Our New Shoe Lineup

We realized the other day that despite having 16 or so pairs of shoes, we have about 2 that we wear. Some we keep for sentimental value (like the pair our mom got us on our first trip together to London), some we keep just in case we need them (like, say, running shoes). But the majority of them are so painful or ugly, we never wear them. We told ourselves, if we can get rid of most of them – donate the ones in good shape, toss the super worn ones, we can start to rebuild our shoe collection.We decided to be smart about it this time, too. We now almost always buy our shoes at Nordstrom; we hate to play favorites so blatantly, but their amazing return policy eliminates the chance for us to end up keeping shoes that kill our feet. If we buy shoes online, we keep all of the packaging materials until we wear them for the first time – ensuring that if we need to return them, we’re ready (we actually just sent back a pair of boots we had for a month, after we found a pair we liked more elsewhere). And, finally, we’ve stopped buying shoes only on sale. We do not like to spend a lot of money, but we do believe that sometimes, you pay for what you get. And the way we wear shoes (we’ve worn through the soles of the last 2 pairs of our everyday flats and boots), we need to up our spend a little.

Above is our most extravagant shoe purchase in our lives, but we think it’ll be well worth it. We’ve talked about how much we wear boots (pretty much every day from September through May). Our favorite pairs are a pair of beat to hell Dolce Vitas (they need to be retired this year, the leather is so chewed up in spots we thought our dog ate them) and a pair of vintage, wine colored Dexter boots that are in desperate need of some shoe repair. We like simple boots, minimal heel (though we’ve found that a 2″ heel is often more comfortable than a totally flat heel), no weird shit – no weird stitching, no pointy toes, no odd heels. We were talking to Dearest Friend about boots one day, and she immediately sent us a link to the Jane boots from Frye. We discounted them right way; too expensive, too boring. Then, 3 months later, we saw them online, and sent them to her, asking if she liked them (we know, we know). Not only did she love them – she has them and swears by them, and how comfortable they are.

We were sold. We bought them in redwood, and we’ve already worn them once. They fit true to size (we are always a size 8.5 in boots), the calf is not huge (we have average sized calves, and we will be able to wear these with jeans underneath), and the leather is absolutely delightful quality. Of course, with quality leather comes a break in period – we wore these for an evening, and they weren’t the most comfortable boots yet. We’ll wear them in small doses, try to condition them, and we have high hopes for when they’re broken in. They’re not cheap, but we think they’re worth every penny.

Frye Jane boots, $297.95

We couldn’t find the exact pair of oxfords that we wanted to post – ours are almost the exact same as above, just in a lighter tan/cognac color. We were really unsure about oxfords for the longest time; we still are, despite having them on our feet at this very moment. We thought they were too masculine for our wardrobe, or that they’d be a flash in the pan fad. We saw a girl wearing them in Soho the other day; she was wearing tan, low profile/super flat oxfords, very dark skinny jeans, and a billowy cream top. We actually stopped, poked our co-editor and said LOOK. Did you SEE her?

When we were shoe shopping yesterday, we made the mistake of wearing shoes that absolutely kill our feet. When we slipped our feet into these Steve Madden oxfords, it was like angels sang. They didn’t hurt! And, they had support! And, they are low profile! We actually liked them so much we carried them around the store with us, lest they be the last pair and someone else snatch them up. We asked Dearest Friend for her opinion by way of picture message, and she signed off. We asked our Betrothed when we saw him, and he gave a nod of approval. We are truly a fan.

Steve Madden Trouser oxfords, $69.95

Ok, Gap, you really need a better stylist. These packable ballet flats, called City Flats, are super cute in person, and cute on your foot. What in the world did you do to them here to make them so ugly? We had serious doubts when we saw these; typically, Gap shoes tend to be extremely narrow, and our feet are extremely not. We live in ballet flats when not wearing boots, and we’ve worn holes in the soles of the last few pair. The pair we’re in the process of killing now is actually so uncomfortable because they are falling apart that we might have to retire them early. Lucky for us, the version from Gap is looking like a good substitute.

We generally don’t like shoes that stretch to fit; we find they either look completely ridiculous, or by the end of the day, they’ve pinched and tugged so much that they’re like little piranhas attached to your heels. These? Totally different. What’s not to love? They’re comfortable, they have some support, they’re not that expensive, and they come in a ton of colors. Our favorite colors – a dark, steel gray and tan – are only available in stores. We’ll be making a trip, we think.

Gap City Flats, $39.50

-LB