Shoe Binge

i have large feet - size 11, which is not an easy size to find. (it's not as hard as 12s though, not by a long shot. of course, that is what my mom and sister wear.) once i got to this size, the options were limited - crazy lime-green-with-rhinestones sandals (hello, i'm like 13!) and old lady shoes for the most part. i had to buy men's tennis shoes. you get the idea.

there was one place that wasn't SO bad in the mall, and a DSW that i got to where i could look down an entire aisle for the yellow "11" sticker and figure out whether it was worth it to even look. but it was pretty hit or miss.

then this beautiful and amazing thing happened to dallas. we got a nordstrom.

nordstrom is known for (1) excellent customer service and (2) carrying really bizarre shoe sizes, not just 6s-10s. and lemme tell you, they brought both in a major way. MAJOR.

their shoes are fantastic. i love them. and it seems that wherever they plant their roots, other stores in the area start broadening the sizes they carry - not as much as nordstrom, where you can get a 13 in women's shoes sometimes! it's like suddenly someone realized, gee, there's this huge untapped market, especially as women are getting taller.

all this is an introduction/excuse for my shoe binge. :-D nordstrom was having a sale. what can i say? and i ordered a couple of other pairs from zappos (one works and i love it; one doesn't) on account of all the weddings, etc. on my horizon. the thing is, i wear through shoes a lot - i get a few pairs that i wear all the time, and 3 years later (max) they are dead as doornails - either the heel breaks or the cushion stops cushioning or the bow starts looking like antennae.... you get the idea. the point is, i wear my shoes OUT.

so here are my recent conquests purchases.

i had to chuck my brown flats last fall because i kept slipping in them. and now that my beloved but very worn cheetah print shoes are getting close to the end of their lives, i really needed something brown. so i got these:









these are just fun and comfortable, and they cost less than $30! "what can you possibly wear hot pink shoes with?" you ask? EVERYTHING. except red.

These are the zappos shoes. They are BCBGirls and they are really comfortable and really fun and I want to wear them with a black dress to a friend's wedding - you know, channel a little Angelina.

These are my new favorites. They are ADORABLE and fun and by Linea Paolo, one of my favorite shoe lines. (Only Nordstrom carries LP.) Again, I think they will go with pretty much everything I own (except navy). I expect to get a lot of wear out of these babies. And you probably can't tell this from the picture, but that black-and-tan patch definitely sparkles.