Rethinking my shoes.

Yesterday Bloomingdale's decided to make contact again.

After all these years, they seem to have forgiven me for curtailing my trips to New York and, therefore, our rich relationship. On one of my first trips to NYC, a work pal and I ran out on a lunch break to visit. The little jaunt was exciting and overwhelming and a start of a beautiful relationship.

In their halls and sections and floors, I learned about the many more brands that exist. The ones that never made it to the little rounders in Los Angeles. They had whole sections dedicated to Tahari designs rather than the small rack at my local Bullock's or I. Magnin. It was a visual education, a retailing education, certainly a fashion education and of course, fun. Even if all I bought was a mascara. It was my mascara from Bloomingdales.

And then, I came home and they sent me a catalog where I could buy shoes. Not the shoes at the aforementioned stores, or Nordstrom, but Bloomingdale's collections of shoes. It was all good fun and I managed to grab some unique and simple and beautiful shoes on sale, from Bloomies.

So yesterday was clearly an attempt on their part to rekindle the old romance. And they were successful. I clicked on the email which featured a shoe that took me right here. And right to the shoes. As I clicked through, my youngest took the chair next to me and commented: "You should get some of these. You used to wear cute shoes, but now Mom, they're kinda grandma."

After the initial sting wore off, I gave her a kiss and clicked in earnest. She's right and I knew it. I kinda knew it when we were shoe gawking at the Music Center. I took a little inventory the other day when I cleaned out my closet and saw this mix of older fun heals and, well, Clarks. There's nothing wrong with Clarks. There are plenty of cute styles (kinda). Like these on the right. But the brand is about comfort and I seem to have collected only flat black or brown, which are, in the eyes of my preteen, not cool. So I perused. And clicked. And put many pair into my online Brown Bag. I was encouraged to buy these:

 

I settled on a slightly lower pair of black patent leather espadrille platforms and some DKNY sandals. Both passed muster and were on a double sale. So, all is well.

I'm revisiting my appreciation of shoes for fun and fashion, giving the heave ho! to shoes in the grandma category and taking Bloomingdales up on their advances.  Rekindling the courtship, so to speak.

And so with great expectancy I ask, what's on your feet?

Grace Coddington - The September Issue

I'm still thinking about the revelation of Grace Coddington in The September Issue - Anna Wintour & the Making of VOGUE. Without going back to the movie, I've been thinking about how real and fabulous and artistic Grace Coddington truly is.

I found this wonderful point of view about her. Though I don't agree at all with the take on Wintour. It's just too easy to disagree with her methods, and miss her dedication and eye.

I'm so interested to learn more about her work, seeing more, noticing more. I found her coffee table book online for $1395. I doubt I'll be picking it up. So now, I'm just looking, looking to take in her work, her view of things, her art.

I'm so inspired by who she appears to be. She's definitely not a Devil Wears Prada clacker, but an aging, been through it and ready for more, down-to-earth professional who understands the facets of the fashion world and has a brilliantly artistic eye and interpretation.  What I love about Grace Coddington is that we see, in the documentary a very real, creative genius who sees the art in fashion and provides us a view to see it too.