Juicy Couture and Kelsi Rosabella Ankle Boots

There are two ankle boots that I’ve been eyeballing for fall – nevermind that I can’t wear heels right now since I’m pregnant and naturally tip forward without heels because of my gigantic belly.

The first are the Kelsi Dagger Rosabella boot (available in black and red at Piperlime for $200).

The second pair of boots are Juicy Couture’s Izzy Nappa Boots ($395 at JuicyCouture).

Both of these boots are incredibly ying and yang for me.  One one hand, they look like a rocker or tough girl would wear the boots.  However, the boots are softened with the very feminine rosette detail and butterfly-like zipper accents.   For me, that’s a perfect balance.

The Perfect Party Shoe

I know it is 4 months till Christmas, but that means you only have 3 months to find your perfect holiday party shoes.   I was goofing around in Endless/Amazon and found the perfect party sandal.  They are even 68% off at Amazon.  Caligarius Garbo Jeweled Evening Sandal  $262 at Endless  $190 at Amazon. 

Look at the detail.

If you want pewter and black.  These are not on sale, but they are gorgeous.  $624 at Endless

The details of these shoes.

Caligarius is a line introduced by Stefano Ferragamo and are handcrafted in Italy.  There is a boutique store in Las Vegas called In Step that has these shoes.   So, Vegas readers, are they as wonderful as they look? I am quite intrigued by this line. I may have replaced my Zanotti crush.   They look like solid investment shoes that can be worn for years.  AND the soles of newer styles are pink.  Lia Velvet $549 Endless

How adorable is this?

Shoes: Should they be worn in the house?

I was raised in a household where everyone took off their shoes upon entering the home.  As a kid, sometimes I resented the practice.  Primarily, it was often a hassle plus most of my friends didn’t have this requirement in their homes.  Nowadays though, I see the value removing shoes.  The reasons are quite similiar to why they did it in the old days.

1) Shoes are removed to keep dirt out -- no one wants muddy shoe prints on their freshly cleaned floors, especially if you have guests sitting on the floor (which lasted about 6 months after we bought out condo and had no furniture).

2) Giving feet proper air circulation.  Okay, sometimes I’m lazy.  I confess that I might skip wearing socks if I know that I’m only going out on a quick errand.  But I have sweaty feet and taking off my shoes when I get home ensures I dry out my feet and don’t get athlete’s foot.   In more humid climates like Taiwan or Japan, I can totally see where this would be an issue.

3) Removing shoes are relaxing.  The act of casting off my shoes when I arrive home is my way of saying that I’ve entered my comfortable, stress-free sanctuary, free of the constraints of the outside world.

I realize that not everyone feels this way, especially after watching the Sex and the City Season 6, Episode 9 entitled ‘A Woman’s Right to Shoes’ :

or maybe someone has holes in their socks they wish to hide.  Even though it is my home,  I know I feel a twinge of guilt and awkwardness when I force my guests to remove their shoes.

So here’s what I do. I always keep a few spare guest sandals handy. When my guests arrive, I give them the option to go barefoot or ask if they are interested in wearing indoor slippers instead. I know it isn’t much, but I want my floors clean and keeping outdoor shoes on is not an option.  I’ve found that it helps when the slippers are cute or uber comfy. For example, the lovely folks at Dearfoams sent me these two slippers.

The top Dearfoams pair were too small for me but they were a hit with my girlfriend -- she loved the cute flower and the bright colors.  My girlfriend happens to fall into the ‘take off the shoes at home’ category so she was an easy sell though.  The bottom Dearfoams sole was so comfy, that I ended up wearing them myself.   I’m not sure how fellow pregnant women can walk barefoot, but I need a little cushioning and support with all the extra weight I’m carrying.  This pillowtop, memory sandal was simply a godsend for my aching feet.

Anyways, I digress. To give my guests slipper options, I purchased 2 additional Dearfoams on my own  -- a light blue thong Dearfoam sandal and a  fuzzy Dearfoam slipon -- plus a pair of manly slippers from Brookstones.  Here’s a fun picture that I took of the Dearfoams in the shape of a flower.  Some of my guests have said they like the sandals and would be purchasing a pair to wear around their house.  I guess they like the memory foam on the Dearfoams as much as I do!

But what about you?  Would you make your guests take off their shoes?

How to Shine Your Leather Shoes

I agree with basically everything this man, a butler, says about polishing shoes.

Some tips to remember:

1. Don’t forget to take the laces out and polish the tongue.
2. Alternate shoe wax with shoe polish cream.
3. Put the shoe cream or wax on one shoe with a toothbrush, then let it sit while you put the cream or wax on the other shoe. Do not put the cream on and brush right away. The polish needs some time to soak in.
4. Then brush. My suggestion from experience is to dip the shoe brush in a tiny bit of water on the tips of the brush, so that the shoe will be extra shiny, if that is how you want it.

More in my next post about what kind of shoe polish cream vs. shoe wax to use.

Heels for the Expecting Mom?

My husband and I are expecting our first child – we are 29 weeks along, super happy, excited, and nervous all at the same time!   Now since this is a shoe blog but motherhood is foremost on my mind these days, I thought I’d combine the two and talk about yummy mommies wearing high heels.

I was surprised to learn from my ob/gyn and online articles that it’s fine to wear heels while you are pregnant as long as you are careful (your center of gravity changes so much with the growing belly that you risk falling) and feel comfortable wearing the heels (i.e. no back pain, etc).  In fact,  I’ve observed several expecting celebrity moms do it. Of course this is to special events and not every day wear, but I still am in awe and also disbelieve at how they do it.

Here’s Nicole Richie in 4 1/2 inch Givenchy cutout heel,

Heidi Klum in 5 inch Guiseppi Zanotti platforms,

and Sarah Michelle Gellar in nude peep-toe Louboutins.

Now, I for one, wore heels throughout my first trimester.  My belly wasn’t even showing and I didn’t feel any pain.  But near the second trimester, I didn’t trust my sense of balance anymore – my belly seemed to pop out overnight.  Towards month 6,  I even started to waddle a bit like a penguin!   Yet I still wasn’t willing to sacrifice height, especially when it came time to attend my cousin’s wedding.  My solution?  I wore these nude Stuart Weitzman wedges ($128 at 6pm but mine didn’t have the doggy print) which gave me the vertical lift I desired but were still relatively stable.  Of course, they weren’t exactly as comfortable as they were before I was pregnant, but I spent most of the reception and wedding sitting down so the shoes were fine given the occasion.

Now that I’m in my third trimester, all my heels have been relegated to the back of the closet.  It hurts to walk in most shoes, much less heels, for extended periods of time.  Yet, I haven’t gone from one extreme – heels – to the opposite end – flats – like Gwen or Halle.

Instead, I still wear wedges (more on that and other maternity shoe topics in subsequent posts).  But that’s mainly because I need the arch support and the wedges I wear are now only 1.5 inch tall or less.

It’ll be interesting to see how my feet and body continue to evolve over the remaining weeks. I’ll be sure to keep you posted on my choice of footwear.

So what about you?  Did you or will you wear heels during your pregnancy?  And what will or were your shoes of choice?