Shoe-a-holic: Four New Pairs in a Week

Let's talk about shoes. I was never a big shoe person until recently. I know most women love shoes, but up until the last 2 years or so, I was the kind of gal who stuck with a few pairs that worked with most outfits and wore pairs over and over.

I sometimes see other people's shoe collections and I can't believe how far behind I am in building my collection.  Part of the reason is that I only started really buying heels in the last few years, for work. Prior to that I was wearing UGG boots, flip flops and flats (you know, typical college student stuff).

I'm slowly working on building my collection so that I have a larger variety of shoes to wear. Because I don't have a large collection where I'm always rotating what I'm wearing, my shoes tend to get worn out sooner and I end up having to buy a new pair of black pumps over and over (and over.) I'm hoping these new additions will offer me a little more variety (because if I wear my nude heels one more time next week, people are going to think I don't own other shoes!)

I bought three pairs this week and some new runners, which I'll get to later.

The first pair I got were the ever-so-popular Steve Madden Fantasik, at the Steve Madden store in my local mall. I love these because not only are they a replica of a gorgeous pair of Stuart Weitzman wedges, but they are also not as tall as many other wedges.  I love a tall wedge, but sometimes it's nice to have something just a little more subtle. They are very comfy too, I can't wait to wear these all summer! Oh---and for those wondering, they are very flattering!

The second pair I got is a pretty nude sandal. I love my nude pumps so I wanted to get a nude heel that would be great during the hot Texas summer. I love the ankle buckle feature on these heels. They are from Nine West and retail for $79. You can buy them here.

The third pair of heels are from Zappos.com. Tangent here---but Zappos.com is seriously the most amazing customer service experience I've ever had. I ordered my shoes at 7PM one night and they were on my doorstep, the next day, before I even got home from work. Then, when I wanted to order another pair of the same shoe in a different color, the lady on the phone was so sweet and had them shipped to me the next day---free of charge until I decided which pair I wanted to keep. I got both the nude pair and this darker color called "cuoio," and I ended up going with the darker pair. These are the MaxStudio Rodney.

Finally, I got new running shoes today.  I loved my Nike Lunas, but sadly, I suffer from serious toe cramps when I work out (like I actually need to stop what I'm doing at times and stretch my toes out because it's so painful that I can't continue the workout).  I needed a larger shoe so my toes weren't always pressing up against the tip of my shoe.  I don't know if larger shoes will completely solve the problem, but I think it will be better for my toes to have more room.  I ended up getting my first size 11 pair of shoes. I got a pair by a brand called saucony. I had never heard of the brand, but they were cute, they fit and they were comfortable. Plus, they were $59.99 which I thought was a great deal.  I LOVE black running shoes. I was thrilled to find these all-black shoes with just a hint of hot pink. You'd be surprised how hard it is to find shoes that are all black and pink, with no gray or white in them. I can't find the ones I got online, but I got them at Academy. You can see a similar pair here.

Here they are compared to my old runners (which I still love):

Do you have a large shoe collection? What do you think of the latest additions to my collection? I tried to stick with neutrals so that the shoes would work with lots of different outfits!  I know some people find that boring, but I don't have as much of a place for all kinds of bright shoes in my collection---however, I would like to eventually get a really fun/colorful pair.

I think the reason I never focused on shoes was because I always liked a simple, classic pump, because it goes with everything. Now that I'm building my collection, I'm really enjoying trying on all of the different styles out there!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

xoxo,

Veronika.

PS--- Here's my shoe rack, with the new additions in place: