I am long done with S/S shopping for the year (which consisted of a bunch of gear upgrades, a Boden jersey dress, a linen top and midi skirt, mint green sneakers, and a lilac circle bag). On to fall! Ridiculous, I know, as the northeast heads into a stretch of days with a heat index of 100+... but hey. I stopped into a local shoe store today, with the intent of finding new water shoes for DS. Lo and behold, I came across these Ecco wedge boots on a clearance rack, a lonely pair in a size 40. I can't usually wear Ecco boots -- I've tried the Shape and Touch models and they're both too narrow in the toe. But this pair looked promisingly roomy and the leather is so, so soft.

I tried them on with a doubled-up pair of lightweight socks (to replicate my thicker winter socks) and they proved remarkably comfortable. They were also marked down quite a bit more than the Zappos price (see Find -- quite a few sizes left if anyone is interested and able to wrap their minds around cold weather shopping in the height of summer). Now, admittedly, I already have a pair of boots in almost the exact same colour and the same shaft height, just a smidge lower heel, but they are lace-up cap-toe boots -- totally different vibe (see second Find). I'm finding I can wear a burgundy boot pretty much any time I'd wear a black boot, so why not roll with it? Long story short, they came home with me and now I have something to look forward to wearing in a couple months. Sorry I can't do photos right now -- waiting on a replacement phone -- but it's too hot to do actual F/W stylings anyway.

I know a lot of people have sworn off out-of-season shopping -- I don't do nearly as much of it as I used to, but I've also come to realize that I have very specific, fairly consistent tastes that are not always easy to find from season to season. It is so, SO difficult for me to find footwear especially F/W footwear, that is both comfortable and aesthetically pleasing to me, and my need for boots is much higher than my need for fair-weather shoes, so I welcome serendipitous scores like these. And now I have something to look forward to wearing in a few months.