It has been a couple of weeks since I read this, but with Shomore’s review of the new Kenneth Cole technology, I recalled this article in the Chicago Tribune about a showdown with four shoes and their comfort levels.   Here’s the set up:  Ellen Warren purchased 4 pairs of shoes, then 4 women wore them, giving their assessment of each shoe.  Here are the shoes in comfort order.

Naturalizer’s Magee $70 at Naturalizer.com

Cole Haan Air Lyric Maryjane pump  $182 at Zappos.com

Kenneth Cole Stud Bolt   was $175 at Kennethcole.com but this style isn’t available anymore.  The Stud Bolt does not seem to be a part of the 925 series.  The “hype” mentions that the technology was 4 years in the making, but I couldn’t find the shoe listing any longer.

Taryn Rose Diles $475 at Endless.com

It is a great article with wonderful information.  Read the entire article at Sexy Shoe Showdown.

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Dillard’s department store is having a super duper online clearance sale.  Starting today, you can take an additional 40% off already reduced prices, effectively bringing you down to 80% off the retail price in some cases!  Those prices, in my opinion, are pretty darn extraordinary.  Since seeing is believing, here are some brands with prices so hard to resist, I didn’t.  I picked up both of these Cole Haan shoes and the Sperry Top-Siders before writing about them - I just couldn’t believe the prices and had to put myself into the sales queue first since I know that these will sell out fast (can you tell how excited I am?).

Cole Haan Air Elly OT Ballet; Regularly $185 and now on sale for $33;  It’s a classy silhouette that we blogged about back in 2008, and here you have in on sale!

Cole Haan Air Chole in red, pewter, or black; Regularly $195; On sale for $35 (try to beat that price, seriously!)

My darling husband is taking sailing classes.  From him, I’ve learned that the Sperry Topsider shoe brand puts out some really practical boat shoes with wonderful soles that will grip well on the boat and have soles that won’t leave ugly black treadmarks.

These Sperry Topsider ‘Coastline’ mary-janes are $28, down from $80 and while they aren’t the most fashionable shoes out there, they will be functional.

There are a ton of other shoe brands to choose from, ranging from fashionable brands like Jessica Simpson and Michael and Michael Kors

Like these Michael by Michael Kors Berkeley T-Strap; Formerly $154, Now $46-$59

or Jessica Simpson Stratia; Regularly $89 now $32

to shoe brands known more for their comfort, like Ecco, Born, Privo, Merrell, etc.

And once you are done with the shoe shopping, dare I tempt you with clothing like this Laundry by Shelli Segal Strapless Pleat-Front Dress which is $62, down from $354.

Okay, I didn’t set out to, but I’m starting to feel like I’m a salesperson right now, so I’ll just leave you to shop in peace now.  Happy online surfing!

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Black Friday is almost upon us. We all know this, and I am both afraid and rejoicing. I have some younger cousins and friends of the family I need to get presents for, and I don’t have the money to go for broke this year (especially with lots of cousins), because I’m already there. Here are some sites to try if you’re on a budget:

• At Heels.com, you’ll save $10 on every shoe plus use HEELQ4AFF to save an additional $15 off purchases of $125.
• Through H&M’s Friends and Family promo, you’ll save 10% off every $50 purchase.
• Over at ColeHaan, you can save 30% off your entire purchase from now until November 30th using code CHSALE30.
• Outlet shopping? SierraTradingPost will enjoy 15% off their order with promo code ABACKCYBER8.

Overstock and Amazon have surprisingly good shoe deals for sites where the span of goods is so huge. If you’re looking for supercheap, cute presents for nieces, try the brand Adi on Overstock. And you know, I don’t know if I can do it anymore (yes, Grandma over here realizes too much leopard print and too many bows make her look vaguely Rocky-Horror-meets-GoGo-from-Kill-Bill), but if your niece is wild and cute enough to rock Betsey Johnson well, you could send her to Amazon’s Friday Sale. (But then, you might want to keep a pair of those leopard print pumps in the back of your closet for your wild nights in!!)

And this is your chance to get something priced for a teenager for yourself! Maybe I’ll just be getting a pair of $30 heels online, but it’s nice to treat yourself. I prefer YSL, but if it’s Sigerson Morrison for Target’s really cute electric blue booties or jeweled flats this year, that’s more than fantastic. I actually like it when someone recognizes something I have as being Awesome, Creative, Young Designer for Target, because it’s usually a hard working career gal with fun style! I can’t tell you how many times in New York a coworker or stranger has come up to me in posh Midtown and said, “Is that Behnaz Sarafpour/Proenza Schouler/Erin Fetherston for Target?” Here are a couple of my Sigerson Morrison for Target faves for you and the gals in your life:

I also highly recommend Target’s Sonia Kashuk makeup as presents for girls in your life, because they are informative, from How To Make a Smokey Eye to Brow Arch Kit, and it’s some of the best quality, low price point makeup I’ve ever gotten. Bourjois and Rimmel are two other makeup companies that not every single one of her suburban mall-dwelling girlfriends will have, though Bourjois is carried at Sephora.

Mariana by Golc is another pretty, reasonable line that suits younger women, not too young and flashy but not old or matronly at all!

And if you prefer to get your kicks, literally, in person, perhaps your wallet will like the outlets, which all seem to be having MASSIVE SALES that start early, many on Thursday night. Don’t playa-hate on those outlets, New Yorkers, just get there with a little help from your friends with cars or take that famous Port Authority bus!

New Yorkers: Woodbury Commons, Riverhead Tanger Outlets
Los Angeleans: Camarillo Premium Outlets, Citadel
Phoenicians: Arizona Mills, Anthem Outlets

Happy Shopping!

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One of the must-have items of the season is, apparently, the good ol’ penny loafer. I’m all for that: school season is knocking on your neighborhood’s door, and even if you’re not in or around a school at the moment, you must feel the buzz of books and the studious energy in the air. No? It must be me, ahem; still, you are probably seeing a preview of collegiate fashions by now. And if you indulge one of my pet peeves for just a second: I for one would LOVE to see young women sporting an elegant, well-made penny loafer rather than a flip-flop way into November, as I often see, and which is just….wrong.

Penny loafers were named as such because they could be decorated with a penny (or often, a dime). I didn’t realize there was actually an urban legend behind this:

In 1934 John R. Bass (a bootmaker in Wilton, Maine) started making loafers and called them Weejuns (meant to sound like Norwegian). These had a strap across the upper part of the vamp that was shaped like a pair of lips (said to be John’s wife, Alice Bass, kissing each shoe on its way out the door). The mouth opening soon was used to hold an ornament (such as a penny), and thus penny loafers became a style. Penny loafers often held a dime instead of a penny. (From Wikipedia).

Edited: Correction: Allison in comments points out that it was actually George Henry Bass (and not John R.). Thanks, Allison, for pointing out again why Wikipedia can’t be entirely trusted!

In the days of yore, the penny loafer was a low-heeled shoe through and through, with a strong masculine vibe (it makes sense, since it started off as a men’s shoe). These days the penny loafer, just like the oxford, has gone through a high-fashion transformation, and the New York Times’ T Magazine is eager to present these options to us:

Clockwise from top: Christian Louboutin shoe, $1,050 a pair. Go to christianlouboutin.com. Yves Saint Laurent shoe, $770. Go to ysl.com. Tod’s shoe, $545. Go to tods.com. Nine West shoe, $99. Go to ninewest.com. Cole Haan shoe, $275, and Anna Sheffield for Cole Haan coin, $45. Go to colehaan.com.

This style is a classic that’s been around for decades and is bound to stay in style for a long time; in theory at least, you can’t go wrong wearing a pair of well-made penny loafers. I do admit to having misgivings about the 3+ inch height of the models shown in T Magazine; but again, I also have misgivings about models that look so masculine I have no desire to wear them. Therefore, I have also scoured teh interwebs for more pleasant AND easier on the feet loafer-options and found a few. Behold:

From top to bottom:

Marc by Marc Jacobs patent loafers (available in other colors, too), $264 at Zappos.

Marc by Marc Jacobs high-heeled loafers (2 & 3/4″, also available in other colors), $354 at Zappos.

Kate Spade Lindsay loafer (also available in other colors), $199 at Zappos.

Givenchy gold calf loafer, on sale for $204 at Zappos.

Tory Burch Clayton Loafer (also in red), $275 at Nordstrom.

Celine tasseled low-heeled brogue, $460 at Yoox.

MariaCristina low-heeled loafers, $178 at Yoox.

L’Autre Chose tasseled loafer, $68 at Yoox (only one size left!)

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Yes, I had a torturous time this past weekend attempting (semi-successfully) to do a ruthless shoe purge from my closet.

What motivated this frightening action, you might ask?  I’m moving.  Yes, folks, I’m leaving New York.  It’s been a good few years, but it’s time to go.

Where to, you (may or may not) want to know?

London, I tell you.  Never fear.  I’ll be covering footwear on the other side of the Pond.  And Twinkletoes will have the New York City beat well in hand.  Or, I guess, on foot.

But all this means that I have to pack up my rather large shoe collection and put most of it in storage for the year that I’ll be abroad (horrors!).  And since storage space is limited and I’m unwilling to give up the shoe boxes in which I store my darlings, a reduction of the collection was required.

So, what got added to the donation pile?  10 pairs.  I’m quite pleased with myself at 10 pairs.  And I shall show them to you.

1. Luau-rific flower-adorned flip flops.

2. Turkish bazaar slippers.

3. Havaianas kitten heel flip flops.

4. Paul Green “Dream” tan slip-ons.

5. Biviel kitten heel pumps.

1. ECCO boxer boots (lovingly blogged about here, but always a tad too small).

2. Doc Martens maroon oxfords.

3. Valerie Stevens black leg-wrap wedges.

4. Cole Haan G Series Irvington mules.

The 10th is this pair of Giraudon boots.

They are fun and funky.  They are walkable.  They are stylish.  But like the ECCOs above, they are ever-so-slightly too small in the toes.  So are those cute Biviels up there.  This is due to a lack of smart shoe-shopping in my past, but let it serve as a lesson to all that you REALLY shouldn’t buy that cute pair of shoes that almost almost fits but doesn’t quite.

I love you all, my dears.  I have had lovely times wearing all of you.  And now it’s time for you to go on and decorate the feet of someone else.  I wish you all well.

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