I Want These Shoes.


J Crew is king of preppy -- great for basics, but rarely inspiring and any pieces that ever crawl towards the verge of fashion-forwardness are almost always enormously overpriced (read: Talitha Getty-inspired maxi-dress, originally priced at a ridiculous $495, now down to $299 and I bet it's still not exactly flying off shelves - at prices like that, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want a print that you'd get sick of after wearing it once), but occasionally they do have some things that make me go weak in the knees. Pricey at $250, so I'll have to wait and see if they go on sale at some point. But they are fabulous. They look like they're your great-great-grandmother's dancing shoes from when she was the belle of the ball in the 1920s or something (okay I totally made that up because there is not the faintest chance any of my great-great-grandmothers wore shoes like that but maybe one of you do!)

They look gorgeously vintage, like they've been loved and lived in and danced in, except that they're NEW! i couldn't bring myself to wear real vintage shoes, that's just a line i don't think i could cross, so i love finding shoes that look vintage but with the assurance that no one else's gross sweaty feet have been in them before yours :) and these shoes, i would love them with all my heart but i wouldn't have to cry if i got them a little scuffed up!

Labels: shoes

Came across these darling flats and had to share -

Embossed leather in three very refreshing, unexpected colours. Perfect to stock up for spring, no? $98 at Anthropologie.com

Labels: shoes

Clearly, in terms of obsessions I have moved on from bags to shoes. I apologise for the lack of posts lately, my week has been crazier than crazy. And I am suffering from a dilemma - those gorgeous Kenneth Cole boots arrived a few days ago, and they are a bit slouchier than expected, so I'm trying to decide if I should return them. Decisions, decisions.

And I haven't had a chance to wear either pair of my new Bandolino flats, because Chicago has been SO cold. But meanwhile, there are pretty shoes to be admired!

The Lavetta flats by Nine West are utterly, butterly stylish. They look a little bit like moccasins, only prettier. Aren't the colours adorable? $79, at ninewest.com

Also, one of the few good things about Uggs? Their Dakota slipper, $89.95 at Nordstrom. My roommate has a pair in the Tobacco shade, and I am dying for a Coffee-coloured pair. They, are so cute and incredibly comfortable and warm enough even for the miserable weather in Chicago right now.
The above two are out of my price range at present, due to my recent expenditure. However, I may just take TF's advice to scoop up a pair of royal blue patent leather flats at Payless. At $12.99, I can probably get the black ones as well - I have been desiring some black patent leather for my shoe wardrobe for a while, and the price is rather irresistable, even if I am a little suspicious about the comfort levels of Payless shoes. Whatever, I'll probably give it a shot. What do you think?

Labels: shoes

You know I love bags, right?

So I loved BagSnob's posts on the best and worst bags of 2006. I'm still lusting after that Pierre Hardy Besace like my life depends on it. A little bit of Lanvin wouldn't hurt either. But here's a tip for poor little college students like myself -- check out Aldo for cute purses. I've got three bags by them, and all are durable, fun, gorgeous and don't break the bank. The last one was just acquired on Sunday, when I went shopping with Nisha, and it is a delicious black-and-white confection. I've been going through a black-and-white phase lately.

It's this bag, except the red parts are black and the brown parts are white on mine. I kind of like this red version too. I definitely have a weakness for red.

Also, I have a tip about shoes. For insanely comfortable, affordable ballet flats - try the Onthefly by Bandolino. I have them in grey suede which I've been wearing to death because somehow the weather in Chicago has lately been nice enough that I don't have to wear boots all the time, and these heavenly flats just went on sale so I've ordered the red suede and the pale gold leather, for $29.99 each! What a great price for real leather/suede! Incidentally, they look exactly like Steve Madden flats which retail for around $70. I've had the grey ones since Thanksgiving and they're still looking pretty good even though they've traipsed around Chicago, New York and Singapore with me - not to mention airports in three different countries! So they're definitely durable. A deal if there ever was one.

By the way, the best part is that I've been pondering those red flats for a really long time, in fact when I bought the grey ones my original choice was the red but they didn't have my size, and then a couple of weeks ago I decided to check if they had them on the site, and they did but at that point they were $39.99 plus shipping and tax and all that so I was pondering over it for a while. I almost bought them yesterday but I decided to think about it a bit more, and then today when I went back to the site like a girl drawn back again and again to the bad boy, I noticed that the price had changed! With very little hesitation I picked up the red and the gold and I lived happily ever after.

(I find this hilarious, but I just went back to the site to get a picture and I accidentally clicked on the "add to shopping bag" button and it turns out that the red suede is no longer left in my size, which means I bought it just in time!!!)

Oh and I got some fabulous suede boots from Piperlime.com. They're Tribeca by Kenneth Cole, and on sale right now for $84.99. Plus piperlime has free shipping and free returns. Yessir, I've ordered three pairs of shoes in the last couple of hours.


I've been having some pretty good luck with sales lately - one day in Singapore I saw a gorgeous black coat at Zara for S$450 (US$300) and I thought to myself that it was the most delightful thing ever but that was a little too much at that point to pay for a coat. The next day was the beginning of the Zara sale, I didn't think they'd put such a gorgeous little thing on sale but I went back to show it to my mom anyway in the hopes that she might be feeling generous. Lo and behold, it was marked down to S$265 (approx US$170)! And they had a piece in my size without all the buttons torn off by avid sale-goers. And then the gorgeous black coat was mine.

The end.

Labels: bags, links, Sale, shoes

Hey guys! Sorry I've been totally MIA for the last couple of weeks - between packing up my Singapore life to come back to surprisingly sunny Chicago, settling down, fighting jetlag, going back to class, and meeting the lovely Nisha for some fantastic shopping yesterday, I've been busybusybusy!

Anyway, what're your thoughts on these Steve Madden flats, $70 at piperlime.com? (UGH Blogger, ever difficult, refuses to let me publish the picture and you know how much I hate posting without pictures, it makes my mind wander too much! Okay I'm just being a drama queen but seriously, Blogger is being a right old pain in the ass.)

I think the stripey, busy flats could be cute to jazz up an otherwise simple outfit, but I won't be pulling out the plastic for this just yet, especially considering that my search for the perfect pair of black flats hasn't ended just yet!

On my wishlist for shoes:
Perfect black ballet flats
Perfect black knee-high boots with the perfect heel - stylish, but comfy enough to traipse around campus

EDIT:
Here's the picture -

Labels: shoes

This is a very tricky trend, I know a lot of people hate the ankle boot revival because they feel that it's yet another unfortunate throwback to 80s fashion, it only works for 6-foot-tall supermodels, it makes legs look chopped-up and all that jazz. However, fashion is about taking risks. And just like boyfriend sweaters, ankle boots are very hot if you know how to wear them right. That said, I believe that experimenting should not come at the cost of aesthetics, so Use Your Judgement. And the more experimental looks in this case should probably be reserved for those of you blessed with legs up to there.

The hardest look to pull off is bare legs and ankle boots. It can, however, work if the boots don't cover your ankle fully and if the colour matches your dress.

A safer route is to wear opaque (or sheer but dark) tights. If you have extremely long legs, you can experiment a little bit with the colour of the tights. If not, go for a colour that matches the colour of the boots so that the line of your leg will remain unbroken.
Even if you do have long legs, the best thing is to stick to dark colours or colours in the same family as the colour of the boots. Too much variation can be just as bad as bare legs. An elongating monochrome look would be very stylish. For instance, I just ordered this black wool skirt (on sale for $29.99!) from Gap, which I'll be wearing with black tights and black ankle boots. I'll probably add a dash of colour on top, but I'm going to stick to dark tones.

Or try longish leggings with just a hint of skin showing above the boot. I know public opinion is that leggings are so not cool anymore, but I think this is one case in which wearing leggings wouldn't have the fashion police chasing after you with sirens blaring. Especially with a long sweaterdress or a gorgeous tunic, this would be very chic indeed.

Trousers arguably don't let you show off your stylish boots to their fullest advantage, but trousers are much easier to work with. Almost any kind of trousers will be fine, and long after ankle boots have gone out of style, you can wear them with trousers and no one will be any the wiser that you're wearing something so (gasp!) untrendy.

Skinny jeans can be great with ankle boots as Kate and Sienna have demonstrated to the world, but like I've said a thousand times - most girls, unfortunately, are not Kate and Sienna. Which means, if you're uncomfortable with skinny jeans, don't make yourself a slave to fashion.

If you are going the skinny jean route, look at this picture of Mary-Kate, it's hilarious because that's an awful shirt, clearly it was the hairstylist's day off, and those boots bear startling resemblance to medieval torture devices (I think they're Balenciaga, am I right?) but ironically it illustrates a good way to wear ankle boots, even for petite girls like the Olsen twins.
Just do it with a bit more flair - lose the plaid shirt, go for something equally striking but more feminine, flowing, sexy. And don't make it a very high maintenance look. Don't just walk out with MK's bedhead but keep things simple. With your skinny jeans showing off those great boots, keep the other accessories to a minimum.

Or wear your ankle boots with a pair of cute pinstriped trousers. This look would work for internships, interviews, etc, and you'd feel confident and stylish without showing your (future) employers too much attitude.

Try ankle boots with straight-leg jeans or slightly flared jeans. Just don't wear them with widelegged trousers, because that's going to make you look like you have ambitions of working in the circus.

If you're feeling courageous, you could try ankle boots with cropped pants. Top it off with a killer jacket and it could work -- give it a shot if you're feeling experimental, but I would say this would be best if you had really long, lean legs.
Add a healthy dose of confidence and ready, set, GO!

(By the way, a trick for making your legs look longer-than-long in a hot minidress: wear nude shoes. Even Cameron Diaz with her Hollywood legs works this look.)

Labels: advice, boots, how to, shoes

Ohhh dear I think I made a big mistake not buying that green dress.
Was looking around Otte NY, and found this See by Chloe dress, almost identical to the dress I didn't buy, for US$400 :/ Admittedly, the back is a sexier deep V, but I think the Warehouse dress was a much prettier green - and of course it was far more affordable. I think I'll go there today and see if they still have it. Fingers very very tightly crossed!

Also, here's a shoe TF found that looks quite similar to Katie Holmes' cute red flats. Dru patent leather flats in yumi red, and indeed they are quite yummy. Almost as yummy as Katie's, and at $104 probably a lot more affordable than whatever she's wearing.
Nevertheless, continue to let me know if you find shoe similar to hers or somehow manage to get your hands on the holy grail itself -- mary-jane ballet flats are hothotHOT.

Labels: shoes

Katie, Katie, Katie. You married a weird guy who jumps on couches, you let him perform Scientology rituals on you and you wear sunglasses so often that my roommate thinks you must be hiding your hypnotised eyes. But you sure have cute shoes!

Does anyone know who those shoes are by?

Labels: shoes

Question: "So I have a question I know you all can answer.I'm from Florida. I am a flip flop connoisseur. I own 30 pairs and wear nothing else unless I absolutely have too. But I really need something else in my shoe wardrobe!! Something for winter and something a flip flop girl would be comfortable in (but not uggs) I've been looking at boots, but my calves are usually too big to fit in them (its the running, its good for your heart, bad for making your calves larger than boots) and the fact they're high-heeled which isn't usually comfortable. Do you have any other ideas? I'm also going to Paris in March where it's in the 40's, so Im looking for something fashionable and comfy to wear around walking everywhere.Thanks for anything you can find! I love TCW!"

Dear reader: You've come to the right place! I'm not much of a runner myself (not motivated enough...props to you for being healthy!) but I feel your pain about finding shoes that are both comfortable and fashionable, something that is very important to all of us here at TCW (and by all of us, I mean Aparna and I).

Although it may seem like the only options for a college girl as far as boots are Uggs and heels, there are plenty of other options out there (and thank GOD. I'm sick of Uggs. My friend commented the other day that she wanted to buy a pair and I told her I sincerely hope she never jumps on that bandwagon...). Here's some things you can look for in boots:

• Wedge boots. Personally, I think wedge-heeled boots look even cuter than normal high-heeled boots, and they're a bit more comfortable with the solid heel and everything. I'm in love with these wedge boots. And because they're from Dr. Scholl's, you know they're guaranteed to keep your feet comfy.
• Flat boots. If the wedge heel is still too much for you, you're in luck, because since last winter, flat boots have been a hit, too. While flat boots may not always appear to be the most fashionable of choices, there are plenty of cute ones if you know where to look. Try Zappos.com and Overstock.com for starters--both have plenty of options at college-friendly prices. Even Old Navy has a couple cute flat boot options.
• Stretchy boots. These are extremely helpful for those with toned calves, because they stretch to fit your leg and don't constrain you to a certain amount of space. In fact, Zappos.com has a whole section devoted to stretch/wide calf boots, which I highly recommend to anyone in need of stretch boots--there's a very bountiful selection there :-)

STAY AWAY FROM FURRY STUFF. It's just a cheap Ugg imitation, and especially if you plan on wearing these in Paris, anything fur-lined will just scream "american fashion disaster." Or rather, "une americaine qui n'est pas en mode." Or "tres depuis trois ans" (so three years ago). Or whatever. You know, my french is really, really rusty since I got to college because I have no one to speak it with anymore! I'm jealous that you're going to Paris, I'd love an opportunity like that! Bonne vacances!

*Got a question of your own? send it in and me or aparna will do our best to answer it :-)

Labels: advice, boots, shoes, winter

Get $40 off your purchase of $80 or more at Amazon.com, using this link. When your cart reaches $80, the $20 discount will be automatically applied to your shopping cart. Then enter coupon code KKCTMQXI for an -additional- $20 off and free shipping!

By the way, to get the second $20 discount for which CT so graciously provided the code, the shoes must be shipped from amazon.com.

Some of my picks:

Ok it is annoying me to no end that for some reason I can't save any of the pictures on amazon because they're GIF images? I don't know what's going on, but anyway check out Nine West, BCBGirls, Kenneth Cole, Steve Madden. Loads of great deals. As soon as I can figure out what's going on I'll put up pictures.

Labels: shoes

So finals prep is killing me, I'm attending a frat formal Friday night for which I have yet to put together the perfect outfit, and next Wednesday at 6-fricking-15 in the morning I'm off for winter break so I also have a ton of packing to do before then. Oh and I haven't done laundry in a while, so I have to get on that.

So I need some procrastination time, right? How do I procrastinate? I (window)-shop online. And I just found an excellent site to nurture this obsession - very relaxing and recreational in my opinion, but nonetheless a rather unhealthy obsession - of mine.

Popgloss.com
Looking at the sitetracker for The College Wardrobe really yields a wealth of information, because sites that link to us are likely to be sites that are interested in the same things as us. I love technology.

New products are added to the site at breakneck speed, and given my penchant for posting lots of pictures, I love the "less talk, more pictures" tagline.

Some of the cutest, most covetable items I've seen in the last five minutes (rest assured by the time you check the site out there'll be hundreds more:


Matiko Laura flats. LOVE the colour. Saturated enough to be exciting and yet subtle enough for fall/winter.

Corduroy Blazer by Thalia Sodi. Only $26.99 and it's so classy-looking! I would try to check this out in person before purchasing, though, because a price like that just might be too good to be true.


Lauren Stripe Flat by Dru New York. $110. I have a weakness for black-and-white-and-red. And for stripes or polka dots. Unfortunately the one pair of really cute black-and-white polka dotted flats I scored sometime in July turned out to be too small, and they were the last pair at the store so I went home and cried for a while.


And, naturally, there's the expensive stuff like this Marissa V Josephine top. Perfectly romantic, perfect for layering. Only problem is it's 139 British pounds, which is... ouch. But for those of us (you, I mean, because I certainly can't. yet.) who can afford it, this fantastic site evidently offers some very attractive high-end stuff!

Labels: links, shoes

If someone is more fortunate than me and able to afford these gorgeous boots by Frye for $325, kindly buy them and savour them.

Available here.

Labels: boots, Lust List, shoes

It disturbs me a fair bit that when I saw that picture on Popsugar, I just had one glance at the back of her head (didn't even scroll down to see the jeans and the boots) and I knew it was Gisele.

Also the next thing I noticed was that she's carrying a Dior Gaucho. For a moment I wondered if it might be a Bottega Veneta but the little buckle on the handle is clearly a Gaucho trademark. And the other pictures confirmed my suspicions.

I think it's clear that I spend far too much of my time surfing fashion/celeb gossip websites. I should probably reallocate some of my time to making my mind work faster when it comes to... math or economics or something. Or maybe get around to giving you girls a good ol' fashion-filled post! I've been obsessed with coats lately so I think a post is forthcoming. Hang tight!

Labels: boots, Lust List, shoes

Alright, I know this blog has been a little bit lacking in excitement since all of its contributors are super-busy with this college transition. The one thing I never predicted would happen in college is how cut off I feel from the rest of the world. College, especially in such a huge Big 10 school in a tiny college town, is a very isolated world. You feel cut off from the news, the world, the city (oh how I miss city life..), and sadly, you even feel cut off from the fashion world. The only thing to remind me about fashion everyday is the emails piling up in my inbox from Style.com and She She Me.

Anyways, the point that I keep trying to make here and getting distracted from is that it's almost like college is this completely separate world from the real world and fashion is quickly forgotten about here. Most girls typically dress down for class in sweats and tshirts, but compensate by going all out and dressing up at night to go out. This is not New York City, and most girls don't subscribe to my belief that everyday is a fashion show. However, the key to standing out and looking cute is just a few simple touches...and you can still be comfy. My favorite part? Flats, of course!

Flats are the one thing that have been so useful to me since coming to college. I walk a LOT since I don't have a car--to parties, friends' dorms, the gym, the stores, the dining hall, to classes--I have to walk everywhere. I've seen many a girl toughing it out in stilettos trying to look cute, but is the pain really worth it? There's no reason you can't be cute and comfortable in flats. Some of my favorites:

The pointy toe. I love this shoe from Bronx, available on Zappos.com. It's sleek, chic, comfortable, and has an eye-catching blast of color. Perfect for dressing up your favorite jeans or denim mini.







The Ballet Flat. I am absolutely in love with this red Millie ballet flat from Payless. It's extremely cute (I've gotten tons of compliments on mine) and at just $15, it's extremely cheap. You really can't go wrong with this one!

The Moccasin. These are probably the toughest to pull off, possibly because they can easily go wrong and make one look like a frumpy old lady. But with the right pair, they can look tres chic and smart--a perfect look for class. These Ugg moccasins are a little pricey but certainly cute and comfy!



What to Pair your Flats with...
Flats are extremely versatile and can go with almost anything, but here's some suggestions:

-Skinny jeans, for a look that emanates cool without saying a word
-A denim mini, to offset the shortness of the skirt
-Black pants, to add a fun pop of color to a serious dressy outfit

Coming soon: cute and comfy shoes posts on boots and heels!

Labels: college fashion, college life, shoes

I know just two posts ago I said I wasn't going to be able to post too often, but minutes later I ended up posting that Louboutin pair and now here I am again. I think I'm overcompensating or something.

Anyway, real quick.

The Nordstrom site has the most AMAZING shoe selection ever. I've heard only the best things about the shoe department at physical Nordstrom stores, too. Check out The Divine Nine, and Boots Under $100. They probably also have Pumps Below $100 and Flats Below $100 and so on but the selection's so extensive and I'm so lazy, so check it out fully yourself.

Meanwhile, one of the best picks I chanced upon:


Penny Loves Kenny 'Boot Leg' Boot, $129.95, here.
It's not under $100 but it's definitely one of the most reasonably priced boots I've seen especially when it's genuine leather upper and in three amazing colours. Also, you can wear it cuffed like in this photo or not, which makes it even more worthwhile.

Black of course is classic, and white is great if you want to go for a colour that really pops, or if you like the mod trend going on this fall. I would go for the bronze in a heartbeat, because it's so unique but because it's just floating beautifully in between casual and dressy, it's fabulously versatile both in terms of occasions it can be worn to and colours it can be paired with. And they're very similar to a pair of Marc Jacobs boots a couple of years ago and those certainly were nowhere near as affordable as these!

Labels: boots, shoes

Ok so we've received two shoe requests: one for cute 'n' comfy, and another for affordable boots. So we're going to do three posts.

Part 1: Boots
Part 2: Flats
Part 3: Heels

For boots, I'm going to keep prices below US$150 and for flats/heels, below US$100. Hopefully I'll be able to stay really far below these limits!

Look out for these in the next week or so :)

Labels: blog, shoes