Uggs 0, Michael Kors 1

So, the UGGs were a bust. They arrived yesterday and they were as un-UGGly as the photo but not very comfortable. I returned them to the store, where these Michael Kors babies called my name:

Much better fit, and more my style. The best part? Between the sale price and a coupon, I got them for one-third the price of the UGGs. Sometimes it pays to go to the store vs shopping online…

So my toes will be toasty and well-dressed while I trek around NYC tomorrow and Friday. Whoo hoo!

A not-ugly UGG

Generally, I am not a fan of UGGs (or the ubiquitous knockoffs, pseudos and wannabes). I think it is because I have big feet and the standard UGG silhouette makes all feet look bigger than they are, like you are wearing cast. Or a cement boot. Or a tree trunk. The winter version of a Croc. But the weather has been so atrocious, with more on the way, and my vanity is getting the better of me. I really, really, really want to wear some of my stylish leather boots, and Mother Nature is not cooperating. I am sick of wearing my LL Bean let’s-go-hike-the-tundra snow boots. I want to wear things like my high-heeled, cognac leather, un-insulated, you’ll-break-your-neck-on-the-ice boots. Function vs. Form. Sarah Palin vs. Sarah Jessica Parker.

I think I have found the answer in these:

 

Yes they are UGGs but they are not ugly. Note the slim vamp and wedge heel. Note how they look more like a boot and less like a Smurf’s foot. I think they may be the answer to my warmth-vs-fashion prayers, and none too soon, as I will be headed to NYC this week for biz, and there will be lots-o-snow there. Also there? A bloggy meet-up instigated by The Queen of Boho-Contempo Snarkaliciousness’ trip east for decor/fashion-related biz , as well as a few other fantabulous NYC-area design bloggers. I can’t wait to meet them IRL!

Some New Year’s resolutions require new shoes

One of my Christmas gifts this year was this fabulous Shoe-A-Day Calendar, based on Linda O'Keefe's international bestseller Shoes. Every day is a new piece of eye candy. Some are from recent collections (such as the above (“Pippa” vegan faux patent leather mary jane by Natalie Portman for Te Casan, 2008) and some are vintage. My favorite so far (and it’s only January 12!) was a red satin number with rhinestone heel and beaded daisy toe clip from the late 1950s. Very Mad Men.  Do my people know me, or what?

I’m off to Minneapolis this week for work. And my trip involves spending considerable time at The Mall of America.  For. Work. It’s like the mother ship is calling me home.

They kick ass. They take names.

Merry Christmas to me.

I picked these up while Christmas shopping this evening. I have been looking for new tall black boots and asked to see these in black. The enabler saleswoman brought these instead. “We were out of the black but I thought you might like these cognac ones.” she said. Um, she was right.

More info here. I paid nowhere near that much, thank you. Now I have to figure out what to wear them with tomorrow….

Croc-a-doodle-doo

Maybe you like them and maybe you wear them and maybe to you they are the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I personally detest Crocs and all the ubiquitous knockoffs, pseudos and wannabes. I detest them with the heat of a thousand melted plastic injection mold forms.

But these are cute and un-Croc-ey enough that if I were to somehow acquire them, and if they didn’t gross me out in person too much, I'd find a way to remove the logo. Perhaps with a metal file and a small blowtorch, like the kind you use for creme brulee.

They're "sensible" if they make sense to me...

When I started this blog I began a series of posts called "New Bird On The Block", which was partly a way to showcase some of the lovely birdie things I was finding on the interwebs, but also a way to curb my impulses to purchase most, if not all, of said birdie things. I have a little obsession with them, but also a not-enormous apartment, so I had to limit my collection to virtual vs reality. I was thinking I should try to do the same with my purse and shoe habits, and then I saw these beauties in Marie Claire:

{Calvin Klein "Rene" sandals, in silver. Size 10 please.}

I can quit any time, really I can.

Well, that's one way to get more shoes....

[Not the closet in question. This be Mariah's shrine de shoes}

A 51-year old San Diego woman is accused of embezzling more than $9.9 million over 7 years from her employer to fund her personal lifestyle and gambling habit.

"The woman is also accused of using nearly $25,000 to convert a bedroom into a closet to store her extensive shoe and clothing collection. Investigators say that the collection consisted of 400 pairs of shoes valued at a total of $240,000, designer clothing valued at a total of $300,000, and 160 designer purses valued at a total of $320,000. The closet included a granite covered center island, crystal chandelier, and a 32 inch plasma television."

The Sheriff's Department says that the woman was able to conceal the alleged scheme for so long because of her position at the company: chief financial officer. The losses resulting from the alleged thefts forced the company to conduct layoffs and restructure its operations.

The woman faces charges of grand theft and embezzlement.

Her laid-off co-workers must love her. So sad. The full story here.

Alas poor Martha, we thought we knew ye

Sequined purple satin shoes sound like something that our current First Lady Mrs. O would wear, but apparently these beauties (which once also had gold buckles) adorned the feet of none other than the first First Lady, Martha Washington, on her wedding day to George.

The dumpy, frumpy image we have of her is based on a few portraits painted after her death. Through the magic of computerized age-regression -- and a better look at the life of a woman whose story was overshadowed by the legacy of her famous husband -- it turns out she was a head-turner, a smart business woman, a reader of gothic romances and a stylish dresser. Read more in this great article from the Washington Post.