Cat in Heels

It's well known that I keep a couple pairs of shoes at the office. And by a couple, I mean a drawer full. So it's never really a surprise when I'm looking for a pair of heels and it turns out they're in my filing cabinet and not any of the 100 different places scattered about my house. Sometimes that can be a problem though. Like when I was packing for a business trip the nigh before I left and realized I left my black pumps at the office. I posted a Facebook message about it, and my mom (who loves to tease me via comments) said, "You have ONE pair of black pumps-no I don't think so." Well, she's right and wrong, and my black pumps made me have a total meltdown in Nordstrom last week where I tried on a ton of heels and then decided they were all kind of like something I owned, and instead bought nothing. These were left in a drawer. Ironically, I now also have buyers remorse over one pair. In the sense that I didn't buy them. My bla...

Late last fall I did something I never got around to sharing with the blog. I bought a pair of boots, but they weren’t cute. They were a pair of black, Sperry “Pelican,” knee high rain boots that fit my calves. I even bought the inserts to go with them so that I could wear them in the snow.  Leopard made them more tolerable. Winter was mild, and snow never really came, spring wasn’t that rainy, and summer has been a scorching bitch with little to no rain, so since last fall my traditional rubber rain boots, made by the company who is known for deck shoes, sailing and all things water, were barely ever worn.  So you can imagine my surprise when I wore them to work the other day (because it was finally raining) and they were hurting a spot on my ankle. I got to my desk, pulled them off and found that they had split apart along the seam and were ripping.  Apparently that’s what you get for $100 and deciding to look silly so you don’t ruin your shoes or clo...

I get lots of links, pictures and emails sent to me that all have the same thing in common. "You need these." Well, I don't have the money to buy every shoe I love, or that someone loves for me, and while I take gifts, shoes aren't exactly showering down on me. Therefore, I am pretty picky (seriously) about which shoes to buy. Assuming they're something vaguely classic and quality. Trendy, affordable shoes are all over my closet because apparently when it comes to something crazy that won't be in style next year, I have no self control. I'm trying to work on that. There are a few designers that I regularly obsess over who manage to do quirky twists on classic shoes, at which point I save my pennies, make an investment and love the shoes forever. John Fluevog is is one of my quality, quirky obsessions, and recently my sister sent me a link that came with the following message: "Um, hi. I know these are 'mens,' but I think you should ...

Nude heels are perhaps the most popular, and perplexing shoe to gain popularity recently. Suddenly known as the “must have" color, the question everyone asks the second they get them home and look at them next to their closet is, “What the hell do I wear these with?” I do that with pretty much every shoe I buy, so I know the feeling, which is probably why I get more emails about shoe pairings than anything else (except sales).  These  Jessica Simpson nude heels are the perfect shade.  Part of the trick to nude heels is to make sure you get them in patent, or another leather that doesn’t look like skin.  Otherwise the second you put them on you’ll look like a Barbie doll with no shoes on. (I love bringing Barbie into the mix). Also to be avoided is a color exactly like your skin tone, and nude heels with an undercurrent of orange. If you want orange shoes, buy orange shoes. There is no such thing as “neutral orange” (yes, someone tried to tell m...

Sometimes shoes wear out. It's a sad fact, but after years and years of being loved and worn on a regular basis they just start to wear down, and sometimes they get to the point where even a cobbler can't fix the problem. This weekend some of my favorites, which had been dying, long, painful deaths, were put to their final sleep (which is really the garbage cans behind my building). The pile of dead heels, and one flip flop Thor ate. A pair of my favorite heels was among the deceased was my red Nine West heels with the black and white piping around the edges. I bought these heels about a year after I got my first real job, and I spent all my grocery money on them and ate nothing but cereal for a week.  I also wore them constantly and with just about everything. Eventually the sling back was falling down, the leather was peeling, the heels were ripped up, and they were just sad looking. The gold heels were Jessica Simpson  , and were some of the first that came out...

I’ve been working pretty much non-stop for a couple weeks now, so when my husband suggested getting dressed up this weekend to attend the ’80s Champagne Retrospectical at Beauty Bar I kind of jumped at the chance thinking it was a great way to cut loose a little while drunkenly singing old Madonna songs in public. Plus I love that Beauty Bar has glittery walls. I've decided this color goes with everything. So we spent the afternoon running errands, shopping and watching a movie while I tried on pretty much everything in my closet that wasn’t on work rotation, looking for something that was ‘80s inspired, without being anachronistic. Finally I settled on a leopard print dress with a short circle skirt, and was secretly freaking out about what shoes to wear because I knew we were walking. Ultimately though it didn’t matter because when I finally put the dress on, I walked around a few minutes, and suddenly the fact that it was cheap and bought on sale reared its ugly discou...

July marks the unofficial beginning of barbecue season. Suddenly the rest of the summer is full of picnics, grilling, and drinking beers on friend's porches. Nautical inspired wedges While this is fun and all, it does pose the issue of suddenly aerating people's lawns, heels falling between slats of decks, and risking tripping on a crack of a pool deck and falling in. OK, so the last one has never happened to me, but I live in fear of it. So what's one to do to get through the whole summer without running around in dreaded flip-flops and being pocket size (or hobbit size) all summer? Super cute with just about anything.  Wedges. They're like cheating. You can walk, not fall through decks or into lawns, and get a little height. And they're more flattering to the profile than a pair of flatforms, which I just can't seem to get behind. The best part about wedges is that you can find pretty much any kind of them all summer, and they go with pretty ...