A few years ago, I stumbled upon a blog called "Purse Addict," but I have to say that I think this is not an appropriate title, as the author is clearly more addicted to shoes. Louboutins, to be exact. Her taste is impeccable, her collection absolutely awe-inspiring and her much-anticipated posts are so unbelievably satisfying. Click here to view her latest haul- my favorites are the Cranberry Escandria (although that should come as no surprise to any of you.
Sometimes I feel as though browsing through shoes like these is as decadent as a rich, chocolate cake. And when I'm finished devouring them, I'm just as satisfied.
At least now I understand my attraction to the Shoe Dazzle "Amour" shoe from a couple of weeks ago. They are a pretty blatant knock-off of these amazing Louboutins.
Not too long ago, my BFF Beth gave me a cute little gift- it was a flower brooch made out of a measuring tape. How appropriate for someone in my line of work, right? I, of course, loved it and even though it was given partly in jest, I still wore it and love it to this day. However, in the future, if anyone wants to give me a gift along similar lines, may I make a suggestion? Try these Louboutins instead:
Just to own a pair of Louboutins would be thrilling for me, but I'd especially enjoy it if they were so unique to my work! Leave a comment or tweet what you think of these shoes and if you tweet, don't forget the hashtag #ShoesdayTuesday
Unfortunately, the nearly $1400 price tag is not even within striking range for me. So I decided to shop around and try to get the same vibe for a whole lot less-specifically I was looking for shoes under $50. Here's what I found:
Of course, none of these are an exact replica or knock-off, but the overall effect is there- a neutral beige heel with intricate cut-out details. If you have seen any shoes similar to the Louboutins pictured above, let me know! Comment or tweet it! And if you tweet, don't forget the hashtag #ShoesdayTuesday!
For weeks now, I've been coveting so many different glittery shoes. Maybe it's the fact that I have yet to figure out what to wear tonight (New Year's Eve), or maybe it's just that I've always loved glittery, glitzy shoes and lately they seem to be everywhere. Whatever the reason, I'm obsessed. And while I'm into the black and silver and pewter styles, my favorites are the gold ones. From nude champagne to deep metallic gold, I'm drooling!
Of course, I am not oblivious to the fact that there has been a bit of a gold glitter shoe craze since the SATC2 movie came out and we all saw Carrie's amazing Louboutins:
It's funny how some trends come and go in a matter of weeks. Others have staying power, like gold glitter heels. Or is it the staying power of Louboutins that is keeping this trend alive?
For Christmas this year, my friend Melanie bought me a fabulous new handbag:
Do you know how she knew to get it for me? How she knew I would love it? She saw it here on the blog! So, in case anyone else out there would like to follow Mel's lead, here's a pair of shoes I think are rather spectacular:
Did you all watch the Emmy's last night? Some of my favorite shows did really well- Modern Family, Mad Men, Dexter, Top Chef- it was fun to watch. Jimmy Fallon was a good host, too. I especially enjoyed his tribute to shows that ended this season with his quick costume changes from Elton John to Boyz II Men to Green Day as well as the clever song choices and lyric changes:
But now for the fashions...
There were many more hits than misses in the gowns that I saw, but I did notice a few trends: there were quite a few one-shoulder gowns and even more white grecian gowns. Most of the stars who chose to make a statement with color did so with rich, jewel tones as opposed to pastels or brights. There were also quite a few black gowns on the red carpet, but none really stood out for me. The one who did stand out, though was Elisabeth Moss in a one-shoulder Donna Karan in a stunning shade of nude:
Please forgive the terrible shot that crops the bottom of her dress out of the photo- it was SO hard to find a good photo of this look, but this is the best I could do. I'm so happy for Elisabeth Moss in this look because she has had some serious red carpet duds. And her character of Peggy Olsen on Mad Men isn't exactly a fashionista either. From the flawless gown to the perfectly coifed hair to the understated jewelry, she nailed it. Kudos, Elisabeth!
Some other lovely one-shoulder looks:
Jennifer Carpenter
Cheryl Hines
Jane Lynch
Nina Dobrev
The other trend most apparent (at least to me) was the choice to wear white. Or maybe it was really apparent because Rachel Zoe just had a freak-out on the last episode of "The Rachel Zoe Project" about not being able to use white AT ALL for the Golden Globes, so I noticed even more when someone was in white. I dunno. Either way, these ladies ALL rocked it:
Brooke Burke
Amber Riley
Rose Byrne
Eva LaRue
Kim Kardashian
Julie Benz
The last of my favorites didn't really fall into either trend category of one-shoulder or all-white, but they looked stunning none-the-less. In fact, I think I liked these because many of them were unexpected
Lea Michele
Sofia Vergara
Toni Collette
Tina Fey
Claire Danes
Jayma Mays
And now for the worst-dressed...
While Elisabeth Moss was nailing it in Donna Karan, her co-stars Christina Hendricks and January Jones were making major flops in their choices:
Neither one of these looks really works. The Zac Posen, while beautiful, would be better suited to a different body type. Although, I do like Christina's hair. As for the Versace, it's wearing January Jones, not the other way around. The cone-like detail on the bust is a little too Madonna-esque for my taste and her hair looks messy, but not in a sophisticated way. About the only thing I like about her look is the shoes, which I assume are Louboutins.
Some other major red carpet disasters:
Emily Blunt (what's with the little tufts of tissues stuck all over the dress?)
Emily Deschanel (the color's not bad, but this dress does NOTHING for her.)
Holly Burrell (I have no words, except maybe, "Is this a joke?")
Lauren Graham (Hmm.... weird, and a poor shoe choice to boot.)
Mary Hart (as if the dress weren't bad enough, what is with the hair?!?)
Mindy Kaling (What a total tulle disaster!)
Mariska Hargitay (My only issue with this dress is the ruffle at the neckline. Aside from that, it's amazing. So, why the ruffle? It ruined a perfectly stunning gown. Ruined.)
Maura Tierney (The fabric reminds me of a sofa in a hotel lobby and the neckline is not doing anything for her.)
The men managed to look pretty dapper (for the most part) last night. Men have it easy with tuxedos- there's nothing more classic and sophisticated. I appreciate when they try to mix is up a little, but some are more successful than others. For example, Ryan Murphy looked incredible in the irridescent Tom Ford jacket that was tailored to perfection. His slightly oversize bowtie helped support the quirky choice, and the plain black pants kept it from going over-the-top:
Another "Glee" standout was Kevin McHale who chose a mustard bow-tie as the finishing look on his tux:
Neil Patrick Harris pretty much always looks great for these types of events, but last night his grey tux with black lapel was a complete knock-out. I love it!
Some other great looks for men:
John Hamm
Mario Lopez
Mark Salling
Skinny ties were in abundance last night and I loved it, but there was another trend I didn't enjoy quite so much. Lots of men made the choice to wear the tux without a tie at all:
Eric Stonestreet (first photo) plays one of my favorite characters on Modern Family and he took home the Emmy for Supporting Actor last night. Do you think he wishes he took the time to tie on the bow tie, now? I hope so. It's one thing to loosen or even remove your tie at the after-party, but I'm not a huge fan of this no-tie look as a choice. Even worse, though, was Alan Cumming's take on it:
I suppose he's going for the ascot-effect, but it just ended up looking like he tied his skinny tie around his neck instead of around his shirt collar. And I can't even talk about those loafers.
Well, that's about it for my red carpet commentary. What did you think of the fashions last night?
