Sandal Substitutes

I'm terribly sad.

I adore, I mean ADORE, the Saint Laurent "Jane" sandals. But although they are perfection they are not perfect for me.

I tried on the size 5/35 and not only are they wee bit too high they are also too big. Too big!!!

But, they are so sigh-able….

As a runner-up option, I've found the lovely Alexandre Birman ankle-tie sandals.  I got these in the cobalt, although I'd love the black as well. 

I love the little tie details on the toe and ankle strap.  The black would be more versatile but the blue is so striking.  They'll be great for Summer.  Unless I find the black… then I may have to make a trade…

Ensemble du Jour - Labor Day Dressing

Yesterday we had a lovely day off and spent it trying a new restaurant and leisurley browsing at the nice mall in Charlotte, South Park Mall.

I decided to wear a dress I had not had an opportunity to wear yet - my JCrew sequin stripe dress.  I love the heavier knit and the marine shades of the multi-sized sequins scattered in an ombre pattern.

I paired this with my cobalt Celine Luggage tote - always a handy size to carry.

For shoe, I'd thought about wearing my marine sequin Louboutins but decided to be more neutral and tie in with the color of the creme fabric.  I ended up wearing my lacy Enzo Angiolini Eamaxino peep-toes.

Found a few cute tops for Fall, which I'm eagerly anticipating!

Hurry up cool weather!

Ensemble du Jour - 2-6-12

Yes, hot pink is going to be huge for Spring/Summer 2012 but so is tangerine, coral, and my new favorite saturated hue... Cobalt.

I was smitten with this color and over the weekend was excited to see the perfect sweater at Target for wearing over bright patterned dresses.

I wore it right away with a fun oversized snake print skirt and....

my Manolo Blahnik Mladari mary janes.  Isn't this color great?  And the heel height is just perfect.

I love that the strap is lower on the arch too.

These come in a great emerald green too.  This weather has been warm enough that it's making me think about Spring clothes way too much.  I bought a whole bunch of dresses, now I want to wear them!

Under Wraps - Pedro Garcia Emelyn Pump

I am so ready for Fall. It's my favorite time of year. I can't wait for tights and tweed and blazers. This year I'm influenced by dark woods and moody fairy tales. My colors will be charcoal, navy, black, creme, olive, white, and dark brown with bursts of red, bronze and burgundy.

These Pedro Garcia "Emelyn" pumps would be perfect. I love the dark colors and the black bows.

I love the raw edges but I really want to know how well these Swarovski crystals glitter under the netting. A muted glitter perfect for the dusky light of Fall.

I am really ready for Summer to be over.

Pedro Garcia Emelyn pumps - $495 at Nordstroms

Looking for Blue Skies

I'm wearing all black for a meeting today (yawn, I know) but I did slip on a pair of really cute sky blue chevron tights as a nod to the blue skies.



Now if only I was outside enjoying the Spring weather....

Fashion Forward?

I had sort of a sad encounter yesterday.

I was at Panera grabbing a bagel and a lady commented on the fact that she liked my tights. I love to wear tights, especially colorful ones. They are the easiest way to create a new outfit or add a pop of color and, frankly, I wear tights and stockings all year round. So, getting a appreciative response is always fun.

I said "Thank you" and went on to say how I had wanted to dress cozy and comfortable that day. It was raining/snowing out and (being still sick) I had dressed pretty simply - black sweater dress, the tights and black patent mary janes. Nothing to crazy or over the top at all.

The tights I was wearing were this pattern:



The lady went on to say how she wished she could wear tights like that and I said "of course you can! I have a ton and wear fun and bright tights all the time!" But she dismissed this saying she was worried she would look like she was trying to look like her teen-aged daughter.

I tried again to assure her she could wear them - heck, she couldn't have been that much older than me - but she acted as if there was no possibility she could pull it off. This made me so sad.

First of all, I don't think colorful tights are that crazy or pushing the envelope. I mean, you are just as covered as if you were wearing tan hose or black tights, which most ladies would not bat an eye at. Plus there are all ranges of colors and patterns. I can see how some patterns could be considered too strange but there are people I know who are unsure about wearing solid color tights in any color outside of black, brown or grey.

Is it that colors outside of the "safe" zone are too attention-grabby? Is that a bad thing? Why do you think many women feel they can't or shouldn't wear fun colors and resign themselves to blending in versus standing out? Even when they want to?

Ensemble du Jour

This past Tuesday the rain was pouring down all day so no even half-way decent outside outfit shots. But while I didn't get many pictures, I did stay cozy in my new favorite vintage jacket.

I love this. It has the most snuggly lining and the outside is this gorgeous coppery gold brocade asian fabric with white and pale blue flowers. When I tried this on in the store I just could not take it off. I knew it had to come home with me.



I paired it with a grey-blue sequin placket JCrew henley tee, in case I got too snuggly warm.




I actually wore this with jeans. It's rare that jeans make an appearance when I go to work but, eh!, I was chilly.

More detail shots:

For shoes I wanted something to pick up the same burnished metallic tones and pulled out my Hype Farfalla slingbacks.

The rhinestones are a great copper-orange and there is a really neat mesh fabric detail that wraps around the toe.

I bought another coat at the vintage store too but it has yet to make it's debut outing. It's a very faux fur 60s swing/chubby coat. I feel like a cross between Doris Day and the StayPuft Marshmallow man.

I may look that way too, we'll have to see.

Bolt from the Blue

Sometimes you just don't know where it comes from.

Who has ever had a craving that just pops into your mind, and in spite of your rational self saying you know you can't have it at right now (like wanting a favorite food IMMEDIATELY), you still can't help yourself.

I think it's how obsessions are born.

While brushing my teeth this morning, it suddenly occurred to me that I HAD TO HAVE sky blue patent shoes.

Maybe because I have always loved the sky blue Miu Miu double strap mary janes. I have them in silver. I so should have bought them in blue too! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!




What was I thinking not to get these???



So I put the call out and started a shoe search of my own.

These are the right color but they are pretty pointy. I think I want a more rounded toe. The price is right though.



These are interesting and I like the shape (no idea on price) but a bit too electric blue for what I want.



I kind of like these even though they are not sky blue or patent. Must not get distracted!




So no luck! What the heck? Is baby blue out this season? Bummer.

What I did find, to tide me over are these - the Melissa and Vivienne Westwood collaboration Lady Dragon heels.



Adorable, right???



They're kind of hard to find and only start at a size 6, so I hope they fit okay.

These come in a few other colors although availability is limited. I got mine from Epaulet.

I actually need black flats much more than I need sky blue patent heels, but now I can't get them out of my head.

Obsession!!!!!!!!

Ensemble du Jour

Wow, it's been a while since I did an outfit post, hasn't it?

Okay maybe not sooo long and this isn't the most inspirational outfit either. But, hey, the shoes are cute.

The top is an argyle cardigan from Target with an a-line white linen skirt.


6-4-09 by Princess Poochie on Polyvore.com

The shoes though are what I really like. They're called Celeste and are by a company named Tapeet by Vicini. I've seen the brand on Zappos a bit but I haven't seen other styles of theirs I like. These I bought about 3 years ago and really like their preppy simple style. I love the mix of colors, material and then the whimsical bow.

It's hard to believe I've had these for 3+ years, right. Pris-tine.

My favorite part of them are the heels - chunky white wood. Make sure to enlarge the pic to see the details. Perfect summer shoes that are not too casual.

Not taking NO for an answer

I love shoes with glitter, but amazingly, I don't own many glittery shoes! Ever since "The One That Got Away", I've been a bit traumatized, especially about red glitter heels.

But then I opened an email from Neiman Marcus and saw these:



Louboutin platform peep-toes in deep glittery red. Oh My!

They are truly delicious and I am a sucker for a red heel but then... then I saw this:

Deep marine blue glitter. More unusual than red and I've already proven that I adore blue heels. So this... this may be more irresistible than the red.

There was just one problem. While I got the email on Monday about these being a part of the Fall Pre-order (not shipping until at least July!) there were NO MORE blues in my size.

Now these are full priced Louboutins. They sold out on these in 12 hours?

Well, yes they did... because they ONLY ORDERED A SINGLE PAIR in that size! Yes, for the entire US website shoppers (maybe even anywhere NeimanMarcus.com ships, worldwide?) they only had a single pair in 35.5.

Are ya kidding me? Isn't that totally ridiculous?

At this point I was a little incensed so I decided I needed to speak to the buyers about this. After calling around the corporate office I got a hold of the online buyer and she confirmed that, yes, this is typical. No wonder my size sells out so fast! And worse, this shoe was only for online... would not be in stores... so I was probably totally out of luck.

GRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I have to have these darn shoes. It's the principle of the thing, right?

Anyway, I have this buyer trying to order me a pair. If she does good I will let you know. If not, I will be very very cranky and I'm sure you'll hear all about it.

Neiman Marcus... will you come through??? And, P.S. start stocking more in the "fringe" sizes. I'm sure there is more than one of us out there!