Spring 2011 Trend: Top 5 Must Have Shoe Styles

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In case you missed my guest post over at the CoolKids blog yesterday, here is my list of the Top 5 must have shoe styles for the spring/summer.  Now that the weather is warming up, it is the perfect time to evaluate your shoe collection, discard shoes you are no longer wearing, and make space for new and fun shoe styles for the warmer months.

1. wood platforms
These chunky shoes are sexy, retro and pair perfectly with the spring 70's trend, neutrals, and florals. They look great with wide-leg jeans, short skirts and dresses.

Coach grand heel

2. cork wedges
Any style of wedges add height which is flattering and best of all they are super comfortable. You can pair these with shorts and short and flowy dresses and skirts. 

Charles David granite

3. platform pumps
These heels are sexy and make your legs look a mile long!  They look great with wide leg jeans pencil skirts, and mini skirts.  They are great in a variety of colors but my personal preference is a perfect neutral or nude pair for the spring/summer.

Corso Comer palomar platform pump

4. pointy-toe slingbacks
Kitten heels, pointy flats and slingback are all back on trend for the spring. They look great with flowy skirts, skinny jeans, and fitted dresses. This style of shoe is definitely my favorite for work. They look professional but since the heel is low you can still walk in them. 

Via Spiga dolmen slingbacks

5. flat espadrilles
Instead of ballet flats why not try flat espadrilles for a preppy and casual weekend look? They look great with shorts, cropped pants, and boyfriend jeans.

Kate Spade new york lido espadrille flat

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Spring 2011 Trend: Top 5 Must Have Shoe Styles

Shoe La La

On Friday Aneesh surprised me for my birthday (which is today) with dinner and an evening getaway. We headed to the Liberty Hotel for the night and enjoyed a great meal at Scampo, one of the restaurants in the hotel.  It was a lovely and relaxing evening and I thought it was so thoughtful and sweet of Aneesh to plan a fun night out for my birthday. I wore a dress I recently picked up at the Tahari outlet with these black platform sandals.

I am also guest posting over at the CoolKids blog today on my Top 5 Must Have Shoe Styles For The Spring. I hope you will head over to my friend Betsy's blog and check out my list of the hottest shoe styles for the spring and how to wear them.

And I have to explain the inspiration behind the title of this post. Aneesh and I have been reading the most adorable book to Ariyana called Shoe-la-la.  This sweet rhyming story is about four little girls in search of the perfect shoes, and in the end they realize the best pair of shoes they can find are the ones they make and decorate themselves.  The illustrations are colorful and what I love most about this book is that it sends positive messages to young children about individuality, friendship, and creativity.

Elie Tahari malia dress, Isola damar sandals

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Shoe La La

Open-Toe Booties

I love seeing so many great choices for open-toe booties and sandals especially since they are perfect to wear now and to transition into the spring and summer months. I recently got the Madewell oxford slingbacks (seen here) and have been wearing them with jeans, dresses, and short skirts.  But I must say these other open-toe booties have caught my eye as well.

1. BCBGeneration 'anja' platform sandal $117.95
2. Vince Camuto neven sand $129
3. Loft shirlie open-toe bootie $99.50
4. MICHAEL Michael Kors "MK" Booties $160
5. Madewell oxford slingback sale $182
6. J.Crew quorra peep-toe booties $275
7. Banana Republic lumi open-toe lace-up bootie  sale $129.99
8. Franco Sarto Artist Collection 'mega' sandal $99.95

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Open-Toe Booties

Bright Colors and Bold Prints

DVF blouse, Chanel sunglasses, Banana Republic skirt, Hue reversible tights, DVF heels

All this snow and cold weather is depressing so I figure adding color to my wardrobe and getting a head start on spring shopping is a guaranteed way to cheer up.  I found this colorful floral DVF blouse hidden on the sale rack at Saks and it's perfect because bold prints and bright colors are two trends I am really looking forward to embracing this spring and summer.

We had a great weekend but as usual it went by entirely too fast.  On Saturday I spent most of the day in my pajamas and baked some delicious treats with Ariyana.  And then Aneesh and I had dinner with our friends to celebrate their recent engagement.  Yesterday we promised Ariyana we would take her out wherever she wanted and she insisted on going back to the Museum of Fine Arts. We also had brunch with some friends at Stella, one of our favorite restaurants in Boston. Stella was participating in the Super Hungry Brunch, an annual event where top restaurants around town donate their time, food, and services to the benefit of the Greater Boston Food Bank. We had a prix fixe brunch and 100% of the proceeds went directly to the Food Bank.

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Bright Colors and Bold Prints

Style Trend: Riding Boots

Top Row
1. Coach Jacinda boot $398 on sale $349.99
2. Corso Como "St. Louie" $285
3. Steve Madden Olster $169

Bottom Row
4  Sartore riding boot $995
5. Frye Paige tall riding boot $348
6  Ugg "Amberlee" riding boot $274.95
 Many of these styles are available in multiple colors.

I have been on the search for a pair of tall brown boots and I was deciding between a pair of over the knee boots or tall riding boots.  Last week I finally found a pair of brown riding boots that fit perfectly and are super comfortable and  they were the very first (and only) pair I tried on! 

Riding boots are perfect to pair up with leggings, skinny jeans, short skirts, and casual fall dresses.  And any of these options would be excellent choices especially if you're like me and you believe in buying high quality footwear versatile enough to wear for years to come.  Next week I will provide some style options with my new riding boots and of course you will see which pair I ended up getting.  Any guesses? (I'll give you one hint...it's not #4)

Have you added a pair (or two) of riding boots to your wardrobe?

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Style Trend: Riding Boots

Style Trend: Over the Knee Boots

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I love my Stuart Weitzman 50/50 black over the knee flat boots I purchased last fall/winter. They were by far my best purchase of the season.  I wore them with skinny pants and slim fitting trousers, leggings, skirts and dresses. 

Now I am on the search for  tall brown boots and I really like these ones.

1. Frye shirley $447.95
2. Via Spaga georgia $298
3. Tory Burch jack $550
4. Michael Kors bromley  $197.90 on sale 

Over the knee boots can be intimidating but done right they create a stylish and chic look.

style'n tips on wearing over the knee boots:

1. If you wear these boots with short skirts the best length is 1-3 inches above the top of the boots.

2. For skirts and dresses, match up your leggings or tights to the boot to create an elongated look with out breaking up the colors.  Unless you are trying to copy Julia Roberts in Pretty women, avoid tight skirts and bright colored leggings.

3. Ok but if you do wear your boots with a tight skirt then go for a tailored look. Add a well cut shirt,  a mid thigh length tailored coat, and an oversized bag.

4. One of my favorite looks is to pair up over the knee boots with leggings and long tunics

5. Beware they do not look good with loose fitting pants, flared pants, boot cut, and boyfriend jeans. They do look amazing with skinny jeans.

6. Taller women can get away with these but if you are shorter and have the confidence you can still wear them.  And the tall flat boots will be more flattering and classy than the stiletto over the knee boots.

7. And stiletto vs. flat? I think flat is better and more practical. Definitely not as edgy and provocative as the stiletto but you get more of an equestrian and casual look. 

8. It is best to avoid shiny materials, patent, and too many details like lace and studs.

What do you think about wearing over the knee boots? What outfits do you wear them with?

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Style Trend: Over the Knee Boots

Bootie-licious

Happy Friday everyone!  I thought I would share with you these beautiful shoes that just arrived at Ann Taylor.  I don't usually buy shoes at Ann Taylor but my mom was shopping with me and she loved these booties and encouraged me to try them on and soon as I did I was sold. They are so comfortable and what I love most is that I can wear these to work with dresses and skirts but they are playful enough to wear with skinny jeans or black leggings for an evening out. And I had a coupon for 20% off so of course I bought them.

Here are some other beautiful shoes you can find at Ann Taylor right now.

And here are a few Ann Taylor coupons I stumbled into at See Chloe Shop.

-Take 20% off  your entire purchase of $100+ | code: SEPT 20

-Take 30% off one full-priced item | code: SEPT 30 Or take 25% off your entire order of $150+, including sale items! | code: AUGUSTAFF25

-Take 20$ off select pants and get automatic free shipping! No code necessary, eligible items marked “special offer”, discount applied upon check out.  

Will you be doing some fall shopping this weekend?

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Bootie-licious

Another Great Score

Last week my sister and I scored with  this Amrita Singh necklace and this week my friend Phoebe (of Lovejoy Designs) and I scored some great shoes at this shopping event in Boston. 

Stil (unfortunately is closing it's doors soon) Portobello Road and GrettaLuxe, which are all amazing boutiques in the Boston area, were having a huge 50-70% off sale at Alibi Hotel.

All the designer shoes from GrettaLuxe were 70% off! We both bought 2 pairs of shoes each and a couple of clothing items.  But we had to force ourselves from trying on anything else before we ended up spending too much money.

{sorry for the picture quality but we had to get an impromptu picture of the shoes with the camera phone-

you can click on picture to view a larger image}

Phoebe scored with these Black Chloe Sandals and Gold Jimmy Choo Heels and I scored with the Pink Jimmy Choo Platform Heels and the Mandarin Stella McCartney Strappy Espadrilles.  And did I mention EVERY single pair was 70% off?

Have you been lucky enough to find designer items at discounted prices? 

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Another Great Score

Top 5 Shoes for the Summer

1. Ballet Flats. I like to have at least one pair of black ballet flats and a few other fun and colorful ones in my closet.  Flats are great because they are casual enough for the day to run errands around the city, yet dressy enough to wear out in the evening.

2. Platform Heels.  These are great for dinner, a party, or even a wedding. They are the perfect shoe to make a statement. (let me just add that I did get them on sale!)  And since this shoe is metallic it works with many outfits. If I buy another pair of platforms for the summer I would definitely go for a pair with some color.

3. Flat Thong Sandals (gold or silver). As you can see here  my Tory Burch thongs are worn out and yes it might be time for a new pair.  But, I love these shoes and I wear these all summer long because they go with almost everything in my closet.  When I go on vacation this this is the only flat shoe I pack. I wear them during the day, out at night, and even to the pool and beach.

4. Nude Pumps. These Stuart Weitzman nude pumps go with everything from skinny jeans to a basic black summer dress.  They are also perfect for work. The peep toe version of this pump is classy and a great option for the spring and summer.  But, I decided to go with the closed toe so I can wear them year round in Boston.

5. Wedge Sandals.  They have made a comeback and I am so glad because I have three pairs sitting in the back of my closet collecting dust.  Wedges are great because they add height and they are  much easier to walk in than stilettos. They look great with flowy skirts and summer dresses.

And do you remember a long time ago when jellies were the top shoes for the summer? Well they too have made a comeback and I cannot believe my daughter is adoring them now.

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Top 5 Shoes for the Summer