You’ve got the dress. You’ve perfected the smoky eye trend. Your vintage purse is simply divine but those clumpy old black pumps with the heels wore down just do not complete the look. So where does a recessionista turn to when you’re a shoe-aholic working off bad credit?? The Italians (and Claire Bear) say that you should always match your shoes with your bag. Indeed, this has been a simple fashion rule that I have followed for years. I always remember, many moons ago, marveling at this hot blonde wearing an LBD and rainbow striped pumps. I’m not joking – they were genuinely rainbow striped pumps of the Castro variety. I, in all of my nineteen year old wisdom, thought they were AMAZING but I was assured by my slightly more mature and infinitely fashion wiser friend that she looked cheap and nasty. It wasn’t much long after this that I learned this to be a fashion faux pas of catastrophic proportions on the streets of Milan. Indeed, sadly as one gets that little bit more mature and softer in the hot bod department you come to realize that less truly is more. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve never followed the advice of taking one thing off before I leave the house (were I to do this I’d probably join the ranks of P Hilton and Britney Spears in the unfortunate and unflattering angle-photo department). Nonetheless, I have realized that garish colors and mis-matching pieces can often look just that – garish and mis-matching.
A great dress is one thing. But there are few feelings that parallel donning a really sexy pair of heels. I HATE flat shoes. The best they can ever be is cute. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m no stranger to strutting my stuff in them in a work environment or on a leisurely Sunday stroll but truth be told, us women all feel much sexier and stronger in a pair of killer heels. And men feel it too. There are certain shoes that evoke in men that ‘leave them on’ lust and trust me honey, that doesn’t come with a kitten heel.
So what I am about to disclose to you goes against the very ethos of this blog but here it goes – you need to spend money on shoes. There. I said it. Ladies, I do hate to admit it but it’s true. Now, I absolutely do not believe in spending money on fad shoes. A flowery espadrille or purple pump might go well with your specific look du jour but they’re not going to last you a lifetime. Think of Manolo Blahnik’s ‘Mary Jane’. Now that is a perfect shoe – sexy but still conservative, and above all insanely versatile. The only thing a shoe like that may not work with is a summer dress and let’s face it – there are a million $30 –a-pair of shoes at Marshalls or Target that will complete that look. Now if I were to pick a favorite shoe I’d have to go for the slick red-soled Louboutin. These shoes are simply – divine. I’ve been lucky enough to add a few of these babies to my wardrobe and wearing them is a guilty pleasure (I sometimes just wear them around the house). Now, I know – they are obscenely expensive but trust me, I get so much wear out of mine that it truly is worth it. One of the most sacreligious crimes a fashionista can commit is to not wear your more expensive items. Come on, we’re all guilty of it. You spend money on a pair of shoes and because they were so damn expensive you feel the need to only wear them on ‘special’ occasions. Au contraire, my friend, the reason why you bid adieu to your hard-earned American dollars is solely so you can enjoy the fruits of your labor. It’s not often that I truly splurge but the biggest pleasure that comes with splurging is of course to enjoy the item (or items in some cases) - even if it means wearing your Louboutins while doing the dishes.
My darling Recessionitas, if Carrie could live off Vogue for dinner, we can have Louboutins for lunch….
