I’ve posted many a tip and trick about footwear over the years. I’ve summarized the most practical ones below for easy reference. Follow the link on each title for more detail. 

1. Save your feet with heel cups and cushions: The heel cushion or cup lifts the back of the foot, preventing the uncomfortable rubbing and blisters caused by closed shoes like loafers, sneakers, flats and pumps. Heel cushions or cups can also reduce rubbing in ankle strap shoes by changing the position of the strap on the ankle.
2. Wear no-show socks or nude knee-highs with cropped jeans: Cropped pants and boyfriend jeans that are rolled at the hem often look best without socks. But since wearing socks is more comfortable and insulating, wear no-show ankle socks, footies or nude-for-you knee highs to fake the barefoot look. 
3. Transition your feet into Summer with a pedicure and shorter sandal wears: Pedicures keep your foot skin and toenails healthy, as well as toughening up your feet. And break in your Summer sandals slowly so that your feet get used to wearing the style all over again. 
4. Clean light footwear with moist wipes, a magic eraser, or nail polish remover: Moist wipes remove grime a lot more successfully than you might expect. Light-coloured suede shoes are best cleaned with a moist magic eraser. And nail polish remover is particularly effective at removing black marks on white or light leather.  
5. Repair scuffed black footwear with a sharpie pen: The result isn’t perfect but it can take the edge off the scuff marks by making them darker and less noticeable. 
6. Order narrow size sandals for low volume feet: Failing that, size down half a size in regular sandals to fit a narrow foot. Also, choose design details like smaller peep-toes, closed toes and open backs, more vamp coverage and ankle straps, to help secure the sandals to the foot. 
7. Switch out your footwear after the commute: Don’t let rain, snow, slush or a long walk to and from work ruin your style. Wear comfy and sensible footwear on your commute and change into the right shoes for your outfit once you’ve reached your destination. 
8. Weatherproof suede and leather with weatherproofing spray: Weatherproofing spray will not waterproof your shoes, but it will make them more resistant to damp weather and stains. It’s especially effective on delicate suede.
9. Stretch footwear with a shoe stretching kit or with ice: Get a shoe stretching kit, which uses spray and shoe horns to stretch certain areas of the shoe. Or fill two plastic ziplock bags with water. Place the bags of water in each of the shoes and freeze them. After a day or two, allow the ice to thaw and remove the bags. Voila. Stretched shoes. 
10. Stretch the toebox of your shoes with potatoes: Place a spud in the opening of the shoe and push it in hard and tight. Leave it in there for a couple of days to stretch the toebox. This method works best with soft leather. 
11. Stretch your shoes with wet feet: This is my favourite shoe stretching technique because it stretches the shoe all over. The trick is to wet your feet, put on the shoes and walk around in them for an hour or two. It’s a little squelchy but you get used to it. Walk around at home, or take them out for a spin. Repeat the process a few times and you’ll find that the leather stretches over time and molds to the shape of your feet.
12. Bodyglide prevents blisters: Bodyglide is an anti-chafing balm that you can rub quite liberally onto the areas of your feet that are blister-prone before putting on your shoes. Reapply after four or five hours if necessary. It’s a miracle balm for my own feet. 
13. Six footwear travelling tips: Resist the temptation to take brand new shoes — broken in footwear only. Pack multiple pairs so that you have backup in case something happens to your shoes or feet along the way. Travel in your bulkiest shoes to save suitcase space. Build your travel capsule from the footwear up so that you don’t compromise on comfort and outfit styling. Take the dressy shoes for the dressy outfit, and use Bodyglide.
14. Wear your socks inside out to prevent the seams from rubbing: That way the fabric around your toes is smooth. No ridge seam means less rubbing. 
15. Prevent heel slippage in boots by adding inserts under the footbed of the shoe: The inserts close the gap between your heel and the footbed by taking up some of the space. This is especially effective for wide feet with narrow heels. 

Feel free to add to the list in the comments below.

If your affinity for colour mixing is relatively high, combining eggplant with burgundy is a walk in the park. Finish off the look with grey footwear and bag, and you’re good to go. Add blue or grey jeans to the mix if adding a second neutral will make you feel more comfortable with the palette. 

Combine burgundy and eggplant in any way at all. Silver footwear will work as well as grey. If you don’t have grey or silver footwear, think cognac, taupe, burgundy, eggplant or dark brown. Black will work when you bookend the look with black hair. Think both in solids and patterns. Here are two renditions to get you started.

Burgundy Bottoms, Eggplant Top and Grey Accents

Pair burgundy jeans or trousers with an eggplant top. Add grey boots and bag, and a grey, burgundy or eggplant topper. Add a scarf in the same palette. I’ve shown a casual combination, but by all means make it business casual.  

Eggplant Bottoms, Burgundy Top and Grey Accents

Combine an eggplant skirt with a burgundy blouse or sweater, and add grey boots and bag. Sheer black or grey hosiery is a good match for this palette. Add a purple or dark red blazer as a third piece, and/or a topper in grey, burgundy or eggplant. Add jewellery, eyewear, scarves, belts, watch and headgear as desired. 

Feel free to pair a burgundy dress with a purple cardigan. Or a grey dress with a purple cardigan and burgundy bag. Get those creative juices flowing and play dress-up in your closet.

Solid, dark-coloured socks may be the more practical option, but I’ve had a soft spot for patterned, colourful socks for as long as I can remember. After reading En Brogue’s Snazzy Socks Guide I’m eager to welcome them back into my wardrobe and even try to make them an integral part of my outfit once in a while.

This StyleCaster roundup offers more fun sock suggestions. I bet map lovers will like the NYC Mytropolis socks (slide 14).

Racked has some tips on how to wear socks with sandals this Winter.

Finally, searching for “snazzy socks” on Pinterest yields lots of results. Looking at all these happy socks made me smile.

Fab Links from Our Members

Beth Ann says that if she had a place to wear this light-up dress, she would definitely do so.

And if she had a dress form, one of these would be adorning her parlour.

Sally discusses the concept of “modesty”. Angie thought the arguments for and against using the word as an adjective to describe your style were fascinating, and the opinions in the comments section are worth a read too. It’s a heavy discussion, so consider yourself warned!

Annagybe found this BBC broadcast about the history of the T-shirt very interesting.

Lyn67 was surprised to see what happened when female graphic designers in 18 countries were given an image of a woman with the brief to Photoshop her into the ideal woman.

For 2016, Pantone has picked two colours of the year: Rose Quartz and Serenity. Joy found Janice’s tips on how to use these pale colours helpful.

Rather than another formal dress, I was determined to purchase versatile separates for my 2015 holiday look. My fancy ink blue lace frock and watermelon sheath have a high longevity factor because of their retro and classic integrities, but they’re special occasion items that don’t see much action. Versatile holiday separates on the other hand, can be dressed down when remixed with denim and a more casual support act. That way I can get more bang for my fashion buck. 

Back in September I fell in love with an outfit that J.Crew showed at New York Fashion Week for Fall 2015. Non-traditonal, equal parts dressy and casual, and sufficiently festive. The vibrant colour combination made my heart go pitter patter. The modern pairing of chunky oversized pullover with dressy skirt is unique. The retro vibe of the skirt is in line with my love for Retro Futurism, and at a knee-covering length. The versatility of the pieces means that they can be dressed up or down. I pounced on the yellow Italian stretch turtleneck sweater and peach collection A-line Italian wool blend midi skirt as soon as I saw them online, hoping that the outfit would work out. 

The pullover arrived and I was wowed by its impeccable quality, substantial weight, saturated colour, and fit. I also loved the angular cut of the exaggerated raglan sleeves. It’s the highest quality item of knitwear I’ve seen all year. I was keeping it even if I didn’t like it matched with the skirt because Greg loved the pullover even more than I did! He was especially enamoured by the sporty luxe exposed back zipper, which is gold (my metal of choice). 

The skirt arrived and I was as impressed with the fit, colour and quality. I love the tie on the waist, sheen on the fabric, and the more interesting A-line silhouette. I was a little concerned that the front slit would expose too much skin and be drafty as I stride, but it’s fine. The length is perfect and the fit not overly tight. 

I put the look together just like it was on the model, tying the bow in the same way and semi-tucking the pullover into the front of the skirt. On first look in the mirror I loved it. But when I looked again, I had doubts. I have neither the height nor the broad shoulder line of the model, and I was worried that it overwhelmed my slight frame. I was already in the smallest size of the oversized pullover, so I couldn’t size down.

• 1 Apple Green Specs
• 2 Collection Italian stretch turtleneck sweater — $228.00
• 3 Collection A-line midi skirt in Italian wool blend — $298.00
• 4 Ophelia
• 5 Metallic Fold Over Clutch Bag — $33.00

Custom Find

by Angie

View Info

1

J.Crew

Collection Italian stretch turtleneck sweater

$228.00 $149.99

Sale

View Info

Top Pick

2

16

J.Crew

Collection A-line midi skirt in Italian wool blend

$298.00 $159.99

Sale

View Info

Top Pick

3

14

ASOS

Metallic Fold Over Clutch Bag

$33.00

View Info

Top Pick

5

11

6PM.com

Aquatalia Ophelia

View Info

Top Pick

4

13

Go to Outfit Collection Page

I also tried the skirt with a much more fitted, fine gauge J.Crew citron pullover for comparison. The combination was lovely and probably more in proportion with my frame – but not nearly as special and I didn’t feel as fab. Greg was disappointed that the fitted citron pullover didn’t have the sporty exposed back zipper. So I put the oversized yellow pullover back on with the skirt and surprisingly, Greg and I liked that version best after all! I did a better job of scrunching the sleeves to add structure to the outfit, which made quite the difference. Sometimes you need to compare a few outfit combinations to be sure that the first option was best. 

Instead of completing the outfit with floral footwear and bag like J.Crew showed at fashion week, I put my own spin on the look with rose gold pumps and clutch. I could have shopped my closet and opted for yellow gold party shoes and clutch, but the metallic wasn’t as nice with the peach and yellow. The orange-y shade of rose gold is a prettier complement. And since I’ve been wanting to add rose gold accents to my wardrobe for a while, I was lucky to find the Aquatalia Ophelia stappy pumps on deep discount, and an inexpensive clutch from ASOS that was a perfect match with the shoes. I love the dainty straps on the pumps, and like the angular simplicity of the clutch. Nude hose (a tad darker than my skin tone), apple green specs, watch and wedding ring are all I need in the accessory department. 

I’ll be moving from heated house to heated car to heated venue when wearing this outfit, so I won’t need a coat to top things off. It’s going to be awfully fun wearing a Spring-coloured outfit in the middle of Winter, which is what attracted me to the pieces in the first place. Modern Ladylike Retro in vibrant colours makes me happy.