April 1 - glen plaid

What:  size 8 glen plaid/black leather mini-t straps
From:  Talbots
Purchased:  mid 90s
Cost:  $39

Another pair of shoes that make me smile!  And another for the history books, too - this is the very first pair of shoes I ever bought from Talbots, and when I got them I considered them super special and only for fancy/formal work occasions.  I loved them.  But, when I was working at SW, we used to work with a woman based in another city.  Every single time we saw this woman - every time - she was wearing a glen plain jacket.  Every time.  We only saw her in work situations, and usually just one day at a time, but it became a little joke among us, and so since I only wore these shoes in work meetings, there was no way I could wear them with our own little insider glen plaid joke hanging out there, so they've barely gotten any wear the past ten years.  I don't know why I didn't pull them out after leaving SW in 2004, perhaps it was too ingrained.  I actually really like glen plaid, and all these years later perhaps I can resurrect it.  The heels are a little bit chunky, but these could still work today.  There's a bit of wear on the front of one, but not terribly so. 

Bottom line:  keeper!

March 31 - brown t-straps

What:  light brown t-straps with punch out detailing
From:  Ann Taylor LOFT
Purchased:  2006
Cost:  $20

So these are the twin of my very worn brown kitten heels, but sadly these have never been worn.  I don't know why - it's an odd color, I think, so light, and I just am never sure what to wear with them.  I also think t-straps have an old fashioned appeal, so I guess I need some sort of vintage-y looking outfit in light brown.  Hmmm.  Maybe light trousers with a cream shirt and lacey cream trouser socks....hmm, wait a sec, now that I think about it I have the perfect outfit for these!  It's a skirt/cream blouse combo, but the skirt is perhaps a darker shade of brown - more of a golden sand color.  I tell you, shades of brown really are tough for me.  But the perhaps bigger issue is it's a size or two too small.....oh well.  And today is a jeans and sweatshirt day, anyway. 

I once wrote I need a more glamorous life to match my shoes, and TSM constantly says I'm far too stylish for some of my more frumpy shoes, but the reality is the majority of my life is spent looking pretty blah.  But maybe I should take a page from What Not to Wear and up my game a little bit.

Bottom line:  Keeper, but I am challenging myself to wear these in the next two months

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!

December 10 - t-straps

What: Size 8 t-strap pumps with 2.5 inch heels
From: Naturalizer (outlet)
Purchased: mid 90s, '96 or '97
Cost: can't remember, but those clearance racks at Naturalizer outlet have been very, very good to me over the years, so I will make an educated guess at $18

Oh I have had and loved these shoes a long time. I just like the old fashioned look to them. My favorite outfit to wear with them is a teal suit, with a long slim skirt and color blocked jacket. I also wore them to Elizabeth's baptism with a black sweater set and black patterned skirt.

Sadly, they have become quite worn, and the heel on one has come completely off.
So they'd need some repair. But they are really comfortable. But, in a fashion sense, nude hose have really become a fashion don't over the past few years, and you really have to wear hose with these. And they are quite worn. But I can't give them up just yet.

Bottom line: repair pile

*edited to add:  discarded, because I later bought a new pair of t-straps as a replacement.  Farewell, old friends!