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Shoe of the Week ArchiveFlying Wedges – We Like TOMs
Shoe Karma
"In one's lifelong search for the pair of perfect shoes, one sometimes runs across the Holy Grail... beautiful, comfortable, stylish, platform high heeled sneakers in the perfect color that goes with everything I own or ever hope to own. And yes, one day, I did find such a pair of shoes. I tried them on and they were everything I hoped for...except for one thing. They were just the slightest bit too big. No matter, I said to myself. My feet will grow...they will swell....everything else about me is always slightly bigger than I want it to be. How could it be that my feet are slightly smaller than perfect? This will change. I bought the shoes. And willed my feet to grow. Each day I tried on the shoes in my living room hoping against diminishing hope, that they would fit perfectly. To no avail. My feet were always just the tiniest bit too small for these perfect shoes. Finally after a month, I despaired of growing my feet and with heavy heart returned to the store. I told my tale of woe to a sympathetic clerk and handed over the box of frustrated joy. She looked at them, and at me, then turned aside. "Harold, she yelled, don't we have these shoes in a 7 ½?" Harold, a slack jawed stock clerk stumbled to the back of the store and returned with surprising speed...and a box. "Yea....we got ‘em". OMG, a miracle was unfolding in front of me. The loaves and fishes were nothing. This was indeed, the ultimate. They fit perfectly! I was the happiest woman on the planet. Each time I wear them my delight continues. There is a Shoe Goddess and she likes me."
Going Gray? Oh Yes!The Pantone Fashion Color Report lists Oyster Gray Pantone 14-1107 as one of the key colors for fall - "a classic neutral that grounds the palette…a lighter take on the traditional fall gray, as designers heed consumers' concern about the economy and deliver investment pieces that carry through to spring 2011." Graphite/silver/liquid mercury/metallic/mushroom/slate/smoke/sulfur pearl/Stone/Pepper gray/Heather gray/Stormy gray/Mud gray are just a few of the evocative ways that designers envision shades of gray in their fall collections. "I'm interested in alchemy and the idea of mixing metallics with neutrals – where the dull metal shimmer breaks through." VPL by Victoria Bartlett Gray shoes and boots from our recent Great Shoe Show Extravaganza.
Shoe Story –Sharon Taffet's Shoe ArtSharon Taffet's Shoe Art was an extravagant and delightful addition to the Woman Road Warrior Day Great Shoe Show. Each table was adorned one of her unique creations, going beyond shoe-ness to create a whole world on a heel. Taffet has said that she was originally inspired "by some exquisite ‘shoes' constructed entirely of fresh flowers" that she saw at the Philadelphia Flower Show. That combined with lust "for a pair of bejeweled stilettos by famed Italian Shoe designer Renee Caovilla fresh in her mind," she was inspired to begin creating her very own amazing shoes. Philadelphia gallery owner Candace Karch, who has featured Taffet's art remembers asking, "if she [Taffet] wanted to title them, but she said she wanted them to speak for themselves." As the daughter and the granddaughter of an artist, a love of art is in Sharon's blood. An art historian by training, she has brought the visual and artistic aesthetic into her own life in many ways: through photography, flower arranging, interior design, graphic design, and art collecting. When she is not in one of the 40+ countries she has traveled with her husband and children, she sits on several boards and is committed to a host of causes.
Shoe Story – Bridge to Success
Here are a few of the shoes collected.
Shoe Story – Bridge to Success
Looking for Women's & Men's Shoes: Pumps or dress shoes in new or nearly new condition, timeless/contemporary design, clean and polished if necessary. Especially needed for women – sizes 9 and up, wide width. Especially needed for men – all larger sizes and wider widths. For Resale Shop: All kinds of shoes are accepted for women and men - from strappy stilettos to weekend loafers. Couture, designer, vintage and evening wear shoes are also appreciated for special clothing sales. For a Receipt: Please bring a business card for us to collect when you make your donation. Bridge to Success is a non-profit organization that provides coaching plus high-end interview and work place appropriate clothing for low-income, no-income men, women and youth to build self-confidence through appearance, interview preparation and a sense of "belonging" at the workplace.
Shoe Story – Bridge to Success
Attendees of "The Great Shoe Show Extravaganza and First Class Breakfast" on September 21st in Chicago will be supporting Bridge to Success by donating gently worn shoes. Bridge to Success is a non-profit organization that provides coaching plus high-end interview and work place appropriate clothing for low-income, no-income men, women and youth to build self-confidence through appearance, interview preparation and a sense of "belonging" at the workplace.
Shoe-venirs
Perhaps there's a formula – the distance from home is in direct proportion to the come-hither quotient of the shoe in the window. Or maybe it's just that shoe shopping is a great way to spend even a short amount of spare time on the road. We know of one woman road warrior who excels in this category. She has purple crocodile embossed pumps from Argentina, made-in-Scotland shoes that she got in Moscow and shiny brown animal print boots that she purchased as emergency shoes (the kind you buy when you have to stay over or need special shoes for an unplanned event). Whether it's sandals from Schenectady, flip-flops from Florida or ballet flats from Baltimore. There's nothing like a souvenir pair of shoes to reinforce that travel is good for the sole.
Best of Shoe
Once you find a shoe that fits your foot and your style do you buy them up in all the colors? Do you go back to the same manufacturer or store over and over again? What brands exemplify your style or the style you'd like to have?
The comfort of old shoes and why we are attached to them.
The reasons for keeping or discarding shoes can be complicated and deep. It might be comfort? You're going to wear them until they fall off your feet because they are the only ones you can walk all day in.
Or Nostalgia? You got them on that trip to Rome. And then there's superstition? You were wearing them when you gave that speech to the investors that got you funding for your project. Harder to explain is the one's that stole your heart even if you rarely wear them. I mean when will you ever be able to find another pair of polka dot shoes and the occasion to wear them?
Weather Shoes
"Don't know why, there's no sun up in the sky, Stormy weather" I remember my grandmother had those see through rain boots that went on over her high heels. They matched well with the folded up see through rain bonnet. Not, however, my fashion statement. When the clouds open up and it's raining pitchforks and hammer handles I'm happy and dry in these bright yellow puddle jumpers. Something about the color cheers me up - trying to tempt the sun to come out and play. For even more extreme situations I've to the knee-high version. Though if I had to go somewhere more formal I might wear my tennis and carry my pumps.
How many shoes do you have?
Somewhere between not enough and too many. I was shocked to discover that I own 36 pair of shoes. And my stepdaughter has 22. Neither of us thinks of ourselves as big shoe people but there we were, confronted with the evidence. Sounds like a lot of shoes to me. Okay, some are old and rarely worn. I have two pair of emergency wedding shoes, bought on short notice for weddings when I didn't have the appropriate footgear with me. I have multiple pairs of black sandals in varying degrees of heel height and comfort level, a pair of vintage Keds that I wear for painting, plus Tevas that I got for a trip to South America some time a decade ago. I actually wear the see-through sandals for dress up but have no excuse for the sequined stilettos that I bought in Las Vegas for some reason. All and all there are 7 pair that I have actually worn in the past month. Makes me wonder what the minimum number of shoes for me might be. Seems I need to have at least one pair of boots, running shoes, sandals and business shoes – that's four, and quite likely an alternate pair of each. That means I'm up to eight without even trying. Beyond the practical and special occasion categories I find I have nostalgia shoes, worn-out but comfortable shoes plus the inevitable what-was-I-thinking pairs that are never going to fit right.
Run for It!
Whatever your choice of activity, there's probably a specialized pair of shoes to go with it - like shoes with special soles for gripping (hiking), slipping (curling), or toning. And then there are golf shoes, tennis shoes, running shoes, walking shoes, basketball shoes, soccer shoes, bowling shoes, water shoes, boat shoes and yoga shoes. How many of these have you owned over the years? And how many are still lurking in the back of your closet waiting for you to take them for a spin? Do you have sport shoes that you take with you on business trips? Did we leave any out? Even if the most athletic thing you do this week is take out the garbage, celebrate this World Cup, Tour de France, All Star Game, Running of the Bulls month by taking a moment to picture yourself at center court, home plate or the finishing line wearing a triumphant smile and, of course, your favorite shoes.
Pump It Up!
When women started invading the workplace they did it in pumps insisting on both comfort and fashion. Today the pump is still appropriate, along with sling backs and occasionally sandals. But the definition of business shoe has been extended to cover a wide variety of situationally appropriate shoes. What is your opinion of the best or worse business shoe?
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A business, a Cause – Great Shoes. What a combination.
If you haven't checked out TOMS before see their web page 
Coming on the Heels of our Great Shoe Show Extravaganza we'd like
to share this story of Shoe Karma from Toni Pace Carstensen, San Diego,
CA.
Attendees of "The Great Shoe Show Extravaganza and First Class Breakfast" on September 21st in Chicago supported Bridge to Success by donating gently worn shoes.
Attendees
of "The Great Shoe Show Extravaganza and First Class Breakfast" on September
21st in Chicago will be supporting Bridge to Success by donating gently worn shoes.
When you come home from a trip is your suitcase a few shoes heavier? What is it about shoe stores in other cities that calls out to the traveler?
Linda O'Keefe in her book Shoes: a celebration of Pumps, Sandals, Slippers and More
calls the pump the "little black dress of the shoe world. In its pure unadorned form, with a sensible heel, it is practical, elegant, well-bred and classically conservative." She says that in the 16th century the pump was actually a man's shoe (sans heel) and that its name came from the sound the made when the shoe hit the floor. By the mid-1700s women took over the pump though it wasn't until the 1800s that it took its classic shape. Coco Chanel presented her version in the 50s; Jackie Kennedy made it the shoe of first ladies in the 60s and a "hallmark of respectability and good taste."|
Ameche Group, LLC |