2013, here we are!

We made it! 2013 is off to a great start!

I got to spend midnight at a party with my man and a bunch of his friends (some of whom are my friends as well!) and sadly, as it was a house party, I was unable to wear the amazing heels I had bought for the occasion. Take a look at these lovelies:

They're by Anne Michelle, and the style is called Assassin. And they went perfectly with my black peplumed, cut to my bellybutton, meshed out New Years dress. Oh, woe.

Ah well, I'm sure they'll get their day in the sun. There are plenty of excuses to wear killer heels. Like a Tuesday.

Happy 2013, everyone! I hope this year is extraordinary for us all!

The Return Triumphant!

I'm back! So sad to leave New York, but I'm headed back for 10 days in September, so now it's just another countdown. And the only emotion that can stir up is excitement!

It was another whirlwind trip, but definitely a success! There was only one hiccough... about 20 minutes after dropping off our luggage at the hotel, my mum took a spill due to some uneven pavement and a subway grate. She tore up her knee pretty bad, and pulled a muscle in her shoulder. We got her bandaged up really well, and put her arm in a sling, but she was pretty sore for the rest of the trip.

Although, with the amount of walking we do in New York (not to mention the weight of the shopping bags we lug about) all my muscles were pretty sore, too.

We saw some shows, Nice Work If You Can Get It (starring Matthew Broderick, who was divine), and Harvey (starring Jim Parsons, who was also fabulous), and the former has sparked a new obsession with flapper-chic for me. Expect to see lots of garter-stockings and t-bar shoes. It's coming.

Of course, we did mass amounts of shopping, and visited all our wholesalers for my mum's store. We also paid a visit to Betsey Johnson, at the devastating news that she's going under, and I picked up a few dresses (25% off, yes please!)

And, it goes without saying, we picked up a bunch of pairs of sweet shoes! One of which I'm wearing today:

Little spectators, how adorable! Chanel inspired, and the perfect neutral shoe for all the bright colours and beautiful patterns I picked up! These babies are from Forever 21, but the one in Times Square, which is way better than the silliness they have at home.
We also went to the Met to see Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations, which was a brilliant exhibition that compared and contrasted the two designers. If you have a chance to be in New York before August 19th, go see it, it was fantastic! I bought the book.

The last night was spent packing, of course. We actually wound up having to buy two extra bags to get everything to fit:

This is the pile before we packed the last few bags away. Excessive? Never!

It became necessary to discard all the packing materials, tags, bags, and wrappers in order to get it all in... I'll admit, it felt a little wasteful to be throwing away so much plastic. Next time, we'll bring reusable shopping bags!

Ridiculous, no? And that doesn't even include any shoe boxes, we leave all of those at the stores! I hope they recycle...

We also bought hats, and, to avoid either of mine getting crushed, I had to wear them both on the plane. My mum thought this was simply hysterical, and kept telling me that this was how fashion trends come about. I beg to differ, but for your viewing pleasure:

Silly, no?

Personal style and footwear: A user's guide

A little while back, my dear friend, Cashew, has asked me about trends, embellishment, and what was in style right now.

Fashion in general is very trendy heavy (of course), but because we've seen so many changes and so much diversity in trends, I really feel like the most important thing is to define your personal style, build a great foundation, and then embellish from there with trendy pieces.

For example, my style can seem to be a little incongruous, but generally, I would say that I am a classic dresser, a fan of the little black dress, pencil skirts, classic prints, and well tailored pieces. I would have no problem investing in a great jacket, or coat, knowing that it will be with me for a few years, and when I find a piece I love, I buy it in many colours (as you know) that I know will flatter.

When I'm going out, I do wear the short skirts, the low-cut dresses, and flaunt my curves, but the principles and shapes tend to be the same. Well-cut pieces, colours that will translate through seasons, and can be worn long-term.

This is the foundation of a good wardrobe, and the same speaks true for shoes. While you do have a little more free reign to play with footwear, (a hot pink stiletto with a black dress is safer than a hot pink dress with a black stiletto) you still want to have some basics.

I'd say that you need five things to make a basic wardrobe: a pair of black pumps, a pair of neutral flats, Rollasoles, a pair of neutral boots, and a pair of easy flip-flops. These will get you through any outfit, but who wants to stick with neutrals all the time?

So, get those guys first. Then, it's time to play!

I find that Million Looks is a great website to read up on all your trends, if you're not a Vogue follower. They've done a great summary of shoe trends for Spring/Summer 2012 here.

Now, as far as wearing all of these, it really comes down to what you're comfortable with. You don't have to love every trend! And, remember that a lot of these will be gone by next year, so you don't need to commit too much and buy designer. I buy most of my trendy shoes from Kohls, because they're generally well-made, comfortable, and cheap. I actually went shopping yesterday and walked out with four new pairs, all on trend, and almost all will actually be wearable next season...

Let me show you:

Prime example of pastels, but I'll wear them next year too! Nude/fleshy colours were around last summer, and the pastels are sticking around. Plus, they make your legs look 500 feet long.

Mega-platforms? I think so... 

And, a little bright colour, with a little platform!

The fourth pair are a little more scandalous, but I'm having trouble finding a photo, so you'll have to wait for those.

These are all going to continue to be wearable because they really only exemplify one trend, and they're not too over the top. That being said, there's something so much fun about finding a really statement shoe, and using it through the season, to be buried in the back of your closet once it's out of style. Maybe one day, they'll come back in fashion...

So, if you've developed your personal style, know what you like, and find something deliciously on trend? Snap it up!

I'm lusting after these right now:

They're like pink-S&M-disco-ball-flamingoes.



For the bodacious babes!

After my last post, one of my dear friends came to me for some help. She laments that, being a curvier lady, she's unable to wear any fun shoes, being stuck wearing heels with a "thicker, clunkier heel" and was hoping that I had some advice for her, and all you girls with similar problems.

Well, ladies, you're in luck.

I think it's a travesty that any girl would feel like she can't wear a beautiful shoe and experience the leg-lengthening, posture correcting, glamazon confidence I feel every time I step out the door in a pair of footwear masterpieces, and so I spent a good part of my weekend scouring the internet looking for information from women with similar troubles, and it all seemed to come down to a few fundamentals, and, not surprisingly, they're pretty universal rules. So, I would like to dedicate this post to my darling Cashew. Onwards!

The first and most important thing is fit. If you buy a pair of shoes and want to shoot off your feet as soon as those soles touch the ground, take them off, and walk away. We've all been there. They're so damned beautiful, but you know you'll walk about three steps out your front door before you regret buying them. And, chances are, they won't get better as you break them in.

Now, I've admitted that the balls of my feet are a little on the wide side, and I've had problems with some shoe companies because their shoes are too narrow. For you girls with wider feet and curvier calves, there are plenty of sources for wide-width shoes and boots that are cut more generously through the calf. Wearing a wider shoe will not only keep the blood flowing through your baby toes, it will give you a wider base to balance on, so you won't feel nearly as precarious when you're strutting your stuff. Two websites that had some good stuff were WideWidths.com and designershoes.com. WideWidths specializes in boots, and designershoes more in shoes, but both have lots of options.

The next thing you're going to need is a good pair of gel insoles. I wear ones that only cushion my toes, because I don't find that my heels are ever bothered in heels. Try and find a pair that are reusable, and then you can move them from pair to pair. I would suggest bringing them with you when you're shopping, as well, so you know that the shoes you buy fit with the insoles in them.

Something many curvier women worry about is that heels with hurt her feet more than they would a thinner lady, because her foot has more to support. I can see where this might be true, but at the same time, most women have trouble with high heels when she's not used to them, so it's really important to start slow. If you've been wearing flats your entire life, try a kitten heel, and then work your way up from there. Rome wasn't built in a day, ladies.

That being said, if you're anything like me, you'll probably go from zero-sixty and try a heel that's a little bigger than you think. This is where Rollasoles can save your life. You can read my full post about them here.Believe me, you'll thank me later.

The only other advice I can give is practice, practice, practice! Walk around the house in them, walk to the grocery store in them, any excuse to walk a short distance in your heels will help you in the long run, because you'll be breaking them in, and getting used to walking on them. Just don't forget your Rollasoles if you want to be brave and go out for a night on the town!

Now that we have all the technical stuff out of the way, let's talk about styles! My friend was disheartened by the sea of clunky, chunky heels that she thought she was stuck with, but there are lots of options!

The easiest way to go is a wedge. Wedges are going to be the easiest to walk on and they're comfy. I pulled a few examples from designershoes.com and these were all from the wide-width category, but they come in narrow, medium, wide, extra-wide and triple-wide, so you're covered no matter what!

I particularly love the booties in the middle...

Moving on! You can also wear high heels, and they don't need to be "clunky." There are lots of shoes in stores now that have a tapered heel that ends before it becomes a pencil point. For example: (again, from designershoes.com)

Ok, you caught me, I loved those patent peep toes enough that I showed them to you in three different colours, but this speaks to my buy-it-in-every-colour principle. The black is a great basic, the nude were huge last summer and seem to be sticking around this year, and the hot pink... well, enough said already! Also, notice that they have a platform. This is helpful because it will actually balance the height of the heel and let you wear a higher heel without creating a harsh arch in your foot.

But, this shows that there are stylish heels that aren't insane stilettos, and these are probably pretty comfy!

And then, one more little treat, in case you want to be adventurous! Our good friend, Mr. John Fluevog has been known for most of his career for his choice of unique heel shapes. They tend to be shaped like hourglasses, meaning they have a wider, less precarious base, but a lot of visual interest, and no "clunk."

All beautiful, all interesting, all unique. And all easy to wear.

There you have it, ladies. High heel 101 for the bodacious babes! I hope that helped!

When you find a pair you love...

There is absolutely something to be said for buying multiples when you find something you love. In a fashion world where there are so many body shapes, and so many companies trying to accommodate them all, I have a rule of thumb.

When you find something you love (and I mean really love), buy it in every colour. Heck, buy two in every colour, if you can see yourself wearing it almost every day. 

The same goes for shoes. These are the magenta counterparts to the blue heels I was wearing the other day when I was writing Highheelaphobia.

As you can see, they're every bit as stunning as the royal blue ones, and at $15 a pair, I couldn't resist!

The other perk of having the same shoes in different colours is that you can wear one of each. How smashingly colour blocked would it be to wear one of each shoe and then a dress of another colour?

Fabulous.