Friday, February 4, 2011

My Fall Love

While exploring the streets of Barcelona and San Sebastian during a recent trip to Spain we encountered what felt like one Zara store every block. Right now there are 48 ZARA stores in United States. There are 329 in Spain. The usual toupes, browns, greens and neutrals were there in the typical semi-artistic sophisticated Spanish silloutte but what surprrised me was the shoe collection.
Every store seemed to have more than I have ever seen in the Zara stores in the US. Heeled boots, ankel boots, bluchers, platforms, wedges, stillettos, ballerina falts, sandals and they seemed to be well made. I fell in love with the plain toed brown leather bluchers for women. They were a perfect compliment to the Fall jewel tone tights I packed as well as reminding me of the color of Spanish cigars.
3 months later back in the States they are holding up pretty well- I am ready for the deep snow to melt so I can start wearing them again.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Warm Weather Classics

When I woke up this morning it was 6 degrees outside. My feet are layered under 2 pair of socks snuggled in a pair of boots. My mind wanders to summer, when my super white, super dry feet turn tan and lovely. If nothing else on my body turns golden the tops of my feet always will. I look in my closet to find a pair of my favorites.

My Ada Pleats Peep in Black are well worn, slightly roughed up, definitely in need of a fresh sole. The heel is only about 1.5 - 2 inches so one of the most comfortable city walking shoes shifting my weight ever so slightly. Around the toes 4 large pleats resemble petals and a very vintage look overall. Being all leather they do stretch, slightly more in the width. I was a little shocked to see that Frye makes them (known so well for their boots than their dainty peep toe heels.) I have had them for a year and a half now and still love them dressed up or dressed down. Whether dancing at a wedding in a dress or in jeans at a bar singing live band karaoke, I will never worry about hobbling home with blisters. I only wish Frye made some more vintage inspired shoes.

Monday, January 17, 2011

The Breaking Point

It snapped. I was strolling along in my new bright red sandals and all of a sudden could not take one step further. Painful to put any pressure on my foot, I hobbled around my vacation in Boulder, Colorado unable to figure out what had happened. I wasn't running, jumping, I wasn't drunk, nothing abnormal had happened. A bone had broken in the top of my foot that eventually two foot doctors later explained it like "a wine glass shattering when it barely taps something."

Sometimes you can find an old photograph of yourself and think wow, that feels like an entirely different person than me now, sometimes a pair of shoes can bring the same feeling. I bought these shoes at Shoe Market in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 2007. They are "Salt Water" sandals but that extremely hot summer the only salt water I would be walking in was rain mixing with sweat on the pavement. The sole is extremely rigid and inflexible but the actual shoe is very wide so its pretty comfortable. They actually sell the exact shoes to kids, so you feel like a little kid wallowing around.

I liked wallowing around, I liked to pretend to be carefree for a moment. I even stood up to the doctors for these shoes, saying no, it wasn't the shoes that broke my foot! I even wore them a couple more times after the break healed. And then, just like that my childhood was over. They broke me and I never showed them the ocean before I let them go.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Remembering When...

My first couple months in Real Estate I went home each night with new blisters. One hot sweaty late summer day (2008) after stepping off the curb wrong in Soho my ankle rolled and swelled to the size of a softball. It was time to buy some shoes that could take a beating.

These John Fluevog blue oxfords did just that. I walked to the store 2 blocks from my office on Broadway and Prince with my mother who was visiting. I was wearing gold oxfords with a hole in the sole of the shoe and enough said I thank my mom for this purchase.

Typically, I find Fluevog woman's shoes heavy. The high heels seem slightly inspired by Renaissance court jesters, slightly 1990's, the leather bulky but these blue oxfords were amazing and felt entirely different. The leather became as soft as skin, I never had to break them in, never got blisters, and received a million compliments. Okay, maybe the blue was like a clown shoe and matched my blackberry cover for a brief moment but these shoes were lucky. I made it through the worst Fall/ Winter recessions in Real Estate with money in savings. Replacement parts can be bought on Fluevog's website and their factory employees in Portugal and Poland work 8 hour days with 1 1/2 hr lunch break. Not bad, maybe I know what to do next.