Cat in Heels

The wedding is approaching faster than I anticipated. At least it seems that way. People keep asking me if I'm done with everything. "Of course I am. It's in November. Sure, what the hell. It's done." Then I panic because I remember that I haven't booked an officiant, picked out flowers (or even met with the florist), sent money to the caterer, picked out linens, there are still bridesmaids who have to order dresses, and people keep asking me about my veil. For those of you who don't know me (if there are any), I'm not a traditional person. I'm not worried about veils, and won't have your classic cathedral length veil with blusher. In fact, I don't know what I'm going to have. I guess I better work on that. What I have been trying to find though, is the perfect shoes. It's going to be one of the most important days of my life, and I better have some damn good shoes. It doesn't matter that people probably won't see th...

You would think that as someone who has worked and planned events for a number of years, I would have at some point given in to comfortable shoes. Well, I haven't. I kind of tried it once with a low, chunky heeled loafer for a conference, but my feet hurt anyway, so I got rid of them (or they're rotting in my closet, I forget). I don't care what anyone says; running around hotels, or other sites in any shoes, tall or flat, for eighteen hours a day for three to five days straight makes your feet hurt no matter what. The trick I've learned is to wear different shoes every day. This serves two purposes: 1. Creates more luggage than seems necessary because there's a whole separate bag of shoes. 2. It changes the angle of your foot daily so the pressure is redistributed and your feet hurt less. Since it's once again conference season, friends of mine are breaking out the rarely used suits, digging up "conference shoes" and bracing for days or weeks of...

Why is it that whenever I try to wear "sensible" shoes they end up being aggravating in a totally new and different way that my sky-scraper heels are not. Today I knew I was going to be running around like a maniac at the office in preparation for a large event coming up. Up and down stairs and all over the three floors is not easy or particularly fast in certain shoes, and time is of the essence at this point. Plus I knew there would be lots of standing today, which was another reason to wear something sensible. So I opted for a wedge. Blue suede, peep toe. By far not my favorite shoes, but some of the more sensible ones I have, since the platform is minimal and the wedge is wide, so you're not trying to balance on something that's the width of glass. If I had flats (which I don't) I would have considered wearing them today, except that my pants would have been dragging on the ground, ruining my pants, and making me short, which is really more trouble than ...

First, I want to admit that I don't really like wearing tights. They're itchy, they never fit right, the waist band pulls up to your chest, the seam cuts your toe. I'm sure everyone who has ever worn a pair can add to that list. I feel the same way about socks. I wear them with boots and in the winter because I have to. Otherwise, I generally avoid it. When I'm wearing sandals and peep toes...that's not the time to bust out the socks. Now I realize that this is a trend. Socks and heels are back a la Madonna "Lucky Star," and I can accept, and even embrace it. But with sandals or peep toes? Barf. No exceptions. InStyle and Lucky currently disagree with me, but remember how behind Lucky is on shoe trends? Same rules with peep toes and stockings. Why in the hell would you wear a shoe that shows off your toes if you're just going to obscure them in some opaque, seamed monstrosity? That's a total waste of a pedicure. Some people can rock the fis...

I love anything that sparkles. Always have. As a child my dad used to call me a magpie because I would literally run off down the street to catch anything that shimmered in the sun. Sometimes the treasure was change, a piece of tinsel, glass on the sidewalk, and every so often it would be sequins. Maybe I loved them because they were on all my dance costumes and made me beautiful. Or maybe it was because it was the 1980s and Dynasty and Falcon crest were all the rage, so every store you went into had dresses covered sequins. Whatever the reason, it's still something I love, and I never miss a chance to sparkle. Currently I have only one pair of sequin shoes, which seems unacceptable. They're black peep toes and were bought to wear to a friend's wedding. Her only direction regarding shoes, was that they be black. This of course launched a months long search for the perfect shoes that would probably never be seen under our floor length dresses. Daily I sent her texts aski...

It's rare that I'm jealous of other people's shoes. Not because I'm a total snob (maybe just a little), but because I generally have the shoe or a variation of the shoe that someone has that I love, or it's super cute, but not something I would wear, as in the case of flats. Props to Melissa who has now for some time taunted me with the object of my envy. This time it was at her 30th birthday celebration where she rocked them with her black pedicured toes. Gladiator style sandals with silver studs and rhinestones from Bebe . I love them. I think there's actually a picture of me cuddling with them at a bar one night she wore them (I'm pretty sure alcohol was involved). I have nothing like it, and in my travels have not found anything that is quite this cool. They have set the bar for rhinestone studded sandals so high that everything is a failure in comparison. I can't even go by them because they don't carry them anymore. So the hunt continu...

Maybe not my most responsible in terms of heel height, but they're pretty conservative as far as my shoes go. Today I had the challenge of wearing something to work that was business casual, but professional, as there were people to impress in the office today, and something that was fun and funky, yet professional, for a meeting tonight with a decorator. And the shoes had to be able to traipse around the city in our suddenly frigid Spring weather on and off the Blue Line from the Loop to Logan Square and back home again. It's hard to find something that easily fits so many occasions. Enter blue patent leather shoes from Delicious : They are professional and look great with the blue pinstripe pants. Paired with a cashmere sweater we're classy and professional while still exhibiting personal style.The heel and platform are understated, and the heel is wider, allowing for more walking and less teetering. The fringe and tassels are reminiscent of the loafers my dad use...

I have a complete lack of self control. After abstaining from buying the leopard print shoes with the red ruffle, and being all proud of myself, I have caved. And it was not to zebra. And it is not, in the truest sense of the word, leopard. OK, it's leopard. I bought new leopard shoes (by Iron Fist ). But they were on mad sale, and they're peep toe... And they're BLUE!!!! Blue leopards totally don't count as leopard, and it makes sense because I don't have blue shoes. Wait, I do have blue shoes, but one pair is a suede, wedge, peep toe and another one is navy patent leather loafer (with a heel) that's very corporate-chic. Blue leopard is not corporate. I will inevitably wear them to work though, with the one outfit I have that goes with them. In an effort to not totally waste them on work, I immediately wore them to Easter dinner at my sister's with a black dress and a peek of a blue shell underneath. Easter is apparently very hip at my family...

As the weather warms up people start to bust out smaller clothes and shoes that bare a little more. Boots give way to sandals, slingbacks, peep toes, and everyone gets pedicures and has pretty feet (hopefully). Summer also brings some not-so-great fashions too, one of which I will never understand: Crocs I'm sure that plastic shoes are amazing if your gardening (which I don't) or happen to need to be able to clean your shoes in the sink, but as a fashion statement these are an amazing and instant failure. Really, has anyone actually looked at these and what they do to your feet. It's like Mickey Mouse feet in technicolor. And I bet they make your feet sweat. So now your feet are ugly, sweaty, and by default stinky. Comfort is no excuse for the litany of issues these shoes create. And now, to solidify their place in fashion forever, they have heels and wedges available. I have no doubt these will start cropping up around the office with business casual, as people go...