April 2 - can't resist a bargain

What:  size 8 nude mules with kitten heel
From:  Talbots (outlet)
Purchased:  early 00s?
Cost:  cheap.  Box says $30, but I distinctly recall they were so cheap I could not pass them up - at least 50% off, maybe 60%, maybe 75%.  We'll say $15 since I can't remember. 

Another in the never worn category, which drives me crazy.  These were so cheap I snapped them up, but honestly.  I never wore nude shoes in the 00s, I have no idea what I thought I'd wear them with, and they've been in that box for a long, long time.  I do like mules, though they seem to have gone completely out of style.  And they do have a nice low heel, and the footbed in nicely padded.  Sigh, oh well, perhaps I can find a way to wear them.  (Seriously, why is there no resale market for unworn shoes?  I should really think more about ebay). 

Bottom line:  keeper, I guess

March 24 - blue peeps need fashion advice

What:  size 8.5 nude peep toes with blue suede band and gold buckle
From:  Talbots (outlet)
Purchased:  fall '08
Cost:  Hmm.  $35

Last week I was writing about what I thought was the last of the shoes in the shoe wardrobe, but then these caught my eye.  So now finally here are the last of the shoes from my shoe wardrobe piece of furniture.  I liked these a lot from the spring '08 line at Talbots, and watched for them at the outlet.  The 8s were waaay too tight, and even these 8.5s pinch a wee bit on the sides, but they're definitely wearable.  I bought another pair of shoes from this line at super discount the next spring. 

Last week I wrote they matched a pair of pants that needed to be hemmed, and I was going to wear them, but big surprise did not get around to hemming the pants.  But I really thought I had the makings of a good outfit, so gathered it all up together.  Taupe pants, navy tshirt, and taupe jacket with gold thread (a 100% Talbots outfit, which I actually try not to do, but you go with what you have - oh I'd also wear gold jewelry and that's not Talbots, so whew.).  But now I'm not sure, so I need fashion advice.  The taupe of the shoe, the jacket, and the pant are slightly different.  (Taupe is a color that bedevils me and my trying-to-surpress-matchy-matchy mindset.)  I think the shoes might go with the pant (though it's a little questionable), and the shoe does go with the jacket.  But not sure the jacket and pant go?  

Maybe I need to hem the pants and put it all on and see?  Because they're all just neutrals that cancel each other out, letting the navy and gold pop?  Because if it does work it is a great outfit for Spring (hmm, Easter?).  I think it might work better (though certainly more casual) with jeans.  So if these pants aren't the right pants for the outfit, what would work?  Slightly more khaki-colored pants?  Not navy pants, then I'd need a different top?  What friggin' color would the top be, then, with navy pants?  (White dress shirt?)

What do you think of the outfit?  And if not that outfit, how would you wear these shoes? 

Bottom line:  shoes are keepers, though not sure how to wear

And a big PS.  I am starting to get nervous.  So by the end of February, I had shown 157 pairs of shoes + 24 days so far in March = 181.  The big shoe sort is scheduled for April 8, so 15 more days.  Will I finish going through the shoes in 15 more days?  I am not sure I will.  Off the top of my head I can count at least 12 more pairs, easy, and that's not all of them!  Do I have 200 PAIRS OF SHOES IN MY HOUSE??!!  Gulp.  Even with the 25+ already discarded, that is a freaking large amount of shoes.  I half-watched an author on the Today Show this morning talk about her new book, Lost and Found: Unexpected Revelations about Food and Money.  I may have to get this book (from the library!). 

Ok, but when I think of this more calmly, I think of spending $600 a year on shoes, and in the grand scheme of things, that's not really all that terribly much.  Not chump change, but as TSM tells me, if this is my hobby, I'm not spending more than many other people on their hobbies.  And, given that I never get rid of anything, the accumulated piles should not be that surprising.  But it does make me pause in that we live in a 1600 square foot house (not counting attic or basement, which pushes it up to probably close to 2800 square feet).  I will get through these shoes, eventually.  And then I will commit to decluttering again.

March 14 - nude slingbacks redux

What:  size 8 nude/taupe slingbacks
From:  Talbots (outlet)
Purchased:  mid-late 00s
Cost:  guessing about $24 but really not sure

So, going through the shoes in my underbed thing which holds brown shoes.  Nude shoes are HOT right now - I've gotten a bunch of spring e-mails/catalogs that have entire pages devoted to nude shoes, so I'm glad I'm sorting them all out.  Prior to this current nude trend, I would have called these taupe-colored, and quite honestly I've never known what to really wear with them.  I have a skirt that sort of matches this color, but now that nudes are everywhere, I have a lot more options.  Except for the fact that I am a color person, not a nude person.  (I was looking at a catalog yesterday from Restoration Hardware and I had to put it down because it was giving me a headache because every page was so bland and neutral - photo after photo of gorgeous furniture just crying out for a throw pillow or something in a color other than some shade of sand/taupe/khaki/brown). 

Anyway, last week I put a different pair of older nude slingbacks into this underbed shoe thing, and looking at them today I just thought - what is the difference in these two shoes?  The older ones a little bit cheesy and frumpy with the bow, so I think they are going to go.  Funny how sorting shoes out by color/style/season illustrates my overlaps!  Cannot wait til April 8th and the big shoe sort!

Bottom line:  Keeper

February 5 - nude slingbacks

What: size 8 nude slingbacks with bow and 2 inch heel
From: Talbots (outlet)
Purchased: late 90s
Cost: $20

Another pair I have had forever, wore the heck out of, and yet haven't worn in years. I used to wear these with a long black skirt that has gold thread flowers, plus a camel/gold-ish twinset. I think the twinset bit the dust a while ago, and I can't imagine wearing that skirt. But, suddenly, nude shoes are very, very in. These shoes border on frumpy, though. But yet, my underbed shoe thing? I store brown shoes in it, and it had a few open slots. So under the bed these go, for now.

Bottom line: keeper

October 24 - I did a bad, bad thing

On October 5th, I did my September tally of shoes, and typed I had bought 16 pairs of shoes this year, more than many of my friend own in total. I was thinking about this, and reviewing my purchases, wondering what I might do differently. Were there any purchases I regret making?

I hate the rain boots, but that was a good purchase for that specific time.

I really did not need the gold strappy sandals, but they are cool and I don't regret buying them. They'll never go out of style.

I regret purchasing the ballet flats and flip flops when it turns out they were marked down the very next day - if I had bought at $25 and $12, I wouldn't have any regrets whatsoever (even if the flip flops are crippling me). The extra $23 spent bugs me, but not the shoes themselves.

I kind of regret the platinum wedges, since I really wanted gold sandals and I convinced myself they were gold when they really aren't.

I've worn, and thus written about, 14 of them, with still 2 to go (they are both suede, so waiting suitable weather and occasion - stay tuned, they are teed up for sometime in the next two weeks, I think).

So then I started wondering if there were any shoes I wish I had purchased. Any regrets for shoes eyed, but not bought? And only one popped to mind - the nude peep toe slingbacks.

And so, when I found myself in the Talbots outlet, presented with an opportunity, I must now confess my 17th purchase this year:
What: Size 8.5 nude lizard print peep toe slingbacks with 3.25 inch heel
From: Talbots (outlet)
Purchased: October 2010
Cost: $16

Dude, they were $16! And I regretted not buying them! I could not pass them by. Even though 8.5 is a little big on these, but I can tighten the back. I likely won't have a chance to wear them in 2010, so had to confess my purchase here. If I want to stop purchasing (which I must clarify is not actually something I really want to stop doing, I mostly just feel slightly greedy and wasteful with so many pairs of shoes), I need to stay out of the stores.

Bottom line for these: a total keeper, have to think of ways to wear them next spring/summer

The real bottom line: I'm going to buy more than 20 pairs this year. I want a pair of tall black boots, and I am desperately craving a pair of gray booties, though I am really trying to talk myself out of them. It feels....excessive. That's what I feel when I think about my shoes. I love the vast majority of them, and am glad I own them, but my shoe collection feels excessive.

And, it's difficult to count with all my posts, but I do believe this is the 100th pair of shoes I've written about. Which means I have another 70 or so to go, but I have to say, I don't feel like I have 70 more shoes to be worn. I feel like there is 20, maybe 25, remaining, but what that really means is I am holding onto shoes I never wear and will likely never wear and I MUST get rid of them. I'm looking at you, (most of the) top shelf of my closet and rack in Elizabeth's room.

August 5 - nude trend

What: Size 8 light tan (nude) strappy sandals, 3.25 inch heel
From: Talbots (outlet)
Purchased: fall '07 -spring '08
Cost: $25

Not sure of exact cost, just a guess based on outlet purchase. I started noticing, around 2007, a lot of 'nude' shoes, worn with any possible color, even black. It's a definite trend - the idea is they blend in so that your legs look longer (rather than shoe, leg, outfit, your eye sees legs, outfit, without a visual break). The trend is peaking now - nude shoes are everywhere. One thing I love about bargain shopping is often you can grab something before it really jumps in popularity, and then the next year you're trendy. The reverse is true - you can get too far behind the curve in trendiness if you buy super trendy stuff leftover at the end of the season, which means it's leftover because the trend is super saturated and over. Fine line. You just have to luck into it, I think, or buy things that suit you and if suddenly you're trendy, well, a stroke of luck!

These are nice sandals, and I'm going to admit I was skeptical of the trend, but I've grown to like the look. Would I wear these with a simple black dress? Maybe - and I am super conservative in the mixing of black/brown (ie, I almost never do it). I wouldn't wear them with black pants. I'd probably wear them with almost any color skirt/dress, and only earth tone pants. (hmm, maybe that will help me style these cream shoes a little bit better.) I've not worn these much - 2 or 3 times. I wore them in May 2008 for a really disastrous meeting, which I how I can pinpoint the purchase. Oh well, had fun in them today, though they are a bit tight.

Speaking of, I tried on these shoes at Talbots on Sunday. For my pale skin, this is really a nude color, but maybe the nude trend is really best with a light tan. Anyway, at $32 now, a real bargain. Liked them a lot, but I was already buying two pairs so left them on the shelf. Hmm.



Bottom line: Keeper

June 6,7,8 - repeat, bare, pros

Catching up - Sunday June 6 we were suppsoed to be camping and I had brought ratty flip flops, but we bailed on camping in favor of airconditioned dorm, so I just rewore the orange espadrilles.

Monday June 7 I worked from home, and went barefoot all day long

June 8
What: 2.5 inch heeled cream peep toes
From: Circa Joan and David, Lord and Taylor
Purchased: January '08
Cost: $25

The first of the 5-shoes-in-one-month extravagance. Andrew was only 2 months old, I wasn't working (or even had a job!), in was January and fairly nice but a little cold, so to get out of the house I would head up to Friendship Heights and walk around a mix of stores and outdoors. Sadly for my (I have no money or job) budget, Lord and Taylor had some fabulous shoes for sale for super cheap and I could not resist them. And over the course of the month, bought 5 pairs, each less than $25, each fabulous and great, but still, a totally ridiculous extravagance for someone who didn't know if she was going to be able to go back to work anytime in the near future. Luckily it worked out.

I had seen these shoes over Christmas in both darker brown and this cream, and pointed them out to my sister who hated them and said they looked like granny shoes. I have to admit, I have a slight weakness for things that look a little 'granny' and fussy and I loved the buckles. I used to believe that you should not wear shoes that are lighter in tone than your outfit (I rarely wear white shoes, either before or after Labor Day!), but I've been slowly convinced that 'nude' shoes are flattering, so during my winter weakness I could not resist how cheap these were. They are also very comfortable. So yesterday for my work meeting, I decided to break them out. I bet it's only about the 5th wearing they've had. I love them, but still unsure of what they really go with, besides brown pants, with a lighter top that's cream, not white. I'm not entirely as adventurous as I claim to be.

Bottom line: keeper! Must find new outfits with which to wear.