Okay, so the shoe situation is not entirely as the title of this post might indicate. However, this Seattle bride is currently wedding ceremony and reception dress shoeless, which you can imagine is a big deal for me.

You see, dear readers, I am getting married at the end of August. Though I have browsed through TONS of shoes on a daily basis, this little shoeblogger has been unsuccessful in finding the perfect pair of shoes for her wedding. My criteria is as follows:

1. Must be 4-5 inches tall: My fiance absolutely towers over me and just once, I’d like to be able to see his eyes straight on. Plus, at 4 inches, I don’t need to tailor my reception dress. I figure it’ll go into paying for those perfect pair of pumps.
2. Platform shoes: To offset the fact that I will have difficulty walking in 4 inch+ shoes, I need platforms.
3. Thicker heels preferred for easier walking
4. Color: Gold, Champagne, Nude. I would prefer to be able to wear it to other occasions and any of these colors would might my ivory colored wedding dress
5. Material: Flexible but should not be satin as it’ll probably stain
6. Style: Peep toe or round covered toe. Thin and strappy is so pretty, but I’m afraid it’ll dig into me plus I have a strange adversion to showing off my pinky toe.
7. Budget: $300 or less; Few things make me as happy as finding a deal on designer shoes so bonus points to anyone can
8. Size: 6.5 or 7 depending on the fit

In short, I am not that picky, right?

In dire times such as these, the help of your most trusted circle of friends and shoe experts must be enlisted. Our sharp shoebloggers have been on the prowl for me. Some of my options include:

Wedding Shoe Contestant #1: Michael Kors Disco Shoe is available at NM for $298 + there is an additional 20% off. These would be wonderful shoes except they are not in my size and the straps might cut into me (criteria #6).

Wedding Shoe Contestant #2: MBMJ Peeptoe which is available at Net-a-porter for $251. I can definitely see myself wearing these shoes for work so they will wear well on an assortment of occasions but I do fear these shoes might be too informal for my wedding. Fortunately, they are not in my size so I don’t have the option anyways.

Wedding Shoe Contestant #3 and #4: These Claudio Merrazi shoes did not fit a number of my criteria (material is satin, price, etc) but style CM309 (priced at $688) and CM317 (priced at $629) are too scrumptious to ignore. For the bride who is not afraid to take chances (i.e. not me) these would certainly be memorable shoes.

Wedding Shoe Contestant #5: Via Spiga Lulu at Overstock for a sale price of $80 or at Nordies for the non sale price of $198.

Now, I’ve actually picked up this shoe just in case I can’t find any better alternatives but I’m still holding out for a shoe that really speaks to me.

Wedding Shoe Contestant #6: This is my second pair of backup shoes (yes, I have two backups!). They are called the BCBG Nadette, which I bought at a final sale price for a little over $100. The best picture I could find were these Nadettes in snakeskin but rest assured that the shoes I picked up are in nude color with matching heels.

Wedding Shoe Contestant #7: Badgley Mischka Piera on sale at SmartBargains for $199 (select sizes but not mine) or Zappos for $409.

Now I know these are satin and might stain if they got wet, but my heart simply went aflutter when Galligator sent me the link to shoes. They are beautiful, classy, and timeless. In short, they might just be perfect if a size 7 were to appear on SmartBargains at its current selling price. Perhaps the wedding gods will smile upon me on my special day. I am certainly keeping my eye out for the shoes and the link has already been bookmarked.

Happy wedding shoe hunting to me!

Authentic Shops:


Designer Shoes at Zappos.com

Vivre.com

I’ve become some sort of a big fat snob regarding shoe brands. When you spend so much time with shoes or writing about shoes or thinking about shoes as I have, it’s inevitable. But rather than crave the high-end luxury brands everybody and their sister are coveting (Louboutin, Blahnik, Zanotti, the usual suspects), my lust wanders off the beaten path. I crave more obscure, though not necessarily cheap brands (in fact, almost never cheap), partly because for me comfort is the true luxury and a pretty good measure of independence in a woman.

These days I’m in love with these Trippen shoes:

Trippen is a German company using the softest leathers and completely devoted to your walking in comfort AND quirky style. These molded rosette Mary Janes fit the bill and are SO me I’m not sure what’s preventing me from snagging them right now. Oh, I know: it’s the price tag ($288 at Ped Shoes)–less friendly to my wallet than the shoes would be to my feet. However, considering how unique and comfy these shoes are, it’s not so bad.

Authentic Shops:


Designer Shoes at Zappos.com

Vivre.com

Know for innovative and bold styles, behold this Marniplatform boot with removable weasel-fur cuff: ($1521.00 at Bluefly in size 38)

This boot needs nothing more from me than to give it an audience.

Authentic Shops:


Designer Shoes at Zappos.com

I have a sinking feeling about the shoes of this season, at least as far as posting about them goes. Because here’s the second week running where a number of the interesting shoes don’t seem to be available on Bluefly anymore.

Take Suede’s fantabulous dress, which rocked the runway and deserved its win (well… wait till I get to the Jerell dress). Its shoes were similar, but not identical to, these Dolce & Gabbana red satin numbers.

The idea of buying that dress from Bluefly is seriously tempting me. I love it.

Apparently using the same shoe in black was Korto, whose dress wasn’t as terrible as all that, in my mind. Not great, but at least tailored and structured and classy looking (unlike Wesley’s mangled mini and Leanne’s overly elaborate number that looked like the secret love child outfit of Peter Pan and a flight attendant).

And, oh look! Terri used the same ones, too, but in what looks like a navy patent leather. But the closest that seems to be available is this Modern Vintage Karina sandal.

Here’s another triple play shoe of this episode, used by Daniel, Joe, and Wesley respectively.

But does it appear on Bluefly? Doesn’t look that way, because the closest comparable I can offer you is the Kenneth Cole Paper Back, which ain’t too close at all.

There were a couple pairs of shiny silver shoes, too. This closed-toe maryjane from Stella, and this (cuter) sandal with the (cuter) outfit last week’s winner, Kelli, designed.

But, again, the closest Bluefly has to offer is this Dolce & Gabbana strappy sandal.

So, with a final note of trepidation and a hope that this “mystery shoe” situation will soon remedy itself, I will leave you with the outfit that I was the most head over heels in love with. Jerell’s.

Oh, how this outfit deserved more love from the judges. Peacock feathers for earrings and trim. Perfectly matching bracelets. Look at that collar! This is young and sophisticated and fresh, and I love love love it. Sure Suede’s deserved the win (look at how much work he put into that thing, and how beautifully it turned out), but this was the dress I wanted to walk off that runway with.

Of course, shoe-wise, even these seemingly basic black patent mj’s don’t seem to be on Bluefly, because the closest I could find was this pair of Dolce Vita suede and patent Brighton heels.

Authentic Shops:


Designer Shoes at Zappos.com

Vivre.com

Ladies, what are your thoughts on the Chanel bulb shoe from the Paris-Londres 2007/2008 collection? Was this a lightbulb moment or did the lights simply go out?

When asked about this creative heel, Karl Lagerfeld said “It’s a chic way to have your shoes shine literally!”

One thing is for sure. With the help of a built in battery, you are sure to glow everywhere you go in these shoes.

Authentic Shops:


Designer Shoes at Zappos.com