Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
After the high heels, I wanted to wear something a little more comfy. I had not had an opportunity to try out the Tibi ballet flats, so I thought it would be a good day for them.

I wore a blue and grey argule sweater and a black pencil skirt. The grey flats, of course, and my Tahitian pearl necklace.



There is another sweet story behind my necklace. I should take a picture of it, because the setting is kind of hard to explain.

One of the stops on our honeymoon was St. Paul de Vence, a medieval village near Nice. We didn't really know how to get there but somehow we made our way. When we got there we were charmed by the different shops and restaurants, as well as the twisty cobblestone streets. The city also has an amazing cemetary and view.

This was the first stop on our honeymoon trip and we were enjoying visiting all of the artists and art galleries which are there. We came to this one tiny tiny store named Atelier Perles which was filled with Tahitian black pearls. Which I just adore.

Well, we were looking at all of the beautiful pieces when we spied this amazing pearl pendant in a case. The pearl was absolutely perfect and perfectly round - a deep glossy black with lots of blues and greens. The owner showed us how translucent it was by putting in a cup of water and letting the sun shine through it. The jewelry designer did not want to mar the pearl so the setting was made of a thin gold wire that kept it in place with its tension.

So, yes, I was all excited and basically in love with this pearl. We asked the cost of the pearl and the owner said X00. We thought, X00 francs, what a great deal. Then he said, no, dollars.

Yeah, we were young and ignorant, what do you want?

So, a little sadly, we put the pearl back and left the shop. As we walked through the town, I promise I wasn't moping about the pearl (the husband confirmed this). After a few minutes, he told me to stop and wait where I was for a second.

He then went back to the store and got me the pearl.

My Sweetie, he's a good one. Tell him I told you that. ; )

The Focal Point
I was looking for comfy shoes and boy, these are it.

The insole is very soft leather and the suede is very soft and delicate as well. And I love how the sheen of the mother-of-pearl buttons play off of the matte of the shoes.



They are nicely cut low on the sides as well. I can highly recommend them.

Eeeewwww!!!

I don't think I've posted a hideous shoe in a while. I've been too lenient!

So here you go - these are not the good kind of floral for spring.

If someone can find some redeeming quality to these or have an outfit this would look good, I'd love to see it!

Paul Smith - $574 at Zappos

On a scale of 1 to 10... They're a 20!

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!

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
I was feeling kind of soft and dreamy today. It gave me the opportunity to wear my new grey suede and pink satin Head Over Heel pumps. It's still pretty chilly but I don't have a ton of white sweaters. So I wore my vintage Izod v-neck sweater over a white camisole. My pleated skirt from Target is the same delicate shade of grey as the heels. I also wore a necklace of pink quartz.



These heels are so soft and happen to be very very comfortable. I just worry that I will blemish them somehow. They are just almost too pretty to be worn.



I love the birdies...




The Focal Point
I hope this doesn't make it too gimmcky. It might, but oh well.

I was inspired by a Susie Bubble purchase. The ever-delightful Susie found these charming bird headbands from Buddug. I will totally admit that I am using her idea. Her headbands are adorable and I may still order some from her. They are not expensive at all and her birdies are so pretty. I actually had gone to Michael's for some other things and got some birds and butterflies made of feathers and wood to make headbands and some hair combs. This dove was one that I had left over from another project.

The headband is a simple skinny band with faux pearls all along it. All I had to do was glue-gun the bird to the band and in 20 seconds I was done. I got birds in soft colors like pink and orange and made a whole bunch to wear. I like the lighter tones to go with my Spring wardrobe. Susie's crow would be good for Fall or with an evening outfit.



The funniest thing to me is that I walked into my office wearing the headband and wore it all day. I didn't get a lot of comments asking what was going on with me wearing a bird on my head. I've come to the realization that my co-workers think I'm totally nuts and have just decided to humor me. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.

Stop The Seal Hunt!

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.

HSUS MySpace Page Get web badges

Thank you!

Luv

Poochie

Imitation = Flattery?

One of my earliest posts, I showed this gorgeous peep-toe heel from Alexander McQueen. A more sedate version of the sandals, they still have this amazing lush feeling from the billowy roses fluttering around your ankles.

Why haven't I worn these yet?!?



The McQueen website doesn't have the best photography. You can see the roses better in the dusky pink version, which I also love and am sorely tempted by. Are they not gorgeous?



Well, as with all good things, they will be copied. And the copies will be a sad pale imitation of the originals. Coast in the UK has come up with their version of the heel, called Anjolie. It's trying, I'll give it that. But you can see the roses are no comparison and the heel shape is not as elegant and delicate.



Here it is in a bolder magenta. They're about $170 plus shipping. It also comes in a gold.



The version that that is a more "party-ish" version are these rosette embellished sandals from Hale Bob. I actually don't mind these in their own right. The materials look kind of cheap but they could be fun. I'd pay $30-$35 or so for them if I saw them at DSW.

Too bad they're $119.

I think I actually like the green better than the red but that color is sold out. Not that they had my size anyways.

We've been seeing embellished soles and stylized heels. This is just a new evolution in shoe design.

Just as "It" bags have become more and more decorated, so are shoes. It is being said that shoes are set to supplant bags as the main status symbol. Do you think they will become overdone before they even get to that point (not that I don't think they are in many ways already)?

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
Today is one of those crazy mixed-up weather days. You're not sure whether to wear something warm or spring-y. I was going through my off-season closet and saw that I had put this Merona skirt in with my warmer weather clothes. I'm not sure why because it could be paired well with darker tights. The material is very suit like to me. It kind of a dark taupe with black and black pin-stripes. It has a really nice sheen to it. The top is a simple knit black v-neck from Ann Taylor.




I went very simple for jewelry, just my watch and regular rings. The outfit has sort of a corporate feel to it, so I wanted to keep it simple and streamlined.

The Focal Point
Even with, or maybe because of, the simpleness, I wanted to interject a little something off-kilter. A little bit of controlled chaos.

I did end up getting the polka-dot Anatole pump from Lela Rose at Payless. These actually are really nice. the colors are great, the fabric has a nice satin sheen to it (both which pull it back to the skirt) and it has a great heel. Much better in person than it even appears here.



It's a bit of a weird combo mainly because I'm not wearing any navy. But for me the background color of the shoe ties to the lightest color tone in the skirt and the muted navy plays off the black top. The shoe's office look goes with the look of the skirt. I'm kind of liking it. What do you think?

High Glamour Weekends

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.

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
After a busy week and those killer heels yesterday (in more ways than one), I'm going for simple and comfortable today. I'm wearing a simple green v-neck from Gap with my denim skirt. Flats are definitly in order today, so I pulled out my American Eagle green tie ballet flats.



I also went lazy on the accessories - just a simple but big moonstone ring and a green headband (which I'm not even wearing right now).



Over lunch I walked my shoes to my shoe repair guy. It was so nice out and these flats were very comfy. It wasn't a long walk, maybe 5 blocks each way, but it was good to get out and enjoy the weather. Except now my hair is all wind-blown!

First Signs of Spring

I hope everyone is having as beautiful weather today as we are having. It's cool but sunny and so gorgeous. I even had the top down on the car riding in to work!

Spring just amazes me. Growing up in Miami we never really had a Spring. When I moved to North Carolina it was in the summer. The next March all of the trees started flowering and blooms were everywhere. At first I didn't really know what the heck was going on. My husband, from the north, said "This is what Spring is like." It dawned on me that I'd never really experienced the change of seasons like that before.

These vintage shoes totally make me think of Spring.



I got these from eBay. I love the 50's/60's shape but the color is great too.

But the embroidery on the leather is what makes the connection for me. They look like the green sprigs on our maple trees.

I like to think these were worn to a luncheon or ladies' tea or some such event. They would be perfect with a shirtwaist patterned dress with green in the design. Maybe I need to find one that would go with them.

They're Here! They're Here!

Today's a very special outfit because...

They're here! At long last I have the tea cup heels in my possession!

The Outfit
Thank you to everyone to gave their thoughts on how to pair up the shoes with my outfit options. In the end I went with all grey so the red would really stand out. But don't worry, I'll be wearing these often so I'm sure to hit the other selections as well.

The top is a v-neck grey cashmere sweater and a grey a-line skirt. A simple and clean backdrop.



I did struggle with the jewelry. I wanted to add in some gold but not be too theme-y or try to compete with the shoes. After pulling out about 15 options, I ended up wearing this vintage owl pin. The gold is very shiny as are the eyes. What I like is that the shine goes with the patent leather but isn't the same color.



Okay, who really cares about all that other stuff. Let's get to the shoes...

The Focal Point
Let's guess, shall we???

Here they are! Oh. My. Gawd! If you want the full effect, click on the images for huge versions.



They have a bit of the naughty about them, don't they. I'm so happy I got red.

I love the angle from the back of the shoes. So cute! They look good with the grey too.

These are not for the faint of heart. You can not escape notice in these.

The Miu Miu store called me yesterday too. They are also getting these in pink and white, but with tie over the vamp, which Saks did not have. They are quite tempting too. But to get another pair would be seriously going over into excess, right? But pink!

Must. Hold. Out.

*Giggle*

I am an adorable kewpie doll with tea cup feet!

Luv
Poochie

P.S. Pics tomorrow!

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
I haven't been inspired by my last few outfits. And it's still cold out! I'm worried we're going to go straight from cold to hot and not get any nice Spring weather where we can open our windows and get fresh air in the house.

Anyway, since I was cold today I decided to wear tights and a sweater. I hadn't worn these royal blue tights from JCrew so they made the rotation.



The tights are bold so I wanted to be pretty simple with the jewelry. I just wore my blue glass pendant necklace.



I did want to wear shoes that would go well with the tights and the black pencil skirt and v-neck sweater. I didn't want to be shiny with black patent, rather I wanted to be muted so I went for black suede. I don't have a lot of suede heels and these may be in in black.



The black Louboutin Yo Yo Zeppas have a platform which makes them high but actually comfortable. Since the red, black and blue are all equally strong colors I think they pair well together.



I think they look good together, don't you?



Louboutins all fit me different. These are 35s and are a bit loose in the heel but my cork ones are 35.5s and a bit narrow. The blue Helmuts are 35.5s and are really big on me.

The Focal Point

The color of the tights really stands out to me and that's what inspired the choices - either that or the cold weather can be to blame!

Blue and black, like brown and black, is often considered a "No-No" but I like these together. Maybe it's because the blue is so vibrant. I think navy and black would be more challenging.