Easy on the Spirit, and Easy on the Wallet, Too

En route to a friend’s party, my aching feet in heels drove me toward the Easy Spirit store. My major find was the Easy Spirit Massey, a SUPER comfortable wedge for $39.99 (!!!) with interior padding.

Once fully broken in at the toe, this racehorse will be a running-to-the-subway mainstay. Once the snow rolls around, my expensive heels will be staying prettily away from winter street salt, tucked in my bag until I get to my destination.

The Easy Spirit Amelie is cute and $49.99. Pretty comfortable but a little rigid around the toe. And neither the 8.5 nor the 9 perfectly fit me. Go figure. (My left foot is larger and between sizes). If you put lotion on it and break it in, it could be a good comfy mainstay shoe because of the interior padding.

The Easy Spirit Dosia was okay, but no stunner. I’m on the search for the perfect pair of low-cut ankle boots that I can wear every other day, but these were not them, as comfortable as they were. However, at $69.99, you’ll still be able to pay your rent, be comfortable and look pretty cute.

’10 Kisses’ insoles by Scandalush (Part 1)

Last week I received a surprise in my mailbox….a little white envelope from the recent, woman-owned, small-business start-up ‘Scandalush’:

Yay! I bet you can guess what this means – something new to try out and review for you….

So, wanna see what  was inside?

Two pair of these cute, 2-piece, repositionable, lip-shaped, gel insoles-cum-heel pad-cum-ball of the foot cushions:

These are the Scandalush ’10 Kisses’ insoles which have been blogged about here & there. As an arch-insert obsessive who is always looking for new products to increase heels wearability, I am very excited to have a chance to give these little lips a real-world workout.

Wear-testing, here I come.

Wish me luck. I’ll let you know in a couple of weeks how these work out for me.

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?

Summer Wardrobe Accoutrements

I have freelance assignments that require me to be on my feet all day long sometimes. For that reason, I absolutely love shoe inserts, and have tried the gamut. There’s a new kid in town, though, and it’s Dr. Scholls’ Adjustable Arch Pain Orthotics. They come in light, medium and high adjustable arch support levels, with little arches that go on the bottom of the inserts, and they’re a wonder! When I’m going to be working or shopping or walking all day, I do high. When I’m going to be sitting most of the day, I do light. And when I’m going dancing, I do medium. Hurrah!

Of course, I got them at Duane Reade, the New Yorker’s answer to everything. I also spied these wonderfully helpful items at DR and snapped a photo of them.

Who doesn’t need these in the summer? Hollywood also makes a variety of other very helpful items, like wardrobe tape.

Thanks to Twinkletoes, I use Topstick like a loyal maniac, especially on a DVF wrap dress that has the tendency to come peeking open at the decollete at the most inconvenient times, like when I’m helping some poor woman carry her baby stroller down the subway steps (I was horrified! Gasp! I couldn’t put the baby stroller down mid-stairs and I didn’t have a hand free to adjust!). Luckily, major wardrobe malfunction was prevented ever after by Topstick, a men’s grooming tape that they use on the runways and that you can get at Manhattan wardrobe supply stores. Now, I can just buy a similar tape Hollywood makes at Duane Reade.

Double Hurrah! Here’s to a comfy-footed, wardrobe functional summer!

Lamisilk Foot Therapy Works Wonders

OK it is midway through the summer, you have been wearing sandals or flip flops nonstop since May and your feet are thrashed.  They need help.  Fast.  I found just the thing.  Lamisilk Intensive Foot Therapy.  There are four different products in this line: a hydrating cream, a repair serum, a cream that turns into powder, and an exfoliating scrub.    The entire line can be found at Amazon.  I found mine at Safeway. I only have experience with Repair Complex. It is amazing.

My skin is naturally very dry, I live in the desert, and I am barefoot a lot of the time, so my feet really need help.  I picked up Repair Complex because it’s ingredients didn’t include petroleum jelly.  Ointments that are petroleum jelly based don’t really work for me, creams are OK for a temporary fix, but this serum is different.  It has the feel of silicone based serums. (Biosilk comes to mind.)   I got a pedicure to start with, then just as I went to bed, I put some of this on my feet, focusing on the heels. The next morning, my feet were still soft with the deep cracks fading.  That has never happened before.

I am NOT going to show you what my feet look like.  You will make fun of me.

The instructions say to use this twice a day, but I usually forget and apply just as I go to bed.  I think if I were to use this religiously, and wear real shoes more often, my feet would be just as pretty as Galligator’s and Trainingheels‘.