I consider myself lucky to have purchased a house whose previous owner was likely a shoe-lover like me.  At somewhere over 120 pairs of shoes, even I have not yet managed to completely fill up this legacy  walk-through closet.

But, one glaring omission in my closet set-up is the lack of any proper stool or chair on which to sit when actually putting on the day’s shoes. Admittedly, it’s not exactly a crisis - but the daily hopping around on one foot while stuffing my other foot into a shoe would be a bit less comical and more dignified were I to correct this small wardrobe issue.  And, while it need not be fancy - we are after all talking about a piece of furniture that is only briefly needed on any given day - something pretty or fun would be a nice way of starting out the day.

Luckily, today’s postal offerings included some intriguing shopping options in just this area (in the form of a new catalog ‘Design Toscano‘ - on whose mailing list I have apparently been recently added).

Included are a fair selection of salon chairs, tabourets (of which I have always been fond), and boudoir stools to fit a wide number different styles, tastes, and decors.

Among them:

French Salon corner chair $198 $225

Mademoiselle Cezanne’s French slipper chair $249 $298

King Leopold’s cross-frame tabouret $175

Acanthus leaf mahogany tabouret $495

Lady Annette Boudoir stool $89.95

Madame Bouvier boudoir stool $85.00

And, finally, the piece-de-kitschy-resistance:

Folis Bergere boudoir stool $75.00

How much fun is this last piece - definitely not for those who take themselves too seriously.

Which one would you choose - assuming you have a place to even put it?

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So, Hubby, the kids, and I attended the inaugural year of Steamcon 2009 which was held October 23-25 at the Seattle Airport Marriott.

For a first-year convention, there were certainly a few hiccups, but most of those were a product of the small venue combined with unexpectedly large turnout. When planning a 1st-year event, the only numbers you can rely on are numbers for similar events, in this case, a normal first-year estimate would be in the neighborhood of 400 attendees. Over 1300 attended, and that is not including the number of people who showed up but were unable to get one of the extremely limited number of available day-passes.

Day-pass hopefuls roped a line around a large area of the atrium pool and waited hours for the chance at receiving a badge that would allow them to attend panels, workshops and gaming tables.  I suspect many without badges wandered the halls anyway and just soaked up the general atmosphere.  Can I even over-emphasize how important it was to pre-register?

Final reminder to self: Don’t forget to pre-register for next year at the earliest opportunity. Even with the convention organizers new hunt to locate a larger venue suitable for next year’s convention, it will likely continue to grow in size, so early registration will be vital!

Now, with that out of the way, was it fun?

Hell yeah!

This was absolutely worth finding a way to squeeze the price of registration and the two separate ticketed events out of our rather tight 2009 budget.  Admittedly, being able to get the room on bonus points helped out immensely.

So, hubby and I attended Steamcon as a sort of unplanned 18th anniversary gift to ourselves (though, what does it tell you that we both realized we had this anniversary coming up…. 2 days after it was past?).

Anyway, the kids were with us on Friday only as we got settled into our rooms (Grandma & Grandpa were working Friday, so we had a big family hotel adventure that day & evening), learned the layout of the hotel, checked out the vendor room, and bopped from panel to panel; generally getting a feel for the people and event as a whole. We dressed in steam for the entire event; shopping from our closets since our budget is closely controlled this year. An eclectic personal wardrobe made this less of a challenge for me than it might for others; vests, skirts, ruffled shirts, even a long cavalry-style coat made the trip to Seattle - just in case.

We were also able to spend time with friends we had not seen for years - a wonderful added bonus.

Highlights of the weekend:  Chatting with author Tim Powers while waiting in line at the coffee shop, watching my daughters get dragged onstage by Abney Park lead-singer ‘Captain Roberts’ with the sweeping phrase “Check out the awesome” in reference to their age and outfits,  wearing feathered hats without feeling even a wink self-conscious, and of course, just wandering around among all of the amazing and creative people.

(Abney Park’s Dread Captain Roberts…pardon the blurry focus, it was dark & a bit of a distance shot)

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, the one thing most Steampunks have in common is a do-it-yourself attitude that takes many forms but which also tends to cross-over with a Victorian aesthetic.  So, these are not cheap Halloween costumes people are wearing; they are truly one-of-a-kind fashion statements.

So, without further ado, just a few of the fabulous and fun people - and outfits - from Steamcon 2009:

(These ladies were so hot; it completely put to lie the idea many modern fashion designers have that you must be a skinny stick-figure to make clothing look good and that curvy women aren’t a worthwhile designer type.  I posit that it’s the impeccable tailoring and fit to an individual’s body-type that makes all of the difference…something that we are unfortunately lacking in today’s ready-to-wear culture.  Lazy fashion designers who can’t fit a gal with curves are also a bit of a personal peeve. Could you tell?)

(Check out those Fleuvogs!)

These are actually Born’s - here’s a detail:

And a close-up of those spats:

There were simply too many amazing outfits and people to show you in a single article. But, if you are interested in seeing more from me or others - particularly if you love boots and spats, I am posting all of my photos in an album on Shoeblog’s Facebook page for your enjoyment.

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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.

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Does your shoe collection sometimes leave you feeling whimsical about shoes in general?  Do you find yourself looking at shoe-themed decor for your closet?

If so, the poetry and art of Edward Monkton may be for you.

I was lucky enough to trip across the gift-sized (6.1 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches ) Shoes, Chocs, Bags, and Frocks(penned by Edward Monkton) sitting forlornly on the clearance rack at my local bookstore. This is a fun and fluffy literary indulgence for anyone passionate about shoes, bags, or chocolate; obsessions in which many women indulge with more than a twinge of self-conscious, guilt-wrapped pleasure.

Contained inside it’s pages are quirky poetic gems that, happily,  do not take themselves too seriously. With such titles as “The Beautiful Frock”, “My Chocolate Kingdom”, and “The Killer Heels”, this is poetry made to make women smile.

In addition to this and other  titles available at Amazon.com, a visit to Edward Monkton’s website  yields note cards for sale (such at ”My Killer Heels” shown above) as well as limited-edition prints of “The Shoe of Salvation” (£599).

This is a hand-pulled, 195-copy, silk-screened print that is float-mounted in a transparent box - perfect for any shoe-diva’s decorative splurge.

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A very prominent trend at fashion week this season was interesting hosiery. We were definitely in luck with the weather this year; the temperature was above freezing almost all week. However, hosiery (or tights, as the kids call them today) is the best way to deceive yourself into thinking that the little dress you’re wearing is actually warm.

On the runway at Carlos Campos, I saw some of the sexiest hosiery that’s been around in recent times:

I admit that the super shortie romper is not something that most women can pull off, but the hosiery would definitely make the wearer feel sexy, whether it was completely visible or not. Even looking at this still photo right now, I can see that the impact doesn’t transfer. In person, these suckers just radiated sensuality. There was an audible silence as all the men in the room collectively caught their breath when this model strutted down the runway.

At the Barbie runway show, (I know, I keep going back to that one, but it was FULL of material) we saw the be-hearted little girl princess tights that I know at least half of you had when you were young. Admit it! I’m on to you!

There were Wicked Witch of the East tights at Erin Featherston and pretty patterned paillettes at Custo Barcelona.

And those were just the tights on the runway! Off the runway, it was clear that the hosiery trend has already swept the New York fashion elite.

I’m am curious about whether this trend is New York-centric. I know that even outside fashion week, the streets of New York are littered with ladies in Jewel Toned and pattered tights. Not to mention the leggings (which are NOT pants, ladies) and stirrup tights that are all over the place. Is this trend prevalent where you live?

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