I have been thinking a lot lately about various aspects of my style, and I have many more posts coming, especially as I need to continue with the deeper analysis of various style-related aspects I have recently started. One of the biggest realizations has been about the importance of shoes in my wardrobe.
What I have realized is that, with a low budget, a wardrobe that is in the middle of a huge and long update, and with a Style Persona that (while not figured out yet completely) contains a huge percentage of Trendy Fashionista, purchasing a couple of pairs of very trendy and very comfy shoes each and every season should be the imperative in my style and shopping goals.
This has become evident after Spring/Summer season of 2013 ( Fall was more complicated due to some very unexpected and huge complications in my life in general, though there were similarities when it comes to shoes). I have purchased quite a few pairs of shoes that season. It quickly became apparent that, for work ( no open toed shoes allowed), I was reaching for the same two pairs most of the time: a pair of white metal-capped slipper loafers and a pair of black pointy mini-wedges. I was probably wearing those two pairs about 70% of the time. A close third were the white mini-wedge Converses, with maybe 15% of the time. The remaining 15% of the time was spent between all the other new and old shoes. What those two star pairs of shoes had in common was that they were very trendy and very comfy at the same time, both of the characteristics that made me reach for them over and over again. Moreover, they perfectly complemented each other when it comes to color and style. Most of the outfits I wore were perfectly finished by one or the other pair, sometimes by both.
Also, and this will be a matter of a separate post, I am very hard on my shoes. I scrape and scuff them in no time, destroy the heel etc. I am very bad when it comes to going to the cobbler. All more the reasons to replace shoes frequently.
A note to this is that, in the Fall/Winter, my work and non-work shoe (and clothes) wardrobe have a huge overlap. In the Spring/Summer though, the opposite is true, as many things that make most sense climate wise: open toed shoes, skirts, shorts, dresses etc. are not allowed at work. Hence I rarely wear out of work what I wear to work. Ideally, what I would love to add each Fall/Winter season are two pairs of work appropriate boots/booties, a pair of work appropriate shoes, and a pair of shoes for out of work (e.g. party ones). For each Spring/Summer I would love to add 2-3 pairs of closed toed yet airy work appropriate shoes, a pair of casual flat-ish sandals for running around and a pair of dressier higher-heeled sandals. Sadly, my budget would not be able to handle all these shoes, as I would spend it all on shoes only and nothing would be left for clothes!
So, for both seasons, I have decided that absolute musts are two pairs of trendy and very comfy work-appropriate shoes/boots, that need to be carefully chosen to go with whatever clothes styles and colors I plan to focus on that season. They also need to complement each other maximally. In the spring season I will probably be able to add a pair of sandals as well, though I will have to choose between a casual and a dressy option, unless I am supper lucky to find both pretty deeply discounted.
And finally, I think that I may already have the first pair for the upcoming spring season. I bought them deeply discounted a month or so ago, the two-piece pointy style is one of the trends for the upcoming season ( I think) and the nude colors blends well with my skin tone. I wore them for a few hours around my apartment and they feel heavenly. This flat but not exactly flat (very tiny wedge) type of shoes seems to work very well for my feet.
http://www1.bloomingdales.com/.....goryID=169
