Banana Republic is Stealing Shoe Designs

I know its been ages since I've posted but I had to come out of my semi-closed writing state to comment on what I think is pretty blatant shoe design theft going on over at Banana Republic.

Sure they are knocking off Stuart Weitzman's Nudist sandals like most other mid-tier brands but they are really not being subtle about these items. The top item in each pair is a current/recent Banana Republic shoe and the bottoms is the pretty obvious "inspiration" -

BR Honey vs Aquazzura Wild Things -

 BR Jasmine vs Alexandre Birman Lolita

BR Jackie vs Prada 2008

 

To me this is the worst one - BR Cadi vs Carven's bow slingbacks

 

Knocking off is not cool. You can have a unique shoe at any price point. You won't have any cute shoes if we keep supporting intellectual property theft.

It. Not. Cool.

Holiday Sparkle 2014

Last night was my work holiday party.

And, always looking for an excuse to dress up, I had purchased this gold sequin dress from Lulu's a little while back.  The husband looked dashing in his JCrew and Banana Republic ensemble in grey and burgundy.

When I finally got the Sophia Webster Mila's a new they would be the perfect edgy combination to pair with the sparkly dress.

They're graphic and just so cool.  Now that they've had their "debut" I plan on wearing them with tons of other skirts, cuffed jeans and cropped pants.

For a clutch, I'd had my eye on a Charlotte Olympia Pandora for a while but haven't found the perfect one.  In the interim, I got this great customized version from Estoite on Etsy.

I love the details of his combo too. They're a bit hard to see here but the burgundy shirt has white and blue dots which are picked up in the blue bow tie with white equations.  The cool tones of the blue work with the grey heathered jacket fabric and contrast with the dark burgundy.   Snazzy!

We had a fun time at the party seeing everyone's outfits and then the two of us went to our favorite taco restaurant for a delicious meal!

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
The clothes were simple - black v-neck top and black swishy skirt. But it was just a backdrop for the shoes and my cute new Etsy necklace.



Adorable pink cameo from Zombuki.



In person, it is a bit lighter pink.



But the big piece of the outfit was the shoes....



Yes, these...









Lush!



I'm finally, finally, finally wearing my Alexander McQueen rose heels that I got about a year ago.









What have I been waiting for????

Ensemble du Jour

I would just like to send out a big smooch to Daniela, my new fairly godmother! She sent me an adorable scarf and I had to immediately build my outfit around it!

The Outfit
It's really warm so I'm wearing my black jersey dress from Old Navy. Totally comfy! I paired it with my new two-tone green scarf and a Banana Republic bracelet.



I actually loved this bracelet so much I got one for a friend as a gift. It's resin but looks like malachite. Very easy to wear and the green has a lot of depth.



The Focal Point
Of course it's my lovely new scarf. The colors are a dark and a minty green. It's crinkly and the ends are capped with pleated rosettes and fuzzy green fur.



Fuzzy pom-poms... yeah!!!!



As soon as I saw it, I knew I had the perfect shoes to wear it with. These d'Orsay heels are Nicole Miller's Murray and they are in a medium green satin with very lush darker green ribbons which tie around your ankles. There is also a darker green strip of fabric down the toe. These shoes are sooo me it's not even funny.



You have to enlarge these pictures so you can really see the colors and fabrics. They are just di-vine!



Thank you again, so much Daniela! You are such a sweetie and totally made my day!

Luv,
Poochie