I Did Something Crazy

To many of you, it’s not that crazy, but I bought two pairs of shoes in like, the last month. Whoa.

You see – I finally have a job that pays me an amount of money that allows for expendable income. It’s completely exciting. Up to now, my wardrobe consisted of hand-me-downs, swap steals, the occasional thrift find, and cheap ass shit.

I still really appreciate all of the aforementioned sources of appropriation, but to finally have money that I can spend to build a closet with wardrobe staples that are entirely ME is pretty damn fun. Plus I’m almost 30. Now that the college degrees are out of the way and I scored a great job, it’s time I buy myself some of my own damn clothes, right? (See, I still have to ask as I try and rid myself of the weird feelings of guilt over spending my own money. Being formerly poor is weird like that.)

So anyway, I bought shoes. I’ve always had a hard time buying shoes. Because with shoes, unlike with say, sweaters or leggings or whatever, you can’t get by on “cheap” as easily. I’m still am not spending a fortune or anything, but let’s consider spending more than $45 on a pair of Vans a step up.

Pair #1 – Doc Martens 

Yeah, yeah, I get it. The dream of the 90’s is blah blah blah … but let’s be real here. This fashion phenomena is not just hitting Portland (it just never left Portland) and I would way rather walk around seeing 90’s fashion flashbacks everywhere than say, the 80’s. The 80’s are just not my steez.

 

I’ve been talking about how I just really need some new boots. In Portland, where it’s rainy and cloudy for 9 months of the year, investing in boots is kind of a must. Just so happens that for the past year or so I’ve also been swooning over Doc Martens. Especially those Oxblood red numbers.

So here I am, walking to work the other day, in a pair of flats with no socks or anything, and it’s pissing rain and I’m like MAN I really need some BOOTS. The time is NOW. And then I see the Dr. Martens store as I cross Burnside and I’m like, mmmm Dr. Martens.

And then bam! It hits me. Duh. Dr. Martens are fucking BOOTS. Going to look on my lunch break can’t hurt, right?

 

Best purchase I’ve made in a long, long time. Practically wore these puppies out of the store. And I went with black knowing that if I loved them (which I do) I could always go back and pick up a pair up in Oxblood. Black is more a staple item. And that’s my thing with what I’m actually willing to spend money on – collecting staples.

 

Item #2 – Phew. Deep breath. Jeffrey Campbell Soiree Heels

Ok, ok. What the fuck was I thinking? Who am I? Will I ever where these?

I don’t know the answer to any of these questions – well except the last because yeah – I have to wear these. I’ve had my eye on them for a few months now. Mainly because I saw this girl’s picture over on her tumblr The F Word (follow her – she’s too fucking cute) and was like damn. Give me those.

 

Then. Well. They went on sale. At Urban Outfitter of all places. And I got an email saying SALE SALE SALE. You know?

And then I was like, well it can’t hurt to click the link and look, right? WRONG.

It hurt my bank account. But only by $87.50. Which, for these … not bad. And now I own a pair of nice heels! They’re different and edgy, sure, but they’re also a really classic silhouette when all the trend is stripped away. And I stray pretty far from straight up classic fashion aesthetics. So, it was meant to be. I just … I had to splurge.

 

Sorry I’m not sorry.

I’m still crafting my perfect first outfit with them, so you’ll have to wait for that 🙂 TBC …

Until then – don’t let me buy anything else! Unless I’m buying it in THAILAND!

xoxo, Lou

 

Never Shop Sober

God DAMNIT! How many of us know I suffer from buyer’s anxiety? Well if you don’t know, now you know.

I think this is obviously a direct result of all my years being a broke ass college student and all the subsequent debt I’ve accrued. These days I’m afraid to buy anything unless it’s wrapped in a tortilla or comes served in a bar glass. Which is why I still look to my sister for hand-me-downs and strive to be a better thrifter and constantly look at my sewing machine and lament the fact that I still have not mastered its capabilities.

But I think I found a cure to this shopping induced stress … find something that stresses me out more.

I got a new job. Yay! It pays me more money. Yay! I’m hella fucking stressed out about the change and the newness and the unknown and so last night it was easy – too easy – for me to drop $100 on clothes I don’t really need all while DEAD SOBER.

Every time I wear the below dress, shoes, or pants … I am going to think of fear and nothing else. Haha ok so probably not, but dang. Is this a step forward or a step back? I can’t tell.

 

JuJu Jellies

In my defense I have been thinking about buying these for months! I keep seeing them on my Instagram feed and admire them and blah blah and I’ve seen them sell for $60 and I think I bought these for $50 and low and behold that $10 off was all I needed to feel completely and finally justified in making my purchase.

Very tempted to follow these up with JuJu Petra  in bronze and JuJu Vicky in green or pink or something. Will hold off for next wave of anxiety to hit.

Um, this 90’s dress.

 

Whatever. It was on sale and has a really cute zipper up the back. Daisies. I can’t believe I bought something covered in daisies.

Oh and then I got some really cute high-waisted skinny jeans that I just now read about while searching for a snapshot. Apparently they run very small … so I probably botched that purchase. Obviously! The entire thing might be botched. I might be sending it all back. Probably not, but point is, the takeaway here is that had I had booze, I probably would not have paid for this stuff.

Never shop sober. Got it.

xoxo, Lou

Yale, Cambridge, or OXFORD??

My sister, that lucky gal, has an extra $100 burning a hole in her pocket. After much debate, she’s decided she wants to blow the load on a new pair of Oxfords, but there’s only one tiny setback, she’s having a hell of a time deciding which pair to purchase!

Help? See below for pics. And keep in mind, all of these are under $100, so cost is not really a factor.

STEVE MADDEN ‘TUDDOR’ FLAT

HINGE ‘FRASER’ OXFORD – MAUVE

HINGE ‘FRASER’ OXFORD – BONE

VOLATILE ‘RIZZO’

NATURALIZER ‘LONNIE’ LEATHER OXFORDS

I already know which ones I’m voting for. Do you? Help a girl out.

Also, PS … I have another poll pending for the weekend that I think you are going to LOVE.

xoxo,

Lou

Personal Shoppers: Shoes

It’s almost summer in Portland and as a general rule, I suck at buying shoes. And yes, these things are more or less unrelated, except for the fact that I want some new shoes for summer – see the connection? I blame my student loan debt for developing this fear of committing to cute shoe purchases and I need your help to get over it. So let’s look at the shoes below and you tell me which ones I should splurge on for summer.

To preface, I primarily prefer flats. I live in Vans and cheap ass H&M flats right now. In the summer, drinking and stumbling down sidewalks is a consideration. So is looking really great. Mutually exclusive of course.

There are two things I know I want to buy, which shit, totally goes against my shoe shopping phobia premise, but whatever! I still think this will be fun. So on the to-buy list: some oxblood Dr. Martens (fuck, talk about a splurge, right?) And some Yosi Samra flats. Have you heard? The birds the word on these. My sister love, love, loves hers and they come in great patterns – which I can’t decide on – so you know I’ll throw those in the mix too and take your temperature on what I might look best wearing.

I am really weird about buying shoes and feel weird in most of them, so thanks in advance for your help.

And you can’t choose to hate all of them unless you give me alternatives in the comments section. Fair’s fair! Plus, I honestly didn’t work THAT hard on this list, so suggestions appreciated. I’m a lazy shopper.

Ernie Oxford – seen on Nastygal.com

Mikhail Oxford – seen on Nastygal.com

Oasis Boots – seen on Nastygal.com

Vans hi-top – you are a total asshole if you pick these, but I won’t be mad.

Dude these are Jeffrey Campbell, just saying. Probably too pale for the white and probably actually would feel weird in the black, but you tell me.

Seen on Nastygal.com

And now for your Yosi Samrapoll – I chose three options, but there are a fucking TON – so visit the site, pick yourself out a pair, and if you think I should stray from these three, tell me that in the comments please! I’m curious what you bitches like.

My sister has these leopard print ones – pony hair – and currently maybe in the lead for me.

And just for shits, let’s look at some adorably red Dr. Martens:

Key ute. Ok – polling time. Remember – don’t blow this for me!!!

And the Yosi Samra poll …

xoxo,

Lou

Whoa Shoes

Holy shit. I tried to do some quick shoe shopping at work this morning and ended up writing this blog post instead because it was such a raging weird experience. And yeah, I really should have been paying attention to all the weird shoes out there way before this, but whatever:

FINSK 116-97

Whoa, right? How come I never see these on people? I am sure there are some Portlanders that would totally wear these. Oh wait, because they’re $995.95!! Come on. Just call it $1000. Does the sales tactic of making it .9995 really work or even matter in this instance?

Wait, wait, look at these:

Eee! Ew! Awesome! I don’t know.

Those are the LAASSKA Mt. Goat boots. Of course they are. Price tag: $229.95

I’m pulling all of these from Solestruck.com. They’re tagline is: TO RID THE WORLD OF UGLY SHOES ONE PAIR AT A TIME.

I don’t get it. If anything, this site aims to invite the ugliest shoes to the party where they can all throw down to be the ugliest, weirdest shoes on the planet. And it’s not a bad thing. It’s great. It’s super fun. It’s also why I have such a bastard-ass time trying to find shoes I like and only ever end up wearing Vans. This shit is intimidating to me.

JOHN FLUEVOG – ARCH BOOT (CHEETAH) $419.95

Omg, $400 crazy shoes. They remind me of something any member of KISS would want to wear on like, a normal non-stage day. I applaud the people actually wearing these. I love these people. This is why I love fashion – so I can stare at people that drop money on any of these shoes in an attempt to make it work.

So many of these shoes are of course created by my nemesis Jeffrey Campbell. For fucks sake I swear his goal is to make the ugliest, stupidest shoes ever.

JEFFREY CAMPBELL – KICK IT – $189.95

These look like a monster.

JEFFREY CAMPBELL – VAY CAY – $164.95

Eww!

JEFFREY CAMPBELL – POINTE – $169.95

Ewwww!!!

JEFFREY CAMPBELL – 4 EVZ – $129.95

Ok, these I kind of liked because they’re covered in ponies. And the name “4 Evz” is so precious. And oh they’re in my price range! But still the image of me teetering around in these is pretty funny. Ridiculous ass shoes.

In all fairness he does make some shoes that aren’t totally cray:

JC – EVERLY SNAKE – $209.95

JC – FONTANE – $129.95

But that is just no fun. This post is not to talk about shoes I might actually buy. Ugh I hate buying shoes. It’s just to tell you to go get on Solestruck.com and look at all the magic that’s there. It really is fun. Gleeful even. I had such a fun time avoiding work this morning. And absolutely no fun continuing to fail miserably at actually finding cute shoes that suit me.

xoxo,

Lou

 

 

Neon Red Carpet

We all know I like the looks of Kristen Stewart, and we also all know I am not always a fan of neon, so imagine my dismay when I saw this:

On Lainey Gossip.

I’m pretty sure I said in my article about neon that it was usually a case of all or nothing, and yet, this just really doesn’t do it for me. When I see the thumbnails all lined up in a row, I just really hate how it pops off the page. Maybe I’m just a total square.

What she did do right though was wear these awesome fucking shoes:

It’s an awesome pairing and one that I can approve of:

But maybe it’s not even the neon … that dress just kind of accentuates her awkwardness, right? Maybe we can just chalk it up to the fact that she’s at the premier for Twilight so almost everything has to suck ass.

Anyway, what this is all reminding me of is the fact that I still haven’t posted my profile on art gallery owner extraordinaire and gorgeous girl friend of mine, (despite loving neon) Paige. I’ll shoot off my fashion questions to her today and post that profile asap.

In the meantime, tell me what you think: K Stew in neon … hit or miss?

xoxo, Lou