Boot Love

Is it just me, or do you kind of wish you look down right now and be wearing these...

Just one more reason (or a pair of reasons if you will) that Fall is okay with me!

Shoe Love

How amazing are these J.Crew metallic heels? At $320 they will not be making their way into my closet anytime soon so gazing dreamily at this picture will have to do. I've also seen many a blogger sporting them so I also gladly live vicariously through them!

Once upon a time I had metallic pointy toed heels but they got pretty rough in the toe area and because of the silver metallic finish it stood out a lot - too much - so I had to get rid of them. They were Aldo and my hopes is that something similar (or similar to these - the ankle straps are adorable!) will come out because not only are they perfect for a formal occasion but I've seen them paired with distressed denim and man, that's chic! This is the "splurge", now where is the "save"... :)

Hunting for Summer Dresses

With summer just around the corner (officially starting at the end of this week to be exact!), I find myself obsessing over summer dresses! I have a few, but mostly maxi dresses which I tend to use as cover-ups. I feel like I don't really have anything I'd really call "short and fun and flirty" - which is every girls' summer dress dream! While in my hunt for the perfect summer dresses, I have found myself frequenting the various online pages of the brand Splendid. I find their clothes in general to be basic, but must-have basics. Comfortable, easy design, in beautiful and fashionable cuts. Here are some of the dresses I've recently been ogling:

What do you think? I'm kind of crazy about that yellow one... don't be surprised if it makes it's way into my closet! Here's a few other non-Splendid dresses that have also caught my eye:

As you can probably tell, the thing all these dresses have is that they are simple - very throw on and go - and that they are all fun! One of the best parts of summer can be sporting colour, and one of the key essentials of summer clothing is that it is light and comfortable. I think it's safe to say all of these hit the mark.

What's your go-to summer brand/brands when it comes to dresses? Is there a summer staple you feel like you need to add to your closet line-up?

My Next Gigi

I got a pair, my first and only pair, of Sam Edelman Gigi sandals about a year ago. Prior to that I had never really liked the whole T-strap sandal on myself. I'm not sure what it was then that made me get this pair (it may have been that I was in love with one strap of snake skin, one strap of leopard and the pink details - basically neutral with a bit of colour) but I am sure glad I did! Not only do I love this particular T-strap on me, I can't get enough of it. It doesn't hurt that they are also the most comfortable sandal I own. My only dilemma now, is with summer (almost) upon us, which one to get next... because there WILL be a next!

White Hot Heels

I don't know about you but up until maybe 5 years ago, when I thought about white pumps, I would think of something straight out of the early 80's. Were they even a thing in the 80's or am I imagining it? Maybe with some stirrup leggings? OMG, remember stirrup leggings?! Haha! With all the colours and shapes and designs of shoes nowadays I am definitely way open to more and thinking out side the "era" box. I remember at the end of the summer last year, white heels started really taking off. I remember wanting to buy a pair but it was my brief hesitation that did me in as when I was ready to pull the trigger, the pair I wanted were gonzo. Good news for fans of white heels (and good news for whomever bought those shoes I wanted), white heels are back this year and in full force! In the last few weeks, now that spring has sprung, almost every fashionable starlet has been seen wearing them. I cannot get enough...

They are so fresh and clean looking. They go with pretty much everything. They OOOOZE summer. What's not to love? I expect I will be picking up a pair to be my very own VERY SOON.

What do you think of the trend? Do you have a pair of white heels in your shoe closet (hopefully not because you saved them from the 80's...)?

Shoe Housing: Past, Present, Future?

I love shoes, you love shoes, we all love shoes! But as you build up a collection of shoes it can get harder and harder to find room to house them. Traditionally shoes go on the floor of a closet but there is only so much useable floor space in a home before you start carpeting your house with shoes. I'm very lucky with where I'm living right now - I live with a girlfriend who also has a good amount of shoes so we have a room dedicated to our shoes! It's supposed to be an eating area off of our kitchen but since we have a substantial dining room and it's just the two of us, this seemed like a better use of space. It also leads to our balcony so there is some stellar lighting in there. 

Our shoe room consists of a giant full length mirror at the end of the room, two 50 pair racks on either side of it (one for each of us naturally) and at the other end of the room we have two red bucket chairs with a table in the middle facing the mirror (which we've used to showcase our shoes at our shoe parties). It's a good little area.

But recently, I ran into a bit of a problem. My shoe rack started to buckle. Not just because I have too many shoes (just kidding, there's no such thing as too many shoes) but because I put my boots on the top rack which weighs it down quite a bit as you can imagine. I should also mention that less than 24 hours after I took the buckling picture below, it full out collapsed. So, I had to go out and find myself a new rack. Which I did. I picked up the stainless steel beauty also seen below.

Now I will say I am quite happy with this new rack and how it turned out. It holds just as many shoes as the other one but is more visually pleasing and also, for whatever reason, feels more compact to me. BUT I am still worlds away from the shoe housing of my dreams - hopefully, the shoe housing of my future...

The dream.

My dream is to still have a house with a shoe room/closet but to have white shelving  house all of my shoes. A step further would be to have that white shelving inset into the wall but that I realize, is quite ambitious. I previously posted about Coach's shoe closet which would be a dream. I've also expressed not just that I would like to have Jennifer Hudson's closet, but that I would be happy live in it - it would be more than enough space for little 'ol me and my clothes and shoes, haha! Her closet is a little off the charts but SO amazing.

How do you store your shoes? Do you have any shoe closet dreams of your own? :)

Snakeskin Capped Off With Neon

You can tell the seasons are starting to change with the amount of new things I finding, wanting and sharing! My latest find are beautiful snakeskin flats from Banana Republic with a coloured cap toe. First off, I have never really been especially fond of Banana Republic shoes (maybe they're fine but I just don't look at the right times) but these caught my eye and it was longing at first sight! Just as I am picky with prints like leopard prints, I am equally as picky when it comes to snakeskin print! In clothes I find it can wash someone out (if you're on the pale side), and in general, if it's not the right print it WILL look cheap. Online the print for both looks just fine to me, and the coloured toe gives these shoes the extra "ooomph" they need to spice up the print! I just love these.

This is yet another scenario where I'm having trouble picking a favourite!

Splurge vs Save: the Skeleton Watch

I previously mentioned that I have my eye on the Marc by Marc Jacobs Henry Skeleton leather watches, but while I pine away over those (and they are actually sold out most places anyway), I've found a comparable watch that is not nearly so pricey! Yes it's not as incredibly cool as the Skeleton watches, BUT considering they are about $170 less, I think that is just fine. The price of the Skeleton watches vary but no matter what you are looking to drop about 200 bucks, whereas this American Eagle find will only set you back $25.

I will also admit, these pictures are quite deceiving - the American Eagle watch does not look nearly as bright or neon as the Marc Jacobs one, but I promise you, I've seen it in real life and it is VERY neon!

Attraction Alert: Coloured Lens Ray-Ban Aviators

Summer, are you here yet? Because I've found your perfect sunglasses! 

I have seen these sunglasses pop up a couple of times in the past couple of weeks and I can not get enough! They are your traditional Ray-Ban Aviators and come in about 6 different colours. They also come in either a gradient lens or a mirrored lens. Apparently mirrored lenses will be big for spring/summer - who knew?! Not sure if I'm a huge fan of mirrored lenses (they kind of make me think of sunglasses from my childhood and I'm not sure if that's a good thing) but I'm willing to give anything a shot!

My biggest problem (which let's admit, is not a problem at all) is that I can't decide between the orange or the green lens...

Attraction Alert: Coral Shoes

As of late I have found myself VERY attracted to coral shoes. Coral shoes of any shade also - whether they be on the neon side or on the pastel side. Below I've featured Jessica Alba and Hayden Panettiere wearing a couple of beauty pairs in bright versions of the shade. They are both wearing fairly modest and classic outfits, but paired with these shoes, their overall looks are given some life and some fun!

I could not find any shoes that were quite as bright neon as Hayden's, but I think I found Jessica's. My best guess is that they are the Kate Spade "licorice too" pump in the colour "Fuxia Flouro Patent" (below). They run for a not so modest $300. In my search I was looking around for some other colour/style/price variations and this is what I found:

Rachel Roy | Kate Spade | Alice +Olivia

 Town Shoes | Aldo

What do you think of coral shoes?

Neons and Mint

I don't know about you but when I'm browsing fashion or making up my wishlists, I've noticed that at any given time I'm drawn to a certain theme of things, mostly relating to a certain colour scheme. For example: just last month, everything I was looking at and coveting was white, black or blue. I have no idea why, but one day I started to notice this trend in all the pages I was bookmarking or all the wishlists I was creating! Right now I'm onto a new trend that appears to be made up of neons and mint. Those don't necessarily make as much sense as the former colour scheme but it is what it is! With spring collections rolling out I suppose there is some rationale to where the inspiration came from. From looking at all the spring fashion previews months ago, and with the spring collections that are coming out right now, I'm pleased to report that it looks like neons and mints are here to stay for at least another year!

Simply out of curiosity, I decided to pull together a sample outfit to see if this colour scheme even works! Well, this is the outfit I put together - three items I own and one is on my wishlist. What do we think? I think it looks mighty fine and like a perfect outfit to rock the second spring reveals itself! :)