Natural Comfort For You, Everything Else For Me

Have y'all been into Natural Comfort shoes? They're definitely not for me, but if I had to wear wedges, these might be the only ones I'd go for. The brand was popular in the 1970s, but it's been recently resurrected, for people like Kate Hudson.


($99, Natural Comfort, Shoes.com)
Cute enough.



($99, Natural Comfort, Nordstrom)
Sorta cute...



($100, Natural Comfort, Zappos)
Cuter in teal.



($113, Natural Comfort, Zappos)
Also sorta okay.



($79, Natural Comfort, CutesyShoes.com)
Cute enough, in that Chrissy from Three's Company sorta way.



($97, Natural Comfort, Shoes.com)
Probably the only Natural Comforts I'd wear, of all these, despite the fact that this pair probably qualifies as regulation shuffleboard footwear.


Okay. Now onto "Everything Else For Me"

(Apprx $214 USD, Beatrix Ong, Koodos.com)
Beatrix Ong is the new black.



($49, Seychelles, Nordstrom)
Adorbs! The PERFECT heel height, width and shape. Not too boxy, not too stiletto-y.



($63, Poetic License, Amazon)
ExTREMEly tempting.



(Apprx $143, Fluxa, Barringtonbridges.co.uk)
Gorgeous.



($49, Restricted, Zappos)
For some reason, I'm almost into these.



($32, Bernardo, Modcloth.com)
I'm almost into these too.



($16, Classified, Amazon)
Also sorta cute.



($67, Poetic License, Amazon)
Fun cold weather shoes. And that can't come fast enough, as far as I'm concerned.



($59, Modcloth.com)
Absolutely adorable. This one seems like it'd even flatter curvy boh-days. And, it looks like it'd go well with...



($120, Seven For All Mankind, ShopRapunzels.com)
... These! Which I may buy. I've gone through several pairs, one of which stretched out to massive too-bigness, another which didn't and now no longer fits - wah. Or rather, I outgrew them. Oh wait... I don't care. Are 7s even in anymore?



($60, Becky Oh!, Beckyoh.com)
Extremely adorbs, via Indiefixx's Summer Shopping & Gift Guide.


K, bye!

Wicker Is For Patio Furniture...

... Not your feet, okay? Same goes for rattan, jute, straw and raffia. Actually, ESPECIALLY for raffia. That shit is itchy and scratchy, and really, like cockroaches, do either really serve ANY purpose except to be annoying? Yet still, Stella (Ms. McCartney if yer nasty) insists upon basketweaving them into footwear, and the well-heeled set (or those who consider themselves so) drink it up with a straw.

Really? These??



($575, Stella McCartney, Barneys)
Hideous, unflattering, and may God help you should you go within 40 feet of a fired-up grill. And is there anything worse than witnessing a girl (usually overly fake tanned by about six or seven shades) in a dangerously short babydoll dress hobbling over a subway grate in 6-inch-high wicker walkers, desperately trying to maintain balance while avoiding a "Seven-Year Itch" moment? Seriously, one of the worst of all summer fashion cliches.



($575, Stella McCartney, Bergdorf Goodman)
Nope. Still terrible!



($495, VPL)
Is this someone's idea of a cruel joke?



($640, Fendi, Barneys)
They're not wicker or whatever, but close enough, as they ARE hateful. Glakdfjl;asdjfsl;aj!



($34, Connie, Shoes.com)
Avert your eyes!



($520, Fendi, Barneys)
Fendi's high-heel version of a five-car-pileup. It's as though the ankle strap is the freaking jaws of life, desperately attempting to free the helpless victim (in this case, your foot) from its captor (in this case, this God awful excuse for a shoe).



($615, Manolo Blahnik, Bergdorf Goodman)
What's that old adage about money not buying taste?



(Apprx $35 USD, Dorothy Perkins)
If you absolutely MUST, these aren't bad, though I'm rarely a huge fan of the T-bar.



($29, SM New York, Shop.com)
Finally, a pair of raffia shoes that don't make me want to gouge my eyes out. BTW, loks like SM New York is Steve Madden's lower-rent label. I always thought Steve Madden shoes were unreasonably priced, so yay for this.



($521, Hollywould, Ilovehollywould.com)
Apparently what we have here is one of the season's "it bags," though that's not saying much considering another "it bag" is an obnoxious send-off of a bag poor people keep their earthly belongs in. Anyway, what's so special about this clutch? Sure it's cute, especially if you're going to the Kentucky Derby, (which is SOOOOOOO two weeks ago), but you can find a straw clutch in any half-way decent vintage shop. And I'll hazard a guess that they're well below $500 bucks and that the above clutch ain't worth 5 Benjamins.



($225, Isabella Fiore, Bergdorf Goodman)
If you're still jonesing for an expensive straw clutch, this is pretty cute and half the price of Hollywould's. I like the white version too.



($108, Franchi, Zappos.com)
Much better.



($68, Mad Imports)
Juicy and delish colors, and no hideous ornamentation!!! THANK you!

I'm also feeling some of their other "all-natural" products that don't make me want to toss my recycling in the trash in protest of aesthetic bastardization:


($110, Mad Imports)



($98, Mad Imports)

K, bye!

Eley Kishimoto Shoe Storm

Oh the weather outside is frightful. So let's pretend, shall we, that it's raining not big, yukky, puddle-producing buckets of rain but instead shoes by British husband-and-wife team Eley Kishimoto.


($347, Eley Kishimoto, Asos.com)
I don't usually go for T-bars, nor shoes that cost nearly $350, but good GOD these are amazing. I LOVE the super '70s, Partridge-happy combo of red, white, blue and yellow.



($364, Eley Kishimoto, Asos.com)
Such beauty.



($321, Eley Kishimoto, Asos.com)
Much like that annoying Corrs song, Eley Kishimoto's Cut Out Court Shoe pretty much leaves me breathless.

A few more from the Eley Kishimoto site:

Peep 'em here.



These are just so perfectly vintage looking that look like they should have that good thrift store musk smell (as opposed to the depressing old people death thrift store smell). And I mean that in a good way.


Here's a used pair, but otherwise, my eBay search netted NO shoe results. Boo... Now for some non-Eley Kishimoto shoes:


($180, S&J, Satineboutique.com)
Love the innocent old-schooliness of the buckle and strap with the Trash and Vaudeville color scheme.



($265, Devotte, Satineboutique.com)
Yay for the vintageness of the Kaitlyn wedge. And I was JUST discussing with someone this weekend about how hot teal is. So if I said it, you KNOW it must be true.




($79, Vince Camuto, Smartbargains.com)
Is it weird that I like these?


And now, to be serious for a rare moment... I (Tamron Lohan) graduated from a university very near to Virginia Tech and have family and friends all throughout Virginia. So, not to be "that girl" and take some weird, dramatic, overrelating tragedy co-opter who's like "Oh my God! I once DROVE BY THERE" or "I knew a guy who knew a guy who knew someone's roommate who once went to a party with someone at Virginia Tech," or something, but it does hit really close to home. It's just extremely surreal. My heart and thoughts go out to all of the victims and their loved ones and the Tech students and community.

Yay Spring Shopping!

After a winter of shopping hibernation, I just came out of my cave a little bit. Emboldened by my easy decision to purchase the Target duffel bag that may or may not work as a gym bag (remember?) --



UPDATE: I just received this bag, and I am sorely disappointed to note that it has not silver but GREEN straps! This is an outrage. I can't have green straps. What a letdown.

-- I started clicking around the site to see what else had the tempting "free shipping with $50 purchase" tag. And, oh the cuteness I found! Here is what I scored for the grand total of $66 bucks.



Mossimo boot, can't go wrong for $14.99. I thought about getting these a while back and refrained. For fifteen bucks, I went for it, even though this is not technically a spring purchase.



Merona yellow canvas wedges. Bright color, comfortable (-looking), great with jeans, great for work: check, check, check, check. $22.99 for a piece'a that.



Exhilaration butterfly-print satchel, a steal at $13.49. I think it's pretty big, and so so so so so cute I can't stand it. There are a bunch of other cute colors and styles, so click around. Don't bite me!

Tonight I hope to get to the Atlantic Terminal Target and pick up a leaf bag for Betsy, who started me on this crazy journey. I just hope they have more than one, or I'm going to have a serious moral dilemma on my hands.

UPDATE! Success! The Brooklyn Target has oodles and oodles of the lovely leafy bag, which is sorta Orla Kieley-esque, without the Orla Kiely-esque price tag. I picked up one for myself as well, because how can you not for 17 bones? Gaze upon its loveliness: