopShop (cute miniskirts - see below), Sephora and a few funky stores like Obscura and Evolution.




Only a beet juice from Pure Food takeaway and Magnolia cupcakes could keep me going!

Yesterday I ran around and found myself in the Sakes Shoe floor. I got a few little things....

After having a quick sandwich picnic in the park I met the delightful (yes in person she is to!) Wendy Brandes at Bergdorfs, where she tempted me to by more shoes, and then on to drinks. We laughed until our cheeks hurt!

More adventures to follow!

Is it wrong...

Image from Jibby! via Flickr

That I have something like 13+ outfits planned out for a 5 night trip???

Just curious....

Raising Eyebrows?

Not sure if I'm getting predictable or if the people I'm around are becoming desinsitized to me but I wore some slightly "out there" outfits (comparatively, for NC) and no one batted an eye.

Is this a good thing or what? I'm not sure.

The outfit I wore with my glitter heels and TokyoMade Chapter ring what otherwise kind of basic:


5-7-09 by Princess Poochie on Polyvore.com

Then on Friday I wore a stripey jacket, my derby and saddle shoes (wish I could have worn my Viktor & Rolf paperclip eyelashes too).



5-8-09 by Princess Poochie on Polyvore.com

Today I went out for lunch (and vintage shopping... more on that later...) and wore a shiny silver skirt, sequin Chucks, my boater, a green top with my parasol and a vintage straw purse.


5-10-09 by Princess Poochie featuring Old Navy t shirts

Okay, so maybe these aren't too out there but they were fun.

I've tried to stick to a palette but I just can't do it. I love too many colors! And glitter! And sequins! And vintage! I know there are some things I don't wear and pieces and colors I wear more than others but I'm just trying to enjoy what I buy. Hopefully it will last and hopefully I won't get bored by it. That's becoming more of a goal for me. I'm sort of all over the place but that's okay.... Right?

Pink Daggers

So yesterday I wore my new TokyoMade Chapter Pinky Sparkle ring (LOVE!) -



But if you are going to do girly pink... let's do some GIRLY PINK!



Paired up with my pink glitter Chinese Laundry Dagger slingbacks (and a pink Lou Lou Loves You bow) you couldn't miss me.

These shoes are fun, although they are a bit brighter pink than I had thought they would be. And the toe area is a bit pointier than I would prefer, but hey! Pink glitter!

The box is even cute too.

If I ever find other/better pink glittery shoes, I think I'd replace these but for now I likey.