Venturing into Frivolity
I thought long and hard before I made this statement, and I can say it for fact: I’ve never made a whimsical shoe purchase in my life. I go to shoe stores for specific purposes, whether it’s boots, flats or pumps. My shoes are always comfy, and yeah, they have to look nice, but because they’re also practical, they’re usually black or brown.
For the past few weeks I’ve been hunting for flats. I am so picky with flats – I demand good arch support as well as supple heels, and the last pair I had tore my heels to shreds until, in a fit of pique, I left them behind in New Zealand. (Obviously, it hadn’t occurred to me to buy those little pads, but oh well.) And now I needed flats for work, black, nice, but ultimately boring.
Naturalizer has usually worked well for me, comfort combined with style. And I found my flats, which are crazy comfortable and don’t scratch, and are nice enough to double up as work casual as well as every day. And they were on sale. Perfection!
However, what I hadn’t bargained on was a second pair: The wedges above. I have coveted – and I mean, coveted – wedges for ages, but I never got around to it because I never needed them, and managed to talk myself out of them. But I saw this pair, and as the French say, j’ai craqué. I just fell for them. I swear I walked back and forth three times before taking the plunge, but I couldn’t help it. They just sat there, smirking at me, as if to say, “We know you want us. And we know you don’t want to want us. And you sure as hell don’t need us. But we’re damn cute, and you better snatch us up before someone else does.” And I did.
These are last season’s shoes, and I think cork is in now, rather than straw. And I’m sure there are more colourful, frivolous shoes in the world. But they’re my frivolous shoes now.
Do you buy unnecessary shoes? Any particularly memorable ones?
– Jean AAR
Those wedges are so cute, jean! I tend to be relatively practical with my shoe purchases. Comfort is important for me, but I also look for cute additions. So I do have some sparkly, ribbon-decorated comfortable flats and low heels.
I’ve never bought a pair of wedges before, but will definitely be picking some up this summer.
@robinc – Blue and silver – they sound awesome. Go for it!
@xina – I have 3/4″ on you, but I don’t mind my height. Besides, I’m on my feet all day at work, and I can’t wear anything over an inch tall heeled, even wedges, if I’m walking and standing for such a long period.
I actually bought a pair of black Anne Klein Sport 1″ wedges which I LOVED – they are super comfortable, and fashionable and formal and elegant and just totally versatile without being super ugly – but they were also twice my budget, and I tried them out at home, walking around, doing stuff for four hours, and by the end my arches ached. Not badly, but they did. So I returned them. Very sad about it.
That last sentence…”Do you buy unnecessary shoes?” Ah…yeah. Hell yeah! :) **sigh** I love shoes. I have more pairs than I can count, and I’m not always proud of it, but there it is. I cannot embrace the flats though because I am only 5’2″ and want a bit of height. I love wedges, heels, boots..love them all. Right now I need a new pair of running shoes. Mine really need to be replaced. They are probably the most important shoe in my wardrobe, and the last one I will look for.
You’ve inspired me. I have 5 pairs of shoes: a pair of sneakers, 2 pairs of flats (black&brown), and 2 pairs of low heels (also black & brown). There’s a pair of awesome blue and silver sandals in the store window down the street; I’ve walked by them twice every day for the last 3 weeks. I’ve been craving them like chocolate. I don’t need them; I don’t even have anything they will match. But here I go!!!!
Dabney – Purple lucite shimmery heels with cherries and peep toes. I had to Google lucite before I knew what you were talking about, and I’m still not a hundred percent sure. Is it the satiny material?
kathy – Yeah. I fell hard. And I don’t regret them a bit.
I think those shoes are absolutely adorable Jean!! It’s about time!
Well, I wouldn’t say I buy unnecessary shoes. That said, including boots, but excluding tennis shoes, I have 75 pairs….
I have several pairs of outrageous shoes. I wish I could post pictures of them. I have one pair I think of as my Carmen Miranda shoes–they have purple lucite shimmery heels and a bunch of cherries right about their peep toed openings. I have another pair that are super high wedges and the wedges are covered in gold and brown patterned lame. I have a pair of deep bottle green ankle boots with three inch heels that I wear with jeans and always get compliments on. I have shoes that are 25 years old–one pair I wear all the time I bought right after my second son was born–he’s 18 and a half!
I love shoes. There’s just no getting around it. They are a real weakness of mine.