Anna DeStefano's Blog

Okay, the “day” shoes are starting to revolt. They’re wanting their time in the sun. And, really, it’s kind of sad. Like because I started by playing with Prada and the Valentino, everyone’s not going to get their love in due time. I think someone needs to work on their self-esteem, but I won’t point any fingers (You. Yes, you, over there, in the box whose top keeps flipping off and tripping me every time I go into the closet, because your picture hasn’t made it up on the blog yet. Are you really that neurotic???)

Okay. I AM pointing fingers–at my Nanette Lepore slingbacks. I walked all over Thirllerfest in these this year . I wore them with a nautical-themed, navy shift dress from the same designer that was just the right choice for a 12-hour day in the public eye–it worked even better for the banquet dinner, actually, than it did for breakfast that morning. In other words, I can’t afford to have one of my favorite conference mainstays revolt because it thinks I like the party shoes better…

So, I give you the perfect “Day” shoe.

Cute is an inadequate word, even if they can turn mean-spirited when they sense your eye has strayed to something shinier. I mean, look a them. They look like they were carved from clouds. I couldn’t help but buy them the first time I saw them, even though you know sling backs typically don’t work for me. Particularly slingbacks made of patent leather (something about the finish of most PLs starts to irritate my sensitive little, or not so little, feet within half an hour).

But I guess if you have scalloped, doily edges (and, well, if you’re perfectly lined like NPs always are), you can’t NOT wear like a dream, no matter your leather’s finish. And can we say, ”ADORABLE buttons.” Who designs casual heels with buttons for grown women??? It shouldn’t be legal to look lacy, have little girl buttons and three-inch heels that couldn’t be uncomfortable no matter how many flights of conference hotel stairs or endless corridors you walk, AND have a magically comfortable open toe. But my perfect day shoes have it all.

Bow to the power of the slingbacks, you sparkly party heels!

There–let’s hope balance is restored in the closet. At least for now.

Come back tomorrow, because it’s been strontly advised that I take the blog on a fieldtrip to the “flip side,” or my walking-about-the-city-in-the-summer casual shoes are going to start picketing ;o)

I don’t wear florals. Much.

Oh, I buy them. I’ve lived in the south all my life, so I’m surrounded by women (sometimes even men) wearing clothes covered in flowers, and some days I can’t resist the urge to join maddening crowd. I walk amidst the flowers themselves 10 months out of every year. But with very few exceptions, anything ”flower girl” that I buy ends up languishing in my closet, forlorn and marginalized and scoffed at by the more contemporary things that my creative mind gravitates toward when it’s time to stumble into my clothes. 

Today’s update to the shoe project, however, is one of these exceptions.

Maybe it’s because they’re Valentino. Hand-made and hand-embroidered… (more…)

Shoe Project: As obsessed as I am with writing, dreams, my teenager, waterfalls and the things that speak to me these days of family and energy and creativity…another abiding force in my adult life is my love of the pretty things that you get to wear an carry around with you all day.

I’ve talked bloggish about purses for years. My feet have often felt like forgotten step sisters. And that’s no way to foster peace and harmony in a closet as crowded as mine. So, with my new-found need for blogging to be a playful, creative place, my gams are now getting their weekly due in my Shoe Project.

I’m a little excited (and mildly embarrassed) at how many, many, weeks this will take. Hope you decide to settle in and join in the fun ;o)

Some disclaimers to address FAQs I’ve received on my many travels: (more…)