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Let's Get Some Shoes, Part 347

Published 05.25.2007 | Permanent Link | Comments (2)

Dearest Amalah Who I Worry I Will Run Into at Samantha's and Want to Say Hi But OMG What If I Mispronounce Her Name! So I Would Probably Say Nothing....

I'm not going to lie, I love my skinny jeans but I know how you feel and since you feel so strongly about the look you must have ideas about this. I know you addressed what to wear with them in the winter, but dangit it was much much easier to wear them in the winter than the summer. Now I want to let my toes be free but I'm worried about pulling the whole thing together. I'm looking for something not too fancy (i.e. no pumps) but wouldn't mind a heeled or wedge sandal. I've already tried the slip-on canvas flat (a la the new Keds that that Mischa Barton has been seen schilling around town) but want something just above that level, in terms of sophistication. But then I start to go crazy with the options. I love the strappy heel look but feel like with the jean already flush to my ankles, ankle straps look silly and heavy around that area, if ya know what I'm sayin. So maybe a slingback would look cute but traditionally slingbacks aren't really sandals. I'm not really into platforms except on other people, being tall and clumsy and whatnot. I would like to avoid that whole ridiculous roman warrior look of half shoe/sandal thing that all those celebrities have been wearing (I'm looking at you, Lindsay Lohan). And the basic flat thong, which, while cute, feels entirely too casual even in those pretty jewel colors. So, what do you think? I'd like to keep it under $300.

And, also, I swear I have a life that doesn't revolve around celebrity gossip and shoe shopping.

Love,
Arlene Who Won't Say Hi When She Sees You at Samantha's and Has Really Bad Facial Recognition Anyway So Would Probably Walk Right By WIthout Noticing

I am all about the wedge heel this summer. ALL ABOUT IT. They come in all sorts of heights and materials and colors, varying degrees of dressiness and also: I do not fall down so very much in them.

(Okay, that's an exaggeration, since I don't really fall down in my heels anymore. Years and years of wearing the highest heels money can buy and a criminal disregard for the comfort of my feet have finally rewarded me with a Carrie-Bradshaw-sprinting-through-Manhattan level of heel expertise.)

But still. Wedges are so much easier to walk in. Plus the cork or natural-type heel tends to dress the shoe down, so you can get away with pairing otherwise dressy materials (like metallics or patent leather) or styling (like d'Orsays or pumps) with jeans or casual sundresses. (Nordstrom's style guide recommends "bright patents" with skinny jeans, by the way, and I agree, provided you avoid the gross over-the-top streetwalker-red ones that were recently the BANE OF MY EXISTENCE when I was looking for a nice pair of strappy red wedges to wear with a navy sundress.)

(Thank you, Nordstrom. Even though I could have done without your salesguy desperately bringing me every over-the-top streetwalker-red shoe in the store instead of just the ones I asked for, like I GET IT. I AM BORING AND OLD. BUT NOT A STREETWALKER.)

However, your long list of DO NOT WANTS does complicate this, since yeah. The cutest ones do tend to have ankle straps. Which I'm not sure I totally agree with you on the not working with skinnies, but do understand that it would depend SO MUCH on the position of the strap, the length of the jeans and the general shape of your own personal ankles. A delicate single strap on the high part of your foot, combined with jeans that cover the strap while standing (but reveal it when you sit down), would be pretty rocking, I think. Like, hey! These!

madden.jpgThen there are the peep-toe wedges or d'Orsays, which aren't sandals, but can still be cute and summery if they're done right. Like these. Or these. (Those red ones? With a dark-wash denim? Hot!) (I'm still on a red-shoe kick, apparently.)

(I did actually see a fair number of slingback wedges online, but am honestly not super-sure how I feel about any of them. Do I like? Not like? Sometimes I don't know anymore, and that scares me.)

monkey.jpgHowever, WITH ALL OF THIS SAID, the more I wear skinny or ankle-length jeans, the more I realize that the exact style of shoe is not really such a big issue. My initial spazz-out over the "correct" shoe to wear with them was more about my fear that I looked like a fat ridiculous pear person in skinnies. Now that I feel like I maybe look okay for the most part, I'm more about pairing bright LOOK AT ME shoes with the jeans. Bold colors, animal prints! Gold flats, metallic heels! I might just be wearing a white tee-shirt with the jeans, but God help me, my shoes are going to be fun. I think the bright loud shoe kind of balances the look out, and brings your eye down to the skinniest part of your body (and therefore away from your ass). After years of long bootcuts that pretty much eclipsed our shoes completely, the shorter lengths (ankle, cropped, capri, whatever) are perfect for once again creating outfits that are All About the Shoes.

So take your $300 shoe budget and blow it on multiple pairs instead of one really expensive pair. Get an animal print and a fun patent leather. Red! Metallic! Polka dots! Wedges, slides, whatever. You aren't going to screw this look up, I promise.

Then go get some pupusas, and seriously, say hi! I don't bite. Or judge. Much.

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Comments (2):

JennyM said:

Have you checked out www.endless.com?

It's affiliated with Amazon. They have a huge selection and kind of an awesome search-narrowing-down feature once you get the hang of it. And they have an enormous sale section (Anne Klein wedges for $50? Uh, OK!). Also, a good return policy.

Posted on May 25, 2007 13:47

JennyM said:

Oh, and right now, they're doing a promotion where they, as they put it, actually pay you $5 for shipping...

Or, you know, so I've heard. (She said, admiring her hot new peep-toe wedges...)

Posted on May 25, 2007 13:50

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Amalah is a pseudonym of Amy Corbett Storch. A Washington D.C.-based freelance writer. The Smackdown is published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. You can follow Amy's daily mothering adventures at www.amalah.com. Also, it's pronounced AIM-ah-lah.

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