March 30 - t-strap replacement

What:  size 8W black patent t-straps
From:  Naturalizer (outlet)
Purchased:  January 4, 2011
Cost:  $24

My first shoe purchase of 2011 was almost my last shoe purchase of 2010!  On our holiday drive down to Florida, we did our first stop at the outlets in North Carolina, which is a prefect place to stop timing wise.  It would be more perfect if there was a playground and better eating options (a food court would be ideal, but no such luck), but there's enough room for the kids to run around, parents to stretch their legs, and there is a Dairy Queen with relatively diverse, semi-healthy (when compared to other fast food) options plus ice cream for a treat.  So of course I just popped into the Naturalizer outlet, and saw these shoes in my size on super sale.  I had just written about my loved, but incredibly worn t-straps - shoes that needed a lot of repair to even be wearable.  And so I came awfully close to buying these then, but the car was full, and I knew I'd have to write it down, and did I really even need them, anyway?  Plus, there are outlets by my parents - which we did visit once, but they did not have my size!  It happened that on our drive home in 2011 was timed such that the outlets were again a convenient place to stop, and so on my third outlet trip, safely into 2011, I couldn't resist them.

You know, one thing this shoe exercise has demonstrated is that while I have a LOT of shoes, I don't really have a lot of super duper fabulous shoes (like yesterday's diversion, yum).  Most of my shoes show a fair amount of wear, and there are many that are quite old.  I think of my orange/pink sandals - I LOVE them, but the fronts are really quite beat up.  Or my brown kitten heels - so worn they need another heel tap replacement, but meanwhile the pointy fronts are beat all to hell.  In a lot of ways, I should be getting rid of anything that isn't really in great shape, and focusing on only buying shoes that will be classics.  But there's no prying the pink/orange ones or the brown kitten heels away from me.

And even though these are patent and my well-loved and overly worn t-straps are plain leather, I bought these knowing I was going to give up the older pair. 

Bottom line:  Keeper, but discarding another!