Shoe Dilemmas

It is so nice when someone asks me to address an issue in my blog. Stacy brought up the myriad dilemmas many women face when it comes to shoes. I'll address a few of them here. Please let me know what your shoe dilemmas are.

1. The perfect shoe. Why is it that when we look for a shoe, we often expect it will serve every purpose? We want the shoe to go with pants and dresses, be casual yet dressy, comfortable and fashionable, and something we can wear all year. Sheesh! What a tall order! The shoe which can cover all bases and can be worn in all situations does not exist, so consider buying more than one pair of shoes, one you need the most now, and the other later.
For example, I have been on a quest for some black pumps though I get distracted thinking I can also use some cute black casual shoes. This leads me to wander around Nordstrom, expecting to find a shoe that is pump-esque but works as a flat as well. I NEED two pairs of shoes!

2. Comfort and Fashion. I touched on this above, intentionally using the word "and." In the past, shoes were comfortable or they were cute. Nowadays, women can have both. Look in magazines and notice what shoes you like. With that picture in mind, look for shoes like them, focusing on soft soles, padding around the heel, a wide toe box, and a breathable (natural) material. A quick search on Zappos turns up hundreds of options. Some brands I feel do a superb job with combining comfort and great style are: Sofft, Paul Green, Born, UGG, Me Too!, and Cole Haan.

3. Old Shoes: Nothing can bring a beautiful outfit down like a crummy old pair of shoes. I see it all the time: great pants, nice shirt, lovely scarf, and scuffed, dirty, or torn shoes. It is not just me who notices either. When they are of good quality, it is smart to take care of your shoes. This means recognizing when it is time to bring them to a shoemaker. There you can have them polished, new soles can be attached, straps can be mended, and heels can be replaced. I once tried to salvage a pair of darling (fake) patent leather pumps with a Magic Marker. If I had only invested in proper, good quality shoes in the first place, I would not have had to resort to such desperate measures. The shoes ended up getting tossed. Truthfully, they looked tacky even before my sad attempt at fixing them. The moral of the story is: When your shoes start looking bad and cannot be spiffed up, get rid of them.

As with clothing, any time you can invest in something made well, do it. In any event, take care of the shoes you have. They will reward you by complementing, not detracting from, your outfit.

To read further about shoes and what they say about you, read this article by Diana Pemberton-Sikes.