Motorcycle/Engineer Boots

Frye Women's Engineer12R $199 from Shoes.com

I am certainly no biker chick and I've never driven a train/been good at physics, but I really want a pair of these boots. I think it's the small piece of me that still longs for the grunge 90's with the babydoll dresses, backpack purses and flannel shirts tied at the waist.

Sh-Booties?

Shoes? Nope. Boots? Not exactly. Either way, I'm on the prowl for a pair.

Frye Lisa Oxford Pump $158 from Shopbop.com; Nine West Naso $112.95 from Zappos (they do have them in black, but that gray is scrumptious!); Gentle Souls Janover $298.95 from Zappos; Etienne Aigner Nada only $69! from Piperlime

Frye Women's Lisa Shorty $249 from Shoes.com; Connie Women's Greta only $59.99 from Shoes.com; Farylrobin 'Vindica' Ankle Boot $174.95 from Nordstrom (temporarily out of stock); AROUND by Carvela (also come in black) £80 from Kurt Geiger

"I dole out justice with the tip of my boot..."

I've been having visions lately of walking out of my house in the morning and hearing frost crunch under my feet and seeing each puff of breath. Oh, how much I love winter. Although it's traditionally the season of bulky sweaters, dry skin and chapped lips, it's still my absolutely favorite season.

With the nearness of the chilly season, in addition to hunting for the perfect jacket, I also need a solid but sexy pair of boots to get me through snowflakes. As it seems to go for most every post, first there's my dream choices:

Luca Boot by Betsey Johnson, $295 from Nordstrom; Suede Ankle Boot by Christian Louboutin, $890 from Neiman Marcus; Dark brown military-button round-toe boots by Dolce & Gabbana, $929.99 from Bluefly

And then we have the feasible choices:

Juliette by Mia, $85.95 from Zappos.com; 'Jelly Donut' Ankle Boot by BC Footwear, $79.95 from Nordstrom; Morgan by Bronx Shoes, $119.65 from Zappos.com

Any of these would make an excellent 6th pair...

By 6th pair, I don't mean shoes in general...I just mean mary janes. For some reason I've always had a fascination with them and actually had to make a conscious effort to not buy any more for a while. But certainly if I had the dough, any of the shoes below from Chie Mihara would make a fantastic addition to my collection.

(top row) Oda Heel $338; Crio Heel $316; Gina Heel $316, (bottom row) Mihara Jane Heel $310; Fina Mary Jane $318; Mihara Gonda Heel $336

Found via Shoewawa

Settling for the Non-Shoegasm

Remember that $100 giftcard? Remember the absolutely adorable flats made by French Sole that were originally purchased with said giftcard?


Yeah, I love those shoes. Unfortunately for me, I need a size 10 in this style and Zappos completely ran out of 10's. I tried to wait until they got a new shipment, I really did, but unfortunately I could wait no longer and have purchased these flats by DKNY:



Also very cute, but no fantastic color as the French Sole flats.

Purchase!

I cracked and spent the $100 on the flats that I really love. Based on the advice by some previous shoppers, I ordered a 1/2 size up from the normal and so they had them in my size. I just adore this color!

Edit: Have to return them and get a full size larger. Thank goodness for Zappos free shipping!

Yeah! Free Shoes! Now what do I get?

I am having a shoe conundrum. It is well known that I am a very thrifty person (which is a nicer way of saying that I'm a cheap bastard) and recently I recieved a $100 gift card to Zappos.com from the wonderful Manolo the Shoeblogger.

Now comes the question of, what do I buy? Originally I thought I would buy a pair of shoes that were just fun, but now the other half of me (that thrifty half) is telling me to go on the cheaper side and get two pairs of shoes that I would actually wear. I think I have narrowed myself down to a sensible shoe (I do not own any black flats, and I think that needs to be rectified) and a more fun, but still wearable shoe (maybe a fun color? interesting cut?).

Here are some of my initial ideas for my new shoes:

The practical:

Dr. Scholl's - Step Up $72.95

The self improvement shoes:

Earth - Allure $112.95, MBT - Sport Low $248.95

The If-I-wanted-to-treat-the-gift-card-like-a-$100-off-coupon shoes:

(left to right) Cesare Paciotti - 9380101 $485.95, Sigerson Morrison - Belle $308.95, Ruthie Davis - DAVIS $283.00

Who knew it would be so hard to find some plain black flats? Zappos has an amazing selection of shoes, so that may be contributing to the problem. But still, whatever happened to classic cuts? I don't want a bow or a kitten heel, no pointed toes (I have big feet and I don't need help to make them look bigger), no sparkles, no grommets. Just a plain, black, rounded/almond toed flat that doesn't look like it came straight out of Grandma's closet. Here are the few that I have found:

The first (and my favorite) is the Sloop by French Sole. It looks so comfortable and so simple. The downside of it? It costs $98.95. That would mean only one pair of shoes with my gift. The second is the Keepsake by Steve Madden for $55.95. It also comes in a non-patent leather but borders on the Grandma side of the shoe spectrum. Lastly is Bees, also by Steve Madden for $69.95. The little bow isn't too cutesy that it detracts from the cut of the shoe so I could deal with it.

This is the part where everyone is thinking, just get the $100 one that you like, it's not like you're paying for it. And up until this point, I may have slightly for a minute thought about agreeing with you, until I found these:

The Rosina by Shellys London: They look amazingly comfortable, have a nice rounded toe, and come in this great teal color (or a purple) and at $45.95, I could get a pair of each color.

Now if only they had my size in all of the shoes mentioned...

My kind of workout shoes...

These are shoes that aren't just nice to look at and a bit on the sporty side, but they actually tone your legs and bum while you just walk around in them.

Sport Low by MBT $248.95 These would be the priciest ones out there. Supposedly they make you feel as though you are walking on sand all day. Notice that the soles are rounded, which I would think would burn a lot of fat just standing still and trying not to fall over.

Allure by Earth $112.95 The conscruction of these shoes is based on the toe being higher than the heel. Supposedly it gives you perfect posture and all day it's like you are walking up a hill. I definitely think that would tone, but I think I'd get pretty dern tired walking uphill all day.

Fit Flops (for sale at Running Bare) Currently selling for 36 pounds in the UK (approx. $72) All the rage in the UK right now, these are supposed to be very similar to MBT's, in that they feel like walking on sand all day. Bath and Body Works are supposedly carrying these, so I definitely want to try them out and see if I feel anything toning.

Kirsta says that I need to go crazy...

Here's some crazy/expensive shoes that I could buy...


(from left to right) Cesare Paciotti 938010 $484.95; Belle by Sigerson Morrison $308.95; DAVIS by Ruthie Davis $283.00


(from left to right) 1582 by Casadei $295.00; C10082 Lsxo 00 by Moschino $398.95; Debutante by Irregular Choice $129.56; Gypsey Girl by Irregular Choice $120.56

...if I didn't feel so bad about spending the cash on shoes that I would wear maybe once.

Naked shoes for naked people

Dopies, called the ultimate shoe by its creators, can barely be considered shoes at all. The strap can be taken out and all you're left with is the folded toe design that keeps your foot on the sandal. I really wonder how comfortable these are (although for $40, I'll probably keep wondering for a while.) Link