6 posts tagged “shoes”

Mother's Day is next Sunday, and I went shopping for it this weekend.  I dread Mother's Day, not only because she's impossible to shop for - I ended up spending on a car audio accessory for her Nano - but because it signals the beginning of a shopping season unmatched by any but Christmas.  After Mother's Day, I've got my father's birthday on May 19, my sister's on May 24, my brother's on June 4, then Father's Day.  Then my birthday, but thankfully I don't need to buy anything for that one.

I consoled myself with shoes.  Okay, so I just happened to take the door into the mall that takes me directly through the Nordstrom shoe department, where I decided I needed a pair of new black flats.

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I have a weakness for buckles.  They're fairly comfy, though in the tradition of pretty much all dress shoes plus Doc Martens, they rubbed a hole in my ankle on the way to work this morning.  Note to self, keep supply of bandaids at the ready for breaking in of shoes. 

Earlier this week my friend Annie was showing me the shoes she'd just gotten from Target for her new job, and I was really amused to see the pointy-toed flats were the same shoes I had, except mine are red instead of black.

So I decided to wear them today. 

It's still too cold to go bare-legged, which is how I usually wear these shoes, so I paired them with opaque black tights instead, added my knee-length denim skirt from Ann Taylor Loft, a teal long-sleeved tee from Target, and my bead necklace souvenir from Taos.  Pretty basic, but the red shoes keep the outfit from being too boring I think.

I think mid-range department stores, especially in the US, get a bad rep.  I was clothed at JC Penney's and Kohl's for most of my adolescence, and as a result they're not my first thought when it comes to clothes shopping now.  And they do have a lot of clothes I'd categorize as Stuff My Mother Would Wear, clothes that can be very unhip, to say the least.  But they each have their strong points.  JC Penney's has had a diffusion collection from Nicole Miller and Bisou Bisou for a few years now.  Kohl's has Chaps by Ralph Lauren, and their upcoming Vera by Vera Wang collections.  And even outside these collections (especially outside for me personally, when it comes to Chaps, which is just a little bit too ranch-y for me), there's some great pieces.  Take exhibit A:

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Then there's this corduroy jacket.  Now, look past the typical Your Mom's Catalog styling and model for a second, and look at the jacket itself.  It's a really velvety-looking cord, in a warm cinnamon color.  I might change the buttons, but I love the almost mandarin collar.

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That brings us to Kohl's, and these gorgeous red satin peep-toe pumps.  I found them a week or so ago when someone on the Shiny Fashion Forums was looking for a pair of versatile red heels.  These aren't exactly versatile; they ARE satin, and that just says party shoe to me.  But for the price they don't need to be versatile.  These are $30 shoes.  If you only wear them to Christmas parties, and if they get ruined in the snow, it's unfortunate but not a catastrophe.

My second pick for Kohl's is this cashmere sweater.  Some backstory: my brother got me a red turtleneck cashmere sweater from Bloomingdale's two years ago for Christmas, and its been a staple in my wardrobe ever since.  At least until last week, when I wandered into the bathroom after work and discovered a large gaping hole at the elbow.  I kind of screamed, and ever since I've been looking for a replacement that I can actually afford.  This is one of the few I could, at $42, and it is 100% pure cashmere.

Today was payday, and so tomorrow I am going shoe shopping.  Need a pair of brown dress shoes (my mother drilled it into my head that you need at least two pairs of dress shoes, brown and black, and my lovely coffee-colored Nine West heels have seen better days).  I'll probably be going to DSW because of the discounts and because in addition to that, I have a $10 off coupon.  But if you gave me an unlimited budget, I'd go to Nordstrom.

I love Nordstrom.  I went to college in Minnesota, an hour south of the Mall of America, and on trips up there I always walked through Nordstrom on my way to the mall itself.  It reminded me of the best high-end department store back home, Von Maur, a store that had Midwestern price points but was clean, organized, had great things, and was staffed by people who, by and large, know what they were doing.  Nordstrom has that same feel to me, although the price points are somewhat higher.

But of course, when you talk about Nordstrom, you have to talk about the shoes.

Nordstrom is a West Coast-based high-end department store these days, but it began as a Seattle shoe store originally, and you can still tell.  I read an article once that described the shoe warehouse for the Michigan Avenue store in Chicago.  It had seven floors of shoes, organized by color.  Seven. Floors. Of. Shoes. And this isn't even the flagship.  If you were a shoe addict, that would be what you'd see once you'd achieved Nirvana.

I tend to think of Nordstrom shoes as expensive, and if you look at the Salon section, they are.  But there's plenty available that's in a less insane price range, and after wasting time at work persusing the website this afternoon, these are my top picks for what I'm looking for.

Kcrmaxitup

This one's $80 from Kenneth Cole Reaction, Kenneth Cole's funkier, younger, cheaper line.  This particular shoe is called Max It Up, and it may possibly be everything I want in a work shoe all in one.  The heel is mid-to-low, but still feminine, the leather's a beautiful rich brown, and it's got an interesting bow-like detail on the toe.  The rounded toe.  I've got a few pointy-toed shoes, including a really cute pair of red flats from Target, but I love round toes.  They always look prettier to me.

Naturalizerwilton

I've had a thing for Mary Janes lately, which is just ironic, because I waited impatiently for years to wear a shoe without a strap.  I have extremely narrow feet, and I think my first pair of slip on shoes were purchased for Class Night my senior year of high school.  To this day I can't wear loafers.  These are Naturalizer "Wilton" in coffee bean, which is a kind of bright reddish brown.  They're a little less expensive than the Kenneth Cole Reaction ones at $75, and since they're Naturalizers, they're guaranteed comfortable.  I'm actually hoping DSW has them - they have a decent Naturalizer collection, whereas they carry one or two Kenneth Cole Reaction models, and usually the ones that are just a little too funky for chemistry consulting office - because they're a definite get if they do.

Naturalizerjavas

The Naturalizer Javas is the cheapest of the three at $70, and is in the same bright brown as the Wilton.  It's a real classic pump, and simpler than I usually go for in a shoe.  Still, it doesn't really need any details, and its a very pretty, basic shoe.  It's a contender, but not number one...unless I would happen to fall in love with it on my foot. ;)

If there's nothing at DSW - and like most discount warehouse stores, shopping at DSW is a crapshoot - then it'll be straight to Nordstrom.  I DID get paid today, after all.