Ice Ice Baby

New York has had its first snow and it’s caused massive delays as we struggle to work out transportation alternatives – namely, what do we wear on our feet as we try to go about our normal lives? This morning, the TV news attempted to help, suggesting that boots were a must. Hey, you don’t have to tell me twice! After already taking a tumble last night on the packed-down snow and seeing all the salt on the sidewalk and picturing the damage that can do to soft leather, that was a given.

So.. wear boots to keep your feet dry and warm in the snow and to prevent an embarrassing (and painful) skid on the ice. Okay. That choice is easy.

But, as always, the challenge is how you make it look good. My friend Christina told me last night that she is trying to figure out how to go from work to evening on wintry sidewalks without too many awkward shoe changes and without destroying your normal shoes (and having to walk in those mincing little geisha steps that are so frustrating to the people walking behind you). Do you pretend like there’s no snow and hope you can cab it the whole way, or do you plan for the high probability that you’re going to be on foot?

I think the solution is to accept reality and embrace the ski lounge look as much as possible. A cozy sweater and skinny pants or leggings tucked into boots offsets the clompiness of practical snow boots and is a seasonally-appropriate (and comfortable!!) look, I think. For work, I think the easiest footwear transition is with similar clothes – skinny pants or tights tuck into boots easily and, once at the office, you can slip on a pair of heels.

Still, the biggest struggle – and a topic of discussion among most of my friends – is what boots? I mentioned above that I love the après ski look (probably because I love après ski!), so fluffy ski bunny boots are appealing to me – but the last thing I want to do is to look like Mariah Carey in Aspen. (would you?)














I searched and searched three years ago and settled on these boots (in photo).. I like the fluffiness and dark color (practical for city snow!), but they’re not nearly as waterproof as I’d like, so I’ll either keep searching or try to find some waterproofing solution.. Btw, this is NOT my après ski look (that look is helmet flattened braids, red cheeks, and ski clothes).. I consider this look more citified ski lodge and hopefully not furry woodland creature or Lord of the Rings character.. (Another awful photo, I know.. BUT, please note, different pose and a smile! I listen!)














As I was walking back to my office around lunchtime today, I ran into my friend Emily who had a great pair of boots – lace-ups that are fluffy at the top and rubber at the bottom – sort of après meets LL Bean’s duck boots.. a little feminine without looking drag queen .. and practical! (and silly me – I forgot to ask her who made them!!) Looking at what friends have suggested/tried: Michele mentioned some of the new Timberlands, Simi had Moon Boots (very cute, though white needed maintenance), and Lovey had wedge heeled Gucci boots (look great, not waterproof).

I found a few other pairs on-line, but the choices are really limited: super sporty (fine, but uninspiring), UGGS (not waterproof and hideous if you pick the wrong style, though I will admit that my boots are UGGS), fur boots (not practical, think wet dog on your feet), and moccasins (think wet cow..?). Here are a few I found that have an appealling style/practicality ratio. (The grey patent Stella McCartney boots with the wedge would be great in the rain, I bet.. not snow so much, though..)


But really, I think I'm just going to buy a can of Scotchguard...

Supersize Deluxe

Is the fashion industry trying to pull a frog in boiling water trick on us? I'd sort of suspected that prices were rising gradually over the past few years. I even remember a few years ago my friend Janice asking "remember when we thought that $800 was really expensive for a bag?" Well, $800 IS actually really expensive for a bag - but you are not going to find anything designer under $1,000 nowadays - even in a recession!! And probably not even on sale!!! What's going on here? Are they offering us more for our money? Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Hermes all have moved some of their manufacturing to China, India, and Mauritius where labor is cheaper, so what's the deal?

Well, in my unscientific study, surveying my own purchases made over the years, I can say: yes, they are offering us more. We're being supersized! Bags have noticeably grown bigger - what used to be my work bag size is now my going out bag size (bag on left)


















.. and has anyone noticed heel height? I think that they are rising in step with prices.

I picked a few shoes to illustrate this argument.. they are arranged in chronological order of purchase, from left to right. Amusingly, I had thought that shoes on the left (Sigerson Morrison sling backs) were the perfect pair of heels - today, I consider them flats! And, aside from the two strappy pairs, I purchased them with work wardrobe in mind (though I admit that the furthest right pair has occasionally defeated me and I now bring a back-up pair of shoes when I wear them.)






Where can we go from here? How much higher can we get? My nephew, Soren, told me over the summer that the pair of wedge heel sandals that I was wearing were heels not shoes, since they are 80% heel. Can we go to 90%? 95%??

Well, here's one suggestion for the next direction from my sister-in-law, Erika (and Soren's mom).. They're Alexander McQueen's "lobster claw" heels.



Prepare yourselves!

Blurring the high/low line

Excuse me, but is this Jimmy Choo for H&M or Jimmy Choo at Saks? Believe it or not, these boots are still priced at ca $700. Do discount bins appeal to luxury goods shoppers? Give me 80% off and I'll pick through a bin. 30% doesn't justify making the boots look sad.

I actually prefer H&M's environment - I stopped by the 5th Ave store Monday after the Jimmy Choo launch at 10am and it was fun. Granted, the lines hadn't started yet (my friend Lovey told me that the line to get a wristband to get in the store started at 4am the day of the launch) but it felt like an event. I didn't get anything (I need more shoes like a hole in the head) and the quality definitely wasn't comparable to regular Jimmy Choo's, but at $90-100, the trade-off seems fair.