Liesl, 7N

I was shoe shopping a couple of days ago and found some very cute purple Cole Haan loafers. As I was checking out the lady behind the counter told me they had the perfect purse to match the shoes. I think I rather forcefully said NO! that's OK. She was a bit taken aback and just checked me out. Why did I have such a strong reaction? because accessories should.not.match. Ever.

Children wear things that match and it is considered cute. When grown ups try matchies it looks ridiculous. This holds true for purses and shoes. It is an old myth that your purse should match your shoes. Why? A well put together outfit will look good with complimenting colors and textures but too much matching just makes us look like we're trying to win the Lil' Miss Matchy state fair pageant. Wrong, so, so wrong.

My mother drags me to the Texas state fair every year so I know about state fair pageants. Pity me.

Today's favorite shoe:

Vigotti R1948

Liesl, 7N

People don't "dress" anymore. As I was waiting for my in laws to arrive at the airport the other day I looked around at the shoes of the travelers around me; I saw flip flops and tennies and not much else. I remember when I was a kid and we traveled by plane we would dress for it, as if we were dressing to go to church. I don't know why people used to do this and I think it is a little bit sad that we don't do it anymore.

I understand the need for comfort on a plane, absolutely. However, I miss the days when people always tried to look their best no matter what they were doing. When you saw women out of the house in a house dress you thought they were not right in the head. Men wouldn't think of wearing baseball caps outside of working in the fields, much less to restaurants. Flip flops were for the beach and tennies were for sports, never shoes you would wear for everyday activities.

We've lost some of our gentility in the U.S. (I can't speak for other countries since I haven't traveled internationally in years) We've allowed the caricature of the sloppy American to become our national identity. Again, I fully understand the need for comfort and am just as guilty of these things as everyone else. But, I hope this is a trend that somewhat reverses itself and we all start to "dress" again. I miss it.

Let's blame it all on Crocs.

Toady's favorite shoe:

Dior

Welcome, visitors from Boston.com!
Suz, 10N

There has been a rather amusing thread over at boston.com about crocs. People are very passionate about these fugly blocks. The croc lovers were up in arms that anyone dared criticize them. Defensive much? One person went so far as to say the thread was making her ill. If only people would be as passionate about things that really mattered as they are about their crappy $35 pieces of rubber.

Like how wonderful Nordstrom's customer service is, for instance.

I bought a pair of shoes the other day online that I've been eyeing for months. They were on sale for $45, marked down from $89. A bargain, I thought! I went back online to take another look at them and saw they had been marked down again to $26. What to do? What any smart shopper does. I emailed customer service and asked for a refund of the difference. And, within 24 hours, I received a reply, and a credit to my account.

The only fault I find with Nordstrom is that they sell Crocs. That is deeply distressing. My haven for shoe fashion sells those things. They are encouraging America's further slide into a void of stylessness.

What's a girl to do? I'm considering buying stock in Crocs. I can hate them all I want, but if fools want to buy them, I may as well make money off their idiocy. Better yet, all of you who like crocs, just paypal me $35 and we can cut out the middleman. More money for me to buy beautiful shoes.

Today's shoe of the day, proving style, function and comofort can meet:

Skechers Bikers 'Propel'

Liesl, 7N

I have discovered a good solution to the Crocs in public problem. Hear me out. I am currently sitting pretty in the hospital so I've been paying attention to the foot wear of the nurses, doctors and therapists. I've noticed that some people wear the little surgical booties we've all seen on shows like ER over their shoes even when they are not in surgery. So, my solution is this: if you MUST wear Crocs outside of your garden or outside of the hospital, why not wear the little surgical booties over them?

Everyone wins in this scenario; we don't have to see those awful shoes and you can protect them from dirt and germs. Hey! maybe they'll last longer! Don't you want your little pieces of hideous to last longer? I think this is an inspired solution.

Hey, I will even volunteer right now to send some of those booties to the first 5 people who email us at shoegirlz123@gmail.com. I'm nice like that.

Today's favorite shoe:

Sergio Rossi Murano

I love presies!

Suz, 10N

Especially the ones I buy myself. The ones that involve heels. The ones I bought because my buddy Liesl gave me a GC to Zappos. The ones I bought to congratulate myself on living another year.

There's a lot to be said for buying shoes online. Oh sure, you don't get the instant gratification that you get when you go in a store and try on the perfect pair, but since most stores don't carry my size, that's not relevant. Anyway, I enjoy perusing all the shoes available to me. I laugh at the ugly ones and shiver in delight over the pretty ones. I make long wish lists filled with shoes I may never buy, but like to fool myself that I will sometime.

There's that moment of making the decision to buy. Click. Size: 10N. Click. Color: Black. Click. How do you want to pay? Visa. Click. Is the shipping address the same as the billing address? Yes. Click. Complete purchase. Click. Then,the next day, you receive an email telling you your shoes have shipped, and a tracking number so you can follow their progress to your house. I knew my shoes were delivered at 12:55 PM today. All afternoon at work, I thought about them. I thought about them on the train. I also thought about those Jimmy Choos. A girl's gotta have her dreams.

Bruce picked me up at the train station. We get to the house, and he says, "oh your shoes are here". I didn't tell him I knew already. I sped into the house and picked up the box. I grabbed a pair of scissors to cut the tape. Bruce is standing by, saying "don't get excited, if they don't fit, you'll be pissed". I ignored him, and opened up the box inside. My shoes were nestled in the box in individual little cloth bags. So special. I gently lifted one from the box. Bruce starts rolling his eyes and saying "just try them on!" I gave him The Look. I had to explain to him that half the fun of a gift was opening it. And with new shoes, bought online, especially. The anticipation makes me all trembly. I took the shoe out of it's little cloth bag to admire it. This is almost as important as trying them on. How do they feel? What is the structure like? How does the leather feel? Do they live up to how they looked online? They did. They were better.

By this time, Bruce has lost interest and has gone back to playing Madden 2005 on the Xbox. I try the shoe on. It fits like a glove. It's perfect. I try the other one on. It, too, is perfect. I commence prancing around the living room in them. I interrupt Bruce's game to make him look at them. His pronouncement: "hey I like those". Duh. Of course you do, dear. I prance around some more. Then I IM Liesl to tell her how fabulous they are.

I've taken them off, and put them back in their little cloth bags. I can't wait to wear them. I'm already figuring out what to wear them with.

Today's shoe. My present, of course.

Vaneli 'Caylee'