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.



What's on someone else's feet: Part one

Recently, we had our first fan submission of 2012! My darling friend, Praise, suggested that I write an entry about the custom-fitted footwear that we both have. I've already shown you mine, but it's been a long, long time, so let's have a little refresher. 

About a year and a half ago, I was working at a company called Vorum Research Corporation, where I did administrative work. The company has a sister company, called Selve, who create custom-fit footwear, for a pretty penny. Being incredibly fortunate, Praise and I were both working at Vorum when Selve asked if we would mind helping them test the new foot scanner they were buying from us, by scanning the legs of all the women in our office, so they could make us each a pair of custom-fit boots. 

Of course, there was no question, we all jumped at the idea. 

Now, the best part about Selve is that you get to "design" your shoes. They have a whole bunch of styles (some more classic, some on trend) and then you choose the heel height, shape, and the colours of all the pieces of the shoe. Six to eight weeks pass and then... Early Christmas presents! 

I went to the site to do some sourcing to write this, and I will admit, I might be in trouble... And, they already have my leg scan... 

Praise's look like this: 

Pretty beautiful, no? And, as I can attest, they fit like a dream. 

Thanks, Praise, for sending me this! I'd love to see more of your shoe wardrobes, by the way! Send me photos and descriptions, I'd love to post them!

 

Sea legs and "athetics" shoes.

This past weekend, as anyone ought to know, was St. Patrick's Day. And, this means one thing for weekend warriors such as myself... Time to get your party on.

Now, I'm a self proclaimed weekend warrior (emphasis on the weekend, here, I'm decidedly dull during the weekday evenings, getting to bed around 10 and staying there until my alarm jars me awake around 6am) and proud, but this doesn't make me a train wreck, by any means. I'm still a classy lady. There's no Snooki-esque indecent exposure, or wobbling about like a baby giraffe taking her first steps. It just means that when Friday afternoon hits, it's time to crack a bottle of wine (as is the Friday ritual in my office) and when it's suddenly Sunday morning, my hot pink slippers are the only thing to touch my feet, as I watch terrible horror movies with my partner in crime and drink tea, attempting to rehydrate after the weekend's escapades.

Of course, footwear etiquette is part of the package. If you're going out dancing, heels (followed by Rollasoles, of course) are customary, but, I learned about a new kind of going out shoe this weekend, "athletics" shoes.

By this, I do not in any way mean dirty white sneakers that you wear to work out in. I've said it 100 times, I think running shoes should only grace the feet of those who are running, or in an actual gym. And, really, if it's the latter, bring a pair of something cute to wear to and from the gym. No one needs to see your ratty New Balance.

No, when I say "athletics" I mean that you utilize them for "sports." The best example I can give is exactly what went on on St. Patrick's Day. Dominique and I, along with our good friend, Estee, went over to another friend's place to play various-alcohol-pong.

Let me explain. The night previous to this, we had been extended an invitation to play beer pong, but, I had declined, on the grounds that I'm allergic to beer (and it's gross... yuck!), so the host had most graciously offered to procure a bottle of wine so I wouldn't have to die, and we could play with that. It sounded like a good idea.

Now, beer pong sounds a little like a frat game, and in a way, it kind of is, but it was such a blast! We only played one round, as it was getting chilly, and we weren't very good at it, but it was the precursor to a great evening of drinks and comradery. To be honest, we spent most of it playing Rockband.

This was definitely not a typical night, and we discovered that our shoe choices were a little... off. As the plan was initially to run downtown after a round or two and meet some friends for a birthday party, we had all worn stilettos. The ping-pong table was on the grass. This was not going to work.

Thank god for Rollasoles! We were saved! But, now we're far more aware of the sorts of shoes required for playing weekend "sports," which look a lot more like this:

I have these guys, they're Vera Wang, and so comfortable. They also don't sink in grass! An elasticized flat is also more comfortable because they're more likely to hold onto your foot without rubbing, meaning you'll avoid getting blisters. Plus, the beaded bows are just ridiculously adorable!

They qualify as "athletics" shoes because you could probably run in them, if you needed to (god forbid), you can wear them on grass, and, if you should be in a crew of men, you're not going to fall behind because you're taking 3" steps to avoid falling off your stilettos.

Most flats, low wedges and sandals will work, but make sure you're going to be warm enough! I wound up having to borrow a pair of very becoming socks from our host to keep my toes from freezing right off my feet!

So, there you have it, "athletics" shoes for the weekend warrior. These are not, of course, to be mistaken for a very different kind of "sport" shoe which looks a little something like this:

Remember, we're still classy ladies. Get your mind out of the gutter!

The bee's knees.

About 2 weeks ago, my mum and I did a mass hosiery binge order from Beyond The Rack, which is one of those sneaky sites that lets you buy designer leftovers online. And they had a Betsey Johnson event. Danger.

So, seven pairs of legwear and 100$ later, there was nothing to do but wait. Until yesterday!

My mum, on the way to New York (again! So very jealous, right now. I got a text this morning that she had landed), dropped off my pieces, and I came home from work to a mini Christmas!

I'm not going to give away the whole game just yet, but I will tell you, I love the knee socks. I got them in two colours, and they're divine!

The purple and black ones are on me right now, and they look great with open toes. I'm actually wearing them with the same sandals I was wearing on Wednesday, still trying to give my toe some more air (note: I'm on the mend, the toe is healing quite nicely now), and, while I was concerned that the straps would conflict with the details on the socks, they look great!

Knee socks are a fabulous alternative to tights, but make sure that your skirt is long enough to support the bare thighs.

Also, while I was searching (read: shopping) for more knee socks that I can't live without, I may have fallen in love.

They're tattoo tights! I stumbled upon them by accident, but I'll save you all the trouble of fumbling about on Google. You can get them on Etsy, here!

Enjoy!

Sad toes.

It's been a hectic week! I had to help move my office (we're settling into our new digs quite nicely!), which included coming in on Sunday after having never gotten to bed on Saturday night. It was an evening/early morning of country bars, cowboys and long island iced teas.

Unfortunately, in all this hustle, bustle and line dancing, I have sustained an injury! Horror of horrors, I have a wound between my last two toes on my right foot.

To be honest, it's been there a little while. Maybe a couple weeks. But, I thought things were healing up, and I had nothing to worry about. Apparently, I was wrong.

Upon arriving home on Monday evening, I decided to show my toes a little R&R, and gave myself a footbath with some anti-bacterial soap, and then showed it to my roommate, Rosemary, who is a nurse. She said there was probably nothing to worry about, but to be aware of whether or not it started to feel hot because that might mean it's infected.

Of course, being the theatrical person that I am, I started to worry. This didn't stop me from wearing all realms of fabulous shoes on Tuesday, but I was very aware of the warmth that had begun to radiate from under my desk, and when I woke up this morning, my poor little piggy was swollen and angry.

Please ignore the expired pedicure...

Poor little guy! I walked around in my socks a little this morning before I was brave enough to attempt the shoes I had brought for today. Thankfully, I've since put them on, and I haven't died yet.

If you have a flesh wound on your feet, open toes are best. You want to let it breathe, and these will cause your feet to sweat less, and let more air get in there.

They're also putting less pressure on my swollen digit, because I can move the straps around.

I made an appointment to see my doctor tomorrow, so all should be well after that, but tonight, I'll be resting up and taking it easy! If nothing else, this is a good excuse to pamper myself (because it doesn't happen near often enough)!

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.