I am not a flip flop kind of girl and love wearing my heels but the description made me so curious I had to try them. I have been wearing my FitFlops for almost a week straight. Honestly I do not want to take them off my feet. They are incredibly comfortable to wear for all sorts of activities - shopping, cleaning, and going to the zoo or soccer games with my kids.

I have bad knees and a bad back and these have helped me so much!  If I leave the shoes on, I have no trouble at all, in fact now when I wear my high heels I can wear them longer because the Fit Flops have better trained my legs. . After a few days, they conform to your feet, so don’t worry if the top strap feels a bit snug…you will break these in quickly. I have no complaints with these sandals; in fact I’ve already bought my second pair!

Check them out at ShoesOnaShoestring.com

Earlier Wednesday, President Bush, first lady Laura Bush and more than 13,500 spectators welcomed Pope Benedict XVI in an elaborate ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House.

 

As I thought about such an elaborate religious shindig, I wondered what shoes I would wear if I wear invited to said event. Would I stay with the status quo and wear a conservative low heel like the Sunday from Fortune Dynamic?

It seems pretty white and holy for such an occassion as hob-knobbing with the Pope! The last thing I would want to do is give the poor old Pope a heart attack right?

Life has caught up with me again and I am bogged down with work! I am running around like a mad woman trying to get everything done! I will be back writing after WSA is over, so don’t fret! See you soon!

I was reading Footwear News this morning and they had a report that said:

 ”...37 percent of luxe shoppers reported that they would bungee jump off the Golden Gate Bridge for a lifetime supply of shoes by Manolo Blahnik.”

Does that really suprise anyone? I’m suprised that number isn’t higher than 37%! I would seriously walk on hot coals to have a lifetime supply of Manolos. I might even fight a grown ass man to the death for the opportunity. Besides the fact that the shoes are like $800 apiece, the idea of having a pair of Manolos for every outfit makes my little heart flutter. Tell me, would you bungee of the Golden Gate Bridge for a lifetime supply of Manolos?

I got a sneak peak at the final pictures of the new Spring 2008 Uggs and I must say that I love them! I have always been a fan of Uggs (especially the Classic Cardy… you know, the one with the buttons on the side). The new spring Uggs have the fleece footbed just like the boots, which make wearing these wedges so much less of a bother! The straps add a much needed funkiness to a normally boring brand. (To be honest, we all buy Uggs because they feel nice, not because they look good) Unlike YOU by Crocs, these new Uggs actually combine fashion fowardness with comfortability to forge a unqiue and lovely shoe!

Has anyone else out there seen this movie? I just got taken to see it recently and I had a question. I don’t want to ruin this for anyone, but were you suprised as to how long that girl was wearing her 3.5 inch heels running around in the city? I love my shoes and all, but I guarantee that those shoes would have been long gone during an attack on the city!

I’m so sorry that I have been absent over the past few days! I have been deathly sick (ok, not deathly… but too sick to get out of bed) and unable to gather the energy to write at all! I think I have bronchitis and some other madness going on, but I am getting over it as we speak!

That said, it is that time of year when every fashion magazine and television show begins to predict what will be the newest and hottest trends for Fall 2008. Men have their analysts who predict the Super Bowl and we have WSA and Footwear News. I have heard everything that you can hear about what will be popular. Year after year, we hear that bright colors are coming back. We hear grey is in again. We hear  so and so is the new black. What is really going on? I was having a conversation with my head buyer friend Saundra Thompson at Shoes On A Shoestring about this. I won’t follow the beaten path and comment on everything, but I will give you some insight into the conversation we had.

1. Uggs

I don’t have to tell you what who or what Uggs are. (If you don’t know, crawl out from beneath the rock you’ve been living under and find a mall immeditely) They were on almost every holiday wishlist top 10 for fashion. Nearly every store in the country sold out of their inventory. On eBay, many styles were going for double retail! The sheepskin boot caused mortal women to turn into crazied animals scouring the internet and local stores for them. Saundra said:

“For us Uggs were our number one vendor for fall 2007 and I don’t see that slowing down for fall 2008, we sold out of some styles in less then 8 hours. Uggs could be compared to people needing that first cup of Starbucks coffee in the morning…”

Blasphemy I tell her! How could she be comparing  my glorious Starbucks to Uggs! I was flabbergasted! But in all honesty, I’m sure that many women would have sold their first and third born for a couple pair of Chocolate Uggs. Good thing I got mine early!

2. Söfft

Söfft shoes are beautiful handmade leather shoes that come in many different size and color combinations. They stay true to looking good while feeling good and with the economy going the way it is, we all are going to need to make our dollars work harder! Saundra said:

“The Sofft brand does an outstanding job of giving you high fashion with comfort at prices under $100 for shoes and under $175 for boots.” 

I couldn’t agree more. The spring collection has some very nice things in it and I expect more of the same for Fall 08.

3. Feminine Looks

Many brands have gotten into designing more masculine shoes for women. You and I both know that women can do everything that a man can do (minus peeing standing up) but do we have to wear men’s shoes too?

I believe that we’re going to get farther away from this trend in Fall 08 and back to the more feminine “I’m-a-woman-hear-me-roar” shoe. The shoes that you put on and they immeditely feel astronomically sexy. Saundra said:

“You are going to see more suedes, patents, and color blocking. Shoes and boots with fantasic detailing like pleating and piping in both feminine and taylored looks…”

You know that I can’t get enough of super sexy heels and I truly believe that for every strange Rubik’s Cube looking architect heel, there will be 4 or 5 lovingly naughty shoes that will catch your eye.

Like you, every morning I log onto my computer and read the top shoe blogs out there. I hit the Manolo, Shoewawa, FN, and WSA today. Ms. Shoewawa had an interesting entry this morning about men and what they think when they see women’s shoes. (Read it here) If you can’t bear to click off of Your Shoe Blog (which I don’t blame you), she summarized a study where women were placed behind a curtain and only showing their feet. They were told to wear the shoes that they felt best described their personality. Men, on cue, totally got everything wrong which begs the question; do men know anything?

Not that there aren’t some smart men out there. But I’m talking about the average man who watches his football, goes out with the boys for a beer once a week, and scratches himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. What do they think when they see a pair of super fabulous Cavalli heels? Do they even notice or do they go straight to the sexiness of your lovely calf? If you’re anything like me, you go to your favorite Nordstrom, Barney’s, or Bloomingdale’s and try on the shoes you have been thinking about buying. As you try them on and start bringing sexy back, you think:

“I am going to look so hot in these. Guys will not be able to keep their hands off of my deliciousness…”

So you whip out the American Express and add an additional 600 to your already outrageous balance. With a big smile on your face, you show your girlfriends the shoes and they all squeal in delight about how drop dead gorgeous you will look.

You run to your closet and begin building an outfit around these super fab shoes, all the while thinking:“I am going to look so hot in these. Guys will not be able to keep their hands off of my deliciousness…”

So you’re standing there in front of your mirror wondering if you’ve gaining a few pounds or you’re just freaking out about those couple of pieces of pizza you ate for lunch and you say:

“Damn, I’m hot.”

When you get to the club or work or class with your super fab shoes and rockin’ outfit, men do notice you. So do women. In their normal caveman ways, the guys stare and gawk a little while women shoot their hateful looks (Those women can die in a fire for all you care). So now you’ve done all this hard work and got the attention, but did it all really matter to men at all? Did they notice how the shades of red in your shoes, your toes, and necklace all matched? Did they even register that your $600 shoes completely make the outfit? Hell no they didn’t. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve fallen out of the trap that men actually matter when I buy shoes. My shoes to me are like hair to Samson. I just feel stronger when I am strutting with a new pair of Jimmy Choos. Give me a hot pair of black Gucci pumps and I probably could kick the crap out of Mike Tyson (Does he still fight anymore?).

I’ve come to believe that shoes are a mental health thing. When I have a pair of great shoes, it just brightens my day. Who needs Prozac when Prada exists? Men don’t understand how this works. They look at a closet filled to the brim with shoes and all they can say is:“You don’t need that many shoes.”

Oh contraire mon frere! When I am having a fat day and don’t want to leave the house, I NEED my Uggs to get me through the day. When my mother calls and complains about everything and anything, I NEED my Pumas to go run off my frustration. Men just don’t get the therapy a shoe offers. They don’t even notice the shoes your have on half the time. So ladies, next time you a buying shoes and think:

“I am going to look so hot in these. Guys will not be able to keep their hands off of my deliciousness…”

Remember that men are dumb and that your shoes are for you.

Everyone knows that Crocs are ugly. There is no argument that if you are looking for fashion, then finding a Croc would be comparable to fashion suicide. That said, the YOU by Crocs aren’t so bad as their bastard cousins. For everyone who doesn’t know, YOU by Crocs is the brand that Crocs created to claim their stake in the fashion market. So far, I really can’t say anything bad about it! (I know its a Croc… I know. Trust me, I don’t want to like it) The thing about this boot is that it is seriously comfortable! I always love a 3 inch wedge heel because I can walk around the office all day in it and not break my ankle. (I’ll be honest, I am not the best walking in big heels) Normally these boots run $300 retail but ShoesOnAShoestring.com has them on sale for $206.49. If you’re looking for a comfortable boot, you might give the Highball a try… just don’t tell you friends its a Croc.

So another season of American Idol has started and I must weigh in on some of the fashion. I didn’t catch the name of this particular contestant, so her fifteen minutes of fame will just have to be limited to the people who remember it.
 

Very basic outfit that doesn’t stand out. The white headband is gross and I think she would have been better off wearing her hair down. She probably was in line for ten hours or so waiting, so I’ll let it slide this time. The shoes remind me of a Steve Madden shoe called the Lalin. Its a very comfy and inexpensive wedge ($30.00 at ShoesOnAShoestring) that won’t destroy your foot with long wear. (You know, like waiting in line for ten hours or so….)