#10 - Valentino Red

Apparently Coco Chanel said that when you're getting dressed, you should look in the mirror and take one thing off, while Janie Bryant, costume designer for Mad Men, says that you should look in the mirror and put one extra thing on. I tend to subscribe to Janie's view, but on days like today, I sometimes wonder if my outfit's a bit too much. A lot of the girls walking to uni wearing their boring minimalist outfits gave me strange looks today, but what made up for it all was when I was waiting for my vanilla soy latte at Starbucks this morning and a girl came up to me and told me how much she loved my outfit.

Today's shoes are by Valentino. Last year, there was a Valentino exhibition in my city. There were so many beautiful dresses on display. I don't know why the exhibition came here, as this is not at all a fashionable city. Firstly, we have very few designer shops here, and when a new one opens, like Hermes did recently, it just means that there's one more brand we don't have to go to Sydney or Melbourne to buy. Secondly, when people ask me where my shoes are from, and if they're anything other than Gucci or Dolce & Gabbana, people give me blank looks. Thirdly, someone at work recently told me I was one of the most fashionable people she'd ever met, and I am not fashionable at all (I have lots of clothes and I like my outfits to match, but that's very different to being fashionable. If I was, I suppose I'd be wearing the 'uniform' that fashionable girls wear these days, which appears to be denim shorts, a loose tank top, and flat sandals).
Anyway, when the Valentino exhibition opened, suddenly everyone and their mother was going to it (I mean that literally - my best friend's mother went 3 times). I found it suprising, because none of these people are actually interested in fashion. I've had this conversation with a few people, and some have said to me that maybe these people do like fashion, but they just can't afford it. I don't agree, because I can't afford designer clothes either, but I still like seeing what's on the runways, and what's in the designer stores. Anyway, it was nice to see all of these lovely outfits, and I guess it allowed us all to dream a bit...

In other news, I found a dress I wanted to buy today, but even the smallest size the store had was too big for me, which is unfortunately the story of my life.

#9 - Blue

Do you ever have days when you can't find anything to wear, even though you have drawers and cupboards and shelves full of clothes, and yet you still keep a big pile of clothes on the floor of your bedroom, and your friends say "I can't believe you leave $300 dresses lying on the floor!"? Today was such a day for me. In the end, I decided that instead of trying to match a cream top with a cream cardigan and shoes, I'd just go all out with the colours and patterns and matching, and I ended up with this:
These are probably some of my prettiest shoes. They're by Gucci, and they're actually half a size too big, but I loved them so much that I bought them anyway. Unfortunately, a former boss of mine at work once spilled her hot chocolate on them. I carefully cleaned them as much as I could, and although no chocolatey marks are visible on them from a distance, I still know they're there, and it's something that's probably always going to bother me.

I am about to take off my nail polish, leave all my skirts and heels at home, and go off to the rainforest with my mother for the weekend, where there will be no TV and no phone reception. Hopefully it'll be a nice break for us, and I'll be back tomorrow night.

#8 - Bright!

This is the kind of outfit I really like to wear. The skirt especially is so bright and cheerful, I can't help but feel good when I wear it. It's funny because I wasn't totally sure if I liked the skirt when I first bought it, but it's turned out to be one of my favourite items of clothing. My top is from Kookai, and I really miss the store - our local one has closed for renovations, and I can't wait until I can go there again, as I need some of their basic tops!
My shoes are from Miu Miu. They have an interesting and slightly unusual shape, with both the heels and toes being somewhat square. I wanted these for such a long time, because I love the colour combination, but I waited until they were on sale to get them. I was actually hoping I might find them in Canada when I went there last year, as I don't find the shops here in Australia too good when it comes to designer shoes (for one thing, everything is so much more expensive here than it is overseas, so I buy almost all of my shoes online these days). I didn't see this particular style there, and I ended up buying some Prada shoes instead, but that's a story for another day!

I just got this really cute skirt in the mail. I bought it from a local store, but they didn't have my size, so I had to order it from another store. I'm looking forward to wearing it, maybe with some red shoes.

I feel like the shoe challenge is coming along pretty well for me so far, but I am probably going to end up wearing all of my favourite and easiest to wear shoes first, so I'm sure it'll get harder as it goes along!

#7 - Full skirts & injuries

I seem to be very clumsy lately, and I keep injuring myself in strange and unexpected ways. I somehow managed to open a car door into my leg on the weekend, and I have a horrible bruise from it. It actually hurts to wear tight skirts, so I'm sticking with full skirts this week!
My hair looks terrible here, as I took this photo before I'd actually styled it (but don't worry, I didn't leave the house looking like this). Today's shoes are Melissa/Vivienne Westwood flats. I wear these all the time, as they're so comfortable, and they're also good for when it rains (which is most of the time lately).

Today is a bit of a sad day because of the earthquake in New Zealand. A lot of my family lives in New Zealand, but thankfully not near Christchurch, and my thoughts are with those who were affected.

#6 - Stormy...

A huge problem I've been having with the shoe challenge so far is that it's raining all the time! It's crazy weather here at the moment - I needed a sun umbrella this morning, and a rain umbrella this afternoon (although I was a bit worried about using an umbrella at all in the storm!). A lot of my shoes are fabric/satin and can't be worn in bad weather, and if I think there's even the slightest chance it'll rain, I won't risk any of my good shoes. So I hope this weather clears up soon.
Today's outfit was pink. I'm known for wearing a lot of pink. The girls at my favourite store always let me know when they get any new pink clothes in. I really love this skirt for its colour, print and shape.

My shoes are from Nine West. I've had them for a couple of years, but I don't wear them as often as I should. They're actually quite comfortable, and I really like the colour.

In other news, I'm trying to get my sister to buy me some lovely Ted Baker shoes from the UK, so I hope she'll be able to find them and fit them in her luggage when she comes home in a couple of weeks.

#5 - Warm weekend

It was such a hot day today. I was talking to my sister in Scotland earlier, and she said it was snowing there. I'm looking forward to the end of Summer. I've never been a big fan of this really hot weather.

I wore a dress from Review today, and my pink Betsey Johnson flats. (I always look so serious in photos! I'll have to try to take some where I'm smiling, or at least not looking as grumpy as I do here!)

They're really cute shoes, but they're so uncomfortable! I have blisters on my feet after wearing them today, and I had to give up on them and put on flip-flops halfway through the day. It bothers me when I buy flats that are uncomfy - I expect that with heels, but I don't think there's any reason for flat shoes to hurt this much.

This is where we went today. It was really nice. It would've been a perfect day, if it wasn't for the heat!

#4 - The "last pair", and new shoes!

The story of these shoes is that of the irresistible "last pair". I went to David Jones and saw these Marc Jacobs shoes on sale, and when I picked them up and had a look underneath, I saw that they were not only my size, but they were marked as the last pair. Surely that was a sign that I needed to buy them!I really like Marc Jacobs shoes - I own about 6 pairs - but they're not very comfortable. This is the only pair that I really like wearing, because they're not as horribly uncomfortable as all my other MBMJ shoes. I suppose it doesn't help that I'm a half size, and for some reason I'm not usually able to find Marc Jacobs shoes in my size, so I usually have to buy half a size to big or too small. This was my outfit for after-work drinks. The dress is from Review, an Australian brand I love. (I know, I keep wearing black after posting about how I don't wear black. I'll try to be more colourful next week!)

I finally managed to get to the post office and pick up my new shoes that had been stranded there all week.

I don't know why it took me so long to order these, as I've wanted them since I first saw them. I should probably have gotten a more practical colour, like the cream or peach, but I fell in love with the green ones. I can't wait to wear them, even if I have no idea what I'm going to wear them with.

#3 - Pale Pink

Day 3 of the shoe challenge, and a 3rd pair of shoes 'saved'! I'm not going to keep this up every day, but I wanted to get off to a good start.

Today, I attempted to wear a headband. It lasted about half an hour. I like headbands, but whenever I wear them, I feel (and probably look) like I'm about twelve years old. Anyway, today's shoes are some cute but relatively cheap peep-toe heels from a local store, Forever New. When the store first opened a couple of years ago, I thought I was going to love it, as everything there seemd to be pastel, floral and lacy. I eventually realised that it was more a store for teenagers, and now that I'm in my late twenties, I feel like there are some things I just can't wear anymore (even though people always mistake me for being much younger - I suppose that is a good thing, or at least that it will be as I get older).

I have a similar pair of shoes in cream, which you'll see here soon enough. Tomorrow: some new shoes arrive!

#2 - Why I don't wear black

Black seems to be s staple colour in most people's wardrobes, but it's not in mine. This is because (a) I love colour (if I had a motto, it would probably be "why wear black when you can wear pink", or "yellow is the new black"), (b) black doesn't really suit me as it makes me look more pale than I already am, and (c) all of my black clothes end up covered in fur.

I have a theory about (c). Wherever there is a black item of clothing, a cat will appear.

Anyway, I did actually wear some black today. Here I am with the furry culprit, my baby Nemo.

I should probably mention that I am a cat person, but I'll try not to talk about it too much. I have somehow managed to cut off one of my shoes in the above photo, even though it is supposed to be a photo of my shoes, so I think I'll have to work on my photography a bit!

Here's a close-up of my shoes (and my cat), which are from Poetic Licence. I like Poetic Licence shoes because they're interesting without being as crazy as Irregular Choice shoes (I like Irregular Choice too, but some of their shoe styles aren't as practical for work, which is where I usually wear my heels). I don't find them comfortable at all - I think I've had to put Dr Scholl's insoles in all 4 pairs I own - but a bit of discomfort is a small price to pay for cute shoes!

#1 - The Shoeper Shoe Challenge begins!

In honour of Valentine's Day and the first day of the shoe challenge, I decided to wear my second-favourite pair of shoes: my coral red Ferragamos. (Please excuse the weird pose and expression - I have a feeling that the hardest part of the shoe challenge is going to be taking photos of myself!)

This outfit felt very summery, and I am a fan of summer outfits (even in Winter - I don't subscribe to the 'no white after labour day' rule). These are my only Ferragamo shoes, but I love the brand for its elegance and quality, and I'd like to get some shoes in a similar style in black, too. These are actually some of the most comfortable heels I own. My matching nailpolish is from Butter London, which I love because it doesn't contain a lot of the harmful chemicals found in regular nailpolish.

Well, that's one down, and 127 pairs to go!

The Shoeper Shoe Challenge 2011

Tomorrow is the start of Shoeperwoman's shoe challenge for this year, which I've decided to do, as I have a lot of shoes which could do with being worn more often.

I counted my shoes, and I had 126 pairs which I decided to include in the challenge. This doesn't include flip flops and flat sandals (which I don't consider to be proper shoes), running shoes (I seem to have 3 pairs, none of which are even comfortable, and isn't that the point of running shoes?), and winter boots which I'll have no hope of wearing here in Australia. It also doesn't include the pair of plain black heels I keep at work (for when my 4" stacked wooden Gucci heels are killing my feet and I just can't wear them anymore), which have been dubbed "the most boring shoes I own" by my cubemate.

I don't think I'm off to a good start, as I've already bought 2 more pairs of shoes since the shoe challenge count!

So let's make that 128 pairs to start with! That shouldn't be too hard, right? I should technically be able to wear each pair at least twice. But I do have a few favourite pairs that I'm sure I'll want to wear several times throughout the year, and then there are some pairs which I look at now and wonder what I was thinking when I bought them. I can see that some of my shoes are not going to make it through the challenge, but that's probably a good thing.

I didn't get around to taking a photo of my whole shoe collection, mainly because I store most of them in their boxes, and it would have taken me forever to get them all out for a photo. But for anyone who might be reading this, you can expect to see a lot of pretty, colourful shoes here throughout the year. I took this photo in my closet a while ago:

You'll be pleased to hear that I've cleaned up my closet considerably since this photo was taken, and it's not nearly so much of a mess anymore. Still, one of the main problems I have when it comes to deciding which shoes to wear every day is not being able to see or find most of them. But we'll see how it goes, starting tomorrow!