Lately I’ve been on this kick where I’m making over tons of stuff in my wardrobe. I’ll post pictures of other projects soon, but for starters I’m going to post something I just did today. Today I was shopping at Savers, a lovely little thrift store I’d never really been to before. One of the things I wanted was a pair of high quality black ballet flats. I came across a pair of gold and black flats, and I tried them on. They were AMAZINGLY comfortable. They felt so good on my feet and I knew that they were well-made and expensive, even though I had never heard of the designer before.
I showed them to my roommate and she said they were “loud and gaudy”. She was right. They were pretty ugly. Or maybe they were just too high fashioney for us simple folk. In any case I knew they were not what I wanted–I wanted something simpler that I could wear with anything. Then the wheels started turning in my head. I figured I could use a few coats of black shoe polish to cover the shoe and make it more neutral and I would still get to enjoy the well-made shoe.
Before
It doesn’t look too gaudy here, but the color is a more gold than beige in person. And I really wanted something more neutral. As you can see, I taped off the top, because I wanted to leave the pattern on the tops/toes of the shoes. Then I used shoe polish to cover most of the shoe.
After
Just for the record, these are very unflattering pictures of my ankles/calves. But I really liked the finish product of the shoes. The pattern kinda shows through, which I like, although it is more subtle in person. I feel like I could wear them with lots of things without them taking over the outfit, and did I mention how amazing they feel on my feet? They are the softest, most buttery leather I have ever walked in. And BTW, they are designed by Sam Eldeman, whose shoes normally retail at around $80-120. I hadn’t heard of him before I bought these shoes, but they are so comfortable that I hope they won’t be the last pair I buy of his shoes. I’m currently coveting these from his Spring Collection:
They’re $119 at Zappos…yeah that’s not happening anytime soon.
How much did I pay for my lovely shoes? $5.99 + 2.99 for shoe polish = the best 8.99 pair of shoes I’ve ever bought. Plus I love the fact that no one will have the exact same pair of shoes as me.
I also purchased this lovely jacket:
This picture is from somebody selling the same jacket on ebay, and needless to say it doesn’t begin to do it justice. It’s a million times cuter in real life. Did I mention that it retails at $42? I paid $8 and it still has its tags on. It’s a totally gorgeous jacket that I plan to wear as-is with a fabulous ensemble. I may post pictures…
I also purchased these lovely clip-on earrings for $2. It’s not the best picture but my roommate just went to sleep and I don’t want to wake her to use her camera again.
It is such a pain to find inexpensive, cute, clip-on earrings that don’t break the first time I wear them. But I can’t wear pierced earrings because my skin is too sensitive. Anybody know of any good places to get clips?
And as if this post wasn’t narcissist enough already here is a picture of a head-thing that I bought a long time ago but only finally figured out how to wear properly today.
Kinda blurry, but I think you can begin to get the point of how cute it is. I’m totally in love with it, and really glad I bought it, even if it was 4.99. That just seems like a lot to me for a headband-thingy. Good thing I am totally digging it.
