When I went to the Faith and Family retreat in Boston I had the privilege of meeting a number of amazing women for the first time. One of those women was the sassy, spirited and gorgeous Cari of Clan Donaldson. I had to twist her arm a bit but after a little mild torture she agreed to let us in on one of her many fashion secrets. Thanks, Cari!
I did my undergraduate studies at Michigan State University (go Spartans), which had a large and vibrant foreign student community. Students from all over the world came to study, and I could always spot them in an instant.
If you put a Korean woman and a Korean-American right next to each other, I would be able to tell you who was born in the U.S., and who hadn’t been, just by looking at them. How?
The shoes.
The female students from foreign countries unfailingly wore stunning, snappy footwear. They somehow had secret knowledge about how to make a casual outfit noteworthy just by what they wore on their feet.
It was fascinating.
I’ve started imitating those footwear mentors recently. I’ve discovered that a pair of attractive shoes can make a plain outfit noteworthy. Watch:
This is me, giving my wild two-year old a haircut. I’m wearing a black sweater. From Target. Plain. Boring.
Look closer:
I’m wearing a black sweater with a jean skirt. Again, nothing outlandish. I’d been wearing this outfit all day. I didn’t go anywhere but daily Mass. I kept the same clothes on because I didn’t need to change them. They were functional, clean, and I’m really lazy about laundry.
But when I posted this picture on my blog, I got more comments about my outfit than I’d ever gotten before. I had people wondering why in the world I was wearing such a fancy outfit to cut hair.
Fancy outfit? Target sweater (on sale). Kohl’s skirt (on clearance). What were they responding to?
My shoes:
The shoes made all the difference.
Shoes take a regular outfit and make it noteworthy.
But shoes can be expensive. So I will now share with you my top secret tip:
I get most of my shoes off eBay. Used. Yes, used.
My favorite shoe brand is Naughty Monkey. At this precise moment, there are 182 pairs of size 8 Naughty Monkey shoes for sale on eBay (I know, I just spent 15 minutes on “research”). Many of them are in the $20 range. These are shoes that retailed new for $60-$80 dollars. And now, for the trouble of combing through eBay, I can get cute shoes that will turn a basic wardrobe into something spectacular.
And don’t be afraid to pair a fantastic pair of pumps with jeans and a blouse. Heck, wear them with jeans and a t-shirt. I guarantee you that people will mistake you for a fashion-savvy foreign woman.
10 Comments
Now that is awesome! I am learning from you, the master. Thank you!!
Very inspiring! Thanks for a great post.
Now, I never thought of looking for shoes on eBay. That is awesome! Love the look by the way. That black top with the jean skirt is definitely stylin' with those cute pumps.
FUN! Thanks for the link. See, I'm the kind of person who has ZERO, zippo, nada, ideas about fashion. I can only copy/paste. I cannot figure stuff out for myself. I need more brands! I want Mrs. Beguiles to just write out a big old fat list of good brands, b/c then I can just shop for those brands. I think that would make shopping easy for me. Hopefully. Maybe.
NOOOOO! Another fashion tip beyond my reach. Size 8, you're golden, but size 11.5 narrow, how many of those are on ebay? I don't think I'll bother checking. Better go get another pint of ice cream, I've finished my first.
Ohhhh, thank you for the idea. I also never thought about shopping for shoes on eBay. I immediately went over and searched my own favorite designer (John Fluevog) and found lots of examples in my size, although only a few were what you could call "cheap." Still, I'll keep my eye out!
And I love the pumps in the photo.
Oh Anita, don't give up so quickly! I just checked ebay.com and there were 83 shoes in 11.5 narrow and extra narrow; on ebay.ca there were 72; and who knows what else you can find on other countries' ebays! (Yes, there are ebays for the UK, Belgium, etc…. great stuff!) Then there's Zappos.com, which had hundreds of shoes in your size.
From one large-footed gal to another, I know shoe-shopping is a pain (and WHY do the affordable shops so often only have ugly shoes in our sizes?) but keep on trying, you'll find something!
You look fabulous! That is indeed fascinating about the students and shoes. But just looking at your great shoes makes my foot hurt (drat my bad feet) – I am resigned to nobbut flats. But I'm still an addict (just got some cute grey suede ballets) as I inherited the gene from my mother.
All I can say is wow! As a totally fashion-challenged, scared of clothes shopping rather buy yarn and books kind of girl, I am blown away by the simplicity here. thank you!
Oh yay, this is one of my favorite fashion tricks (and I am not super fashion-savvy, so that makes me feel good). Cute shoes!