Staying on track.

Once upon a time, I refused to attach the term "New Year's resolution" to anything that I actually wanted to accomplish. Buy fewer shoes? Sure, that can go on that list, because, the second that it does, I know it will never happen. In fact, if I resolve to buy fewer shoes under such circumstances, I'll almost certainly have 12 new pairs by Valentine's Day.

Such is not the case any longer, though I still prefer to make "new year resolutions" on my birthday, rather than "New Year's resolutions" on January 1st, because they're more personal and I feel less like another hopeful who will start out attempting to run 15 miles a day and end up ordering greasy Chinese food from the take-out place up the street and demand that they deliver because one simply cannot leave the house with a waistline in such a state. 

All that being said, setting goals any day of the year is good practice, and you're actually far more likely to succeed if you make a point of writing them down. Which is why I told you all mine, way back in January. 

If you recall, my New Year's resolution was nothing quantitative, but qualitative. More exercise, more fruits and vegetables, spending less money on eating out, and spending more time making healthy meals. In short, healthy. 

And, I'm very, very pleased to say that I'm keeping on it! Nearly two months into the year, and I've been walking to and from work everyday (though I've given up on the idea of wearing running shoes in favour of my trusty rainboots, due to my severe lack of faith in the ever-changing Vancouver weather... and they're way cuter), swimming lengths with a lovely friend from work once a week, and, after having a fantastic bicycle ride with my brother on the weekend, have decided that it should be a weekly affair as well. 

On the food front, things have been delicious, nutritious and inexpensive, so we're doing well there too! And, the inexpensive part means that I was able to pick these up, guilt-free:

Vera Wang perfection! I also have the same shoe in flesh pink:

Delish, no?

And, when paired with my new bright pencil skirts (which look awesome on my newly healthified bod!) either pair look simply divine!

They also look fabulous with stovepipe jeans.

In other news, I think there's a gremlin in my basement... I'm missing three different boots, and one pair of heels. He's probably responsible for all the holes in my tights, too. Curses.

Closet construction (Or: My plastic arch-nemesis)

My old shoe storage system was a disaster. It consisted primarily of an Ikea shelf stacked to the ceiling with shoe boxes, most of which bore multiple labels scribbled in various colours of sharpie. In all honesty, it was generally impossible to find anything without pulling down most of the boxes. Being someone with a morning routine timed to the second, I never had time to replace all the boxes, meaning there was typically a heap of boxes within throwing distance of the shelf.

This is not to mention the corresponding heap of loose shoes by the couch upstairs within throwing distance of the front door, as I also didn't have time to put everything away at the end of day, and why would I when I could just as easily toss them in a pile to be worn again in the near future, anyways.

So, less than organized, to put it kindly. (I'm not going to even go into my current clothing storage, that's a whole 'nother disaster!)

While in New York in September, my mum took me to The Container Store and I started thinking closet options. They had a few really nice shoe options, but they were a little pricey ($80.00 for a rack holding 50 pairs, and I was going to need two...), so I opted not to buy anything, but keep looking.

Being the bargain hunter that I am, I shopped around and found this one at Walmart. It looked like it had potential to be a little flimsy, but I figured for $40.00, I could try to build it and then return it if it was terrible. So, I ordered two.

One week later, to my delight, my mum dropped them off, and I was ready to go! As reported on Valentine's Day, I was planning to put the first one up that night, and, after setting up my mum's Etsy store, I got to work.

It was tricky work, because the bars didn't really want to cooperate, but I got it together and stood it up. I wasn't exactly sure if I had done it right, as there were no instructions, so I went to move one of the bars to see if it would be better in a different position, and all the bars popped out and the whole thing fell into a heap on the floor.

Not one to be beaten by a few pieces of plastic and metal, I went to work again. Deciding that the original positioning was best, I threw it back together like an old pro, and tipped it back up to standing.

Now, the fun part! I started loading shoes onto it, starting from the top. At about the third row, I noticed that the sides were starting to bow a little, but it was holding up, so I wasn't too concerned.

About twenty pairs in, the sides had had enough! They bowed so much that the bars all fell out again and the whole thing fell to the floor once again. By this point, it was nearly 10:30p, and, for someone who starts her day around 6:00a, past my bedtime. Feeling frustrated and tired, I decided to call it night and left the whole mess on the floor, looking like this:

The next morning, I glared at the pile as I walked over it and went to work. Through the day, I thought about how I was going to deal with the situation. Should I box the damned thing up and return it? Try to build it again, and see if I could lean it against something? Was there some way that I could reinforce it? I settled on attempting to hot glue the bars into the plastic frame and keeping my fingers crossed through the process.

I got a manicure with a good friend of mine after work (the shellac, thank god, can handle a lot of punishment, because this was no dainty project) and then came home to attack the beast.

And, after about an hour of battling with it, I managed to get it together, glued in place, and upright! Very gingerly, I loaded on 50 pairs of shoes, and, to my surprise and delight, it held!

(Forgive the terrible lighting, there was laundry hanging in the way. Like I said, the clothing system is no gem at this point.)

Looks pretty good, no? It's part of a closet overhaul process, so it's in the middle of the floor at the moment, but I'm pretty pleased for the time being.

What is your shoe system? I saw this DIY option here and thought it was quite brilliant, not to mention beautiful! It's made from painted molding.

Happy Love Day!

It's Valentine's Day, which generally goes one of two ways for girls. Either, they're all sunshine and lollipops and spend the day receiving flowers, candy and love while gushing about how awesome their boyfriend/husband/lover/sugar daddy is, only to run off to a candlelit dinner and an evening of maribou, silk and lace-coated sport. Or, they're elbow-deep in a vat of ice-cream (probably chocolate-chip cookie dough), with a half-empty box of tissues within grabbing distance, while mushy romantic movies play at volumes loud enough to drown out the sobs and sniffles that punctuate thoughts of how completely terrible it is to be single on Valentine's Day (everyone else has a boyfriend, and I'm pretty right?).

Am I wrong?

Now, I'm a single girl, have been for nearly a year now, and I still love Valentine's Day. It's about love, but that doesn't mean it has to be about romantic love. Love your friends, love your family, love your self! (What an often forgotten concept in our society, oh my!) Go out and do something fun for yourself, with some people you love!

I was meant to go to a play with my mum, but, due to unforseen circumstances, it looks like my evening will be free instead, and I'm going to get some well deserved "me time" and build my new shoe rack (photographic evidence will be provided once everything is together).

And, because I'm not going to be receiving any flowers today, I decided to wear some on my feet! These are Madden Girl beauties from Spring 2011 that I bought in New York (of course) in May! They came from Filene's Basement, which was a great place for bargains, but I've just found out has gone bankrupt!! Too many great deals!

Also, I was given a shoe-a-day calendar by a former colleague of mine, and the page from today was pretty adorable! It's a chocolate shoe!

I want two, one to eat and one to look at!

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. 

Born to SHOP!

From the time I was born, my Mum and Grandma taught me well. So, no one was all that surprised when my first spoken sentence was "Shop 'til you drop!" (though it was pronounced more like "Shop-a-drop!"), a sentence I, no doubt, said with great gusto, and a manta that I've kept pretty true to for most of my life.

I come from a long line of shopaholics, and, but for a brief spell where I was having trouble handling my finances, I can say that I am proud to follow in the family tradition! My father, on the other hand, doesn't get it. Maybe it's a feminine legacy. 

So, with all that in mind, it's only to be expected that a quick road trip across the border for groceries and a few basics would turn into a quest for fashion. That's not to say I walked into the first store, blacked out and came to surrounded by shopping bags and couture. I am very responsible with my money, but sometimes a girl needs a treat... or five. 

Needless to say, there were shoes in there. Here are my new darlings:

They're another stroke of genius from Candie's, and hit on a bunch of delicious trends all at once. 

If we look to Christian Louboutin's Spring/Summer 2012 collection for inspiration, there are some great examples of all the trends that these little darlings embody:

Satin. It's been on all sorts of feet. Natalie Portman, Paris Hilton, Victoria Beckham, to name a few. Charlotte Olympia, Manolo Blahnik, Sergio Rossi, Vera Wang and Jimmy Choo did them, amongst others. Satin is hot for Spring this year.

This one should come as no surprise, after all the fuss I've been making about colourblocking in the last few weeks. Mixing a shoe like this with a bright coloured pencil skirt (I picked up three last night) is a great way to wear colourblocking without it being too overwhelming. You don't have to look like a you drive a Delorian to pull it off, either. Modern shapes are key here.

Then, we have the best part, the embellished heel. Glitter and crystals are so much fun in Spring because you can utilise all the extra sunshine to put a little sparkle in your step. There's nothing quite like walking down the street and wanting to bust out a few moves, and it would only be fitting to do so when your heels look like disco balls. 

Highheelaphobia.

We all have that friend who looks at our shoes and gawks a little. She's can't believe that you wear those, don't your feet die?!

But, this is a totally unnecessary phobia! Anyone can wear big heels, it's just a matter of practice.

To illustrate, I'm currently wearing these:

And, yes, that's a 5 1/2 inch heel. 

But, I've been wearing them for 8 1/2 hours, and my feet haven't fallen off yet! 

There are a few reasons, I'll admit, but, first, a little background about these darlings!

I got them from Necessary Clothing, in New York (where else?), and I have them in magenta as well. 

Necessary Clothing has the world's weirdest shoe system. My mum and I were both trying on shoes that day (they had amazing deals, these were $15 each), and they would only bring us one shoe at a time. 

Yes, that's right, I didn't get to put on both shoes at the same time until I had bought them. And, to make matters worse, their shoe storage was downstairs from the sales floor, so the poor sales girl had to run downstairs, grab a shoe, run back upstairs, wait for us to try that shoe on, then take it, run back downstairs, grab the other shoes and run back upstairs with that one. For each pair. 

And, if you know anything about me yet, you can probably guess that we tried on just about every pair they had.

But, now that you're in shock at the insanity of that system, and shaking in your (flat) boots at the height of that heel, let me remind you that these lovely little treats are friendly, as long as they're treated well, and respected. 

Personally, I subscribe to the New York professional shoe method. I hardly ever wear my fancy shoes outside. This keeps the soles from being worn down too quickly, and they stay dry, so the upper doesn't get ruined either. The other reason is because I do not trust the weather in Vancouver. Especially at this time of year. So, if I'm going to work, or a houseparty where I'm able to keep my shoes on, I pack my shoes in my handy-dandy shoe bag (which was a cosmetic gift with purchase, so nothing too fancy) and puddle jump all the way there in my rainboots. 

I also walk to work, so 45 minutes in either direction would easily destroy not only my shoes, but my feet. If you're going to be walking for a million years, giant heels are probably not going to be a good idea. 

This also speaks to the idea of having cute transition footwear. In New York, everyone packs their shoes and wears running shoes to and from work. I think that athletic running shoes belong in a gym, or on someone who is actually running, but there are so many cute options as far as supportive street shoes go. Try to find something that won't make you look like you pulled them on in the dark. Black is probably best, as it's the more versatile. 

Secondly, I have a set of gel insoles that I wear in my heels. Sometimes, wearing the gel pads is hard because it makes the toe of the shoe too tight, so watch for that, but for the most part, they really help. 

Lastly, when you're buying shoes like these, look for something with a significant platform on the toe. Mine have about a 1 inch platform, meaning that, while they make my legs looks 5 1/2 inches longer, I'm only standing on a 4 1/2 inch heel, which is much easier to make friends with. It's also worth putting them on and walking around the store while you do the rest of your browsing. Chances are, if they start to hurt in the ten minutes they've been on your feet, they're not the shoes for you. 

Now, I will admit that wearing giant heels all day is not for everyone. If you work on your feet all day, I would not recommend wearing a 5 1/2" stiletto. I've worked in grocery stores, clothing stores and restaurants, and will openly admit that it's suicide. But, that doesn't mean that you can't have fun with your toes! Again, this is a time when practical shoes are an asset. This doesn't mean you need to wear those beat up running shoes, though! Look for something stylish and comfortable (they do exist, you know!) and you'll find that you not only look more polished, you'll feel more confident!

Now, if only there was a secret to being able to dance on skyscrapers all night!