Black Beauties.

Top Row:

Cat print wedges, "Driver" by Ego and Greed, Solestruck. 

Patent "Grace Gore Boot" by Vagabond, Solestruck.

"What" Boot by Jeffrey Campbell, Solestruck.

Second row:

Harness boot, "Zoe" by Sam Edelman, Solestruck.

"Everest" by Jeffrey Campbell, Nelly (or at Solestruck).

Studded heel mc boot by Primeboots, Nelly.

Third row:

"Alma" by Dr. Martens, Nelly.
Leather boot, "Kareno" by Vagabond, Nelly.

Leather boot with brown side detail, "Chelsea" by H by Hudson, Urban Outfitters.

Last time I lost myself in the terribly tempting world of online shoe shopping (or, rather, wish list-making), all the shoes I fell for were in different shades of red. Now, as fall is rapidly approaching - it might even already be here - I seem to have gone back to black.

And as always, I despise myself for actually feeling sad I can't afford to buy any of these bold beauties that would look so devastatingly delicious on my feet. Though, I will admit - if they only had them in my size, I wouldn't be able to resist those amazing cat print wedges. I mean, come on! Wedges! With cats on them! How on Earth could they not be mine? This must be the first time ever that I wish my feet were a size 6. (And it thoroughly beats me why designers don't put cats on their shoes more often.)

I'm well aware I own the Everests in red, but unfortunately, that doesn't make the black ones any less desirable.

If I would have to choose one pair out of these nine that I know I would wear at least every other day, it would be those awesome studded mc boots from Primeboots - and therefor, of course, they're by far the most ridiculously expensive pair of the bunch. Moooom! My birthday is coming up! Hint, hint, hint. You don't want me to walk around in high heels all fall and winter long, slipping and sliding and shortening my Achilles' tendons, right? Right? (Darn, mom, why do you have to be in Florida without your computer the one time that I try to communicate with you through my blog?)

Speaking of wanting tons of pretty shoes, my sister Amanda and I had a somewhat strange conversation earlier this week.

Amanda: "Today, Mom and I were talking about, like, what we would do if we won five million dollars."
Me: "Uh-huh? So what would you do?"
"I told her I would buy shoes for all of it."
"Shoes? For... five million dollars? Seriously? Five million dollars worth of shoes?"
"Yeah, 'cause, you know, their value will only increase with time. It would be like an investment."
"Ummm... Not if you wear them, though? Then they will most likely become less valuable. When people say they buy shoes as an investment, I think they're mainly using that as an excuse to spend a lot of money on stuff they don't need."
...
"...oh. So then I guess that wouldn't be the best idea, after all."
"Probably not."
"Good thing I didn't actually win five million dollars and spend it all without talking to you first. Though shoes are a lot of fun to buy."
"They really are."

Mounting the Everest or Ready for a Fall.

When I woke up this morning, summer had decided to take a break and instead make room for a whiff of fall. Which I completely didn't mind - it gave me an excellent reason to try out my Jeffrey Campbell Everests! Let me tell you, these will without a doubt become the foundation of my fall wardrobe.

I honestly feel sorry for everyone living in a climate that doesn't include a real fall season. It's by far my favorite out of the four. I love it when the air starts getting crisp and chilly, I love the changing colors of the leaves, and oh, I so love the clothes! No other season comes close to the fall wardrobe - honestly, it's the one time of year that I thoroughly enjoy fashion, and might even buy a fashion magazine or... five.

But I think what I adore more than anything about the last few months before winter arrives is that we all know they're fleeting. Winter, for me, is all about enduring the torture of the cold and darkness, summer is simply too lazy and dull (plus usually warmer than I prefer, yeah, I'm annoyingly hard to please when it comes to temperature). And then we have spring, my second favorite season, well... spring is a little bit like being stuck in a waiting room, queue ticket in hand. All the signs that it's soon going to be our turn - in this particular metaphor "our turn" would be the arrival of summer - are of course properly aaaaaaw:ed and ooooooh:ed, but they're still just indications of what's to come, distractions while we're waiting for the "real treat". It's just not fair! The flowers and the melting snow are such fantastic wonders, but I don't feel like they're enjoyed the way they deserve to be. Not by others, and not by me. Every year when springtime comes, I forget that I'm actually not at all crazy about summer, and waste these breathtakingly magical months leading up to June holding out for what I incorrectly believe is something better down the line.

I think the British word autumn is amazingly beautiful, though I still prefer fall. Because that's exactly what it is. As summer releases its grip, we're suddenly in a free fall, plummeting against months and months of freezing darkness. We're surrounded by these incredibly vivid shades of red and yellow, and we know that any day the leaves are going to turn brown and crumble under the thick soles of our boots. Therefore, we savor each moment of beauty, we appreciate every last trace of summer, we finally start to relish the small things: that we don't yet need to wear gloves or change the tires of our cars, that our lungs don't hurt from the cold when we take a deep breath, that the sun has not yet set as we leave from school or work. That we still might have a few more heartbeats left within our chests.

A Bucketful of Orange.

I'm so infatuated with my new, bright orange suede wedges from Nelly.com that I simply had to dedicate a whole post to them. The high platforms and ankle straps make them both comfortable and steady - and the color is such a lovely mismatch to every piece of clothing I own, haha! Yeah, I do consider that a good thing.

Sure, it's great when shoes go with everything, but it's way more fun when they go with... nothing. And if I really want to wear them and for some reason don't want to mismatch, I can always use them to make an all black outfit a lot less boring!

A Girl Can Dream: Ruby Slippers and More.

Top row: 

Coral Peep-toe Platforms with Wooden Heel, Zhob/Nelly Shoes.

Red Peep-toe Mary Jane Sequined Platforms, Asos.

Red and Pink Suede Bow Platforms, Asos.

Second row:

Enigma Mariam Wedges in Red, Akira.

Red Suede Zipper Wedges, Matsumoto 3/Nelly Shoes.

Walberg Red Ankle Strap Wedges, Topshop.

Third row:

Crimson Tie-up Lacquer Ankle Boot Wedges, New Dolores/Nelly Shoes.

Cherry Red Boots, Dr Martens.

Red Everest Platform Boots, Jeffrey Campbell/Solestruck.

Just because I happen to have no money whatsoever right now, that sure isn't stopping me from spending way to much time browsing through every online store out there - sighing, dreaming, making infinite wish lists for when I win the lottery.
(I hope they don't expect me to buy a lottery ticket, though - I absolutely can't afford that.)

My "wish list" folder is brimful of screenshots of hats, dresses, shorts, pants, bags, shirts, socks, tights and skirts, but most of all: shoes, shoes, shoes, shoes and then some more shoes. And I couldn't help but notice that an awful lot of them are red.

I don't recall owning a single pair of red shoes, but apparently that's my latest obsession! And since this is a fashion blog (amongst many other things), I thought I'd share my favorite pairs with you: from ruby to crimson, cherry to brick, let's give our feet a bad case of scarlet fever!

The furry shoe fetishista.

My baby girl sure is her mommy's daughter!

Seriously - each time she comes in the house, the first thing she does is to walk up to the shoes in the hallway, rub her face against every single one, and then she hangs out for a couple of minutes surrounded by boots, sandals and wedges.

Ummm... not that I do that. It's just that... I like shoes... and she likes shoes... you get it.

Let's pretend I'm filthy rich.

Let's for a second pretend that I'm not broke at all, no, in fact I'm pretty darn loaded.

The morgage and bills are paid, the fridge is stuffed, both cars clean, fixed up and waiting with their tanks full. We flew in a cat neurology specialist who knew exactly what to do to make Biianka healthy again. My new office is tastefully furnished and decorated, I've had my hair cut and a spa treatment, bought a gym membership and a horse. (It's my fantasy, please let me have the horse!)

So. With all this done, I still have such a ridiculous amount of money in the bank that my financial advisors explain that with the current economic situation in the Western world, I'd better make some investments. And the most sensible option possible would, surprisingly, be to buy lots and lots of shoes.

"To get the economic system back on it's feet, the best you can do is keep your money on your feet", my financial experts declare.

Let's for a second pretend all of this is true.

Then I would waste no time before going on Solestruck.com to order these:

All shoes by Jeffrey Campbell, for sale at Solestruck.com

 

The latest addition to my shoe collection.

I was going to write something like "I've been wanting a pair of really chunky heels ever since bla bla bla", but then I realized that's not entirely true. I mean, I knew I wanted a pair, like, seven years ago, but then I... forgot about it. And before I saw these beauties, I had no idea how much I wanted a pair just like them. But as soon as I laid eyes on them, I knew they're exactly what I've been looking for! ...without even knowing it. If that makes any sense at all. (Probably not.)

Anyway, they are from Vagabond and they're fabulous! Can't wait to pair them with something pretty and take them out for a spin.

We sure are cute for two ugly people.

Yes, that's right - yet another shoe post. I do feel that it's necessary to obsess a bit more about these Monki shoes from the last post (and the video).

These are, in my opinion, the perfect summer shoes. They've made everything I've tried on look adorable. Everything! They're simple without being boring, cute without being to "girly", and they add just the right amount of height. Expect to see a lot more of those babies in the following months...

Haha, I just now noticed the optical illusion from the stripes in the third photo! Those weird circles and lines and not there in real life!

What are your perfect summer shoes?

Walk a mile in my shoes?

 

This past week I've had quite a lot of people asking where I bought the cheetah print Jeffrey Campbell litas I'm wearing in my blog header. The answer is that I got them at the LF store in Venice Beach, but I thought I'd let you know that they do sell them at Solestruck (or at least very similar ones).

(Nope, I'm definitely not being sponsored already - just googled it and found the shoes there.) :)

I know shoes are only material things and material things don't bring you happiness... but I must say that my life is just a liiiittle bit more enjoyable since I got my cheetah litas!

Any way the wind blows.