L-A: Everyone always talks about The Little Black Dress. That perfect black dress that you can wear for just about every occasion – cocktails, gallery opening, your great-aunt’s funeral, whatever. We’ve even gone there. But do you know what we don’t talk about? What hardly anyone talks about? The perfect black shoe and just how dang hard it is to find. The one you can wear to an interview, to work, for cocktails or maybe even your great-aunt’s funeral. You can wear it with pants or a skirt. You can use them to dress up an outfit (like jeans) or they can just work with the dressy outfit.
Let’s describe this shoe: black with a heel. It’s not too shiny and there aren’t too many embellishments. The shoe isn’t the statement. The heel isn’t too chunky or too low, but it isn’t super sexy high heel either (because you want to be able to wear it around the office somewhat comfortably). It’s fashionable, yet not trendy. It’ll look good this season or a couple of seasons from now. It’s not open toe because you want to wear tights or pantyhose or trouser socks with it if you have to. This is a pretty broad description, so you’d think it wouldn’t be too hard to find. But really, it totally is!!
Let’s take a look at some of the shoes available on the market.
ugh. Snoring. Or just plain ugly and orthopedic looking.
Now for some of my favourites.
Sigh. Why are some of my favourites by Louboutin? Because there is no way I’m laying down $600 on a pair of shoes anytime soon. Can’t some cobbler out there make a shoe that is similar to the shoes I covet (without being blatant knockoffs) with a slightly more affordable price tag than 600 clams? Is it really so much to ask?
I bought a pair the other day and when I got to work they were all wrong. I ended up putting my ballet flats back on and spent part of the day thinking I might return them. They were just blah. I’m not looking for “Holy Crap! Those are the Bestest Shoes Evar!” I just want shoes I can love and wear with pants or with skirt.
The shoes I wish I had bought? The shoes I may need to go back and buy before someone else scoops them up? These bad boys:
They don’t really fit with the kind of perfect black shoe I’m talking about, but they were a little bit perfect in their own right. I talked myself into the more practical, more affordable shoe. And, of course, completely regretted my decision.
