When Budget Shoes Knock Your Socks Off

These are the Christian Sirianos I ordered from Payless. Now sold out, apparently. $29.99. A second pair half off. Free shipping. This kind of pricing is not common in my usual retail pursuits. So I had to wonder, were the shoes going to be, you know, OK?

Yes. They are. Fabric holds up in person. Heels, nice and shiny. Zipper, sufficiently substantial. Run a little big, which means my size 7 Ferragamos, size 7.5 Manolos feet are floating just a tad in the Siriano 7s. This made my daughter very happy, since the 7.5s I ordered as the second pair were released to accompany her on the holiday party trail Back East. (That's what we Californians call that side of the US.) I am confident that no one will look at my gold zippered feet and think, "Oh, poorly made shoes, darling. Tssk. Tssk. Tssk."


Lisa, one of our readers here, appears to agree, having bought not only the zipper flats, but similar heels. She sent me these accounts of her Siriano outings.

I'm just sending this email to let you in on (and thank you) my 'little secret': after your posting of the zipper shoes by Christian Siriano, I went to the Payless website - I loved those shoes!!! I bought the flats in gold and the other colorway AND the heels. Tonight I went to an Art Gallery opening and wore those heels. I must say that I HAD the best shoes in the joint. (I have two very dear friends who help me dress, and they chose those shoes first out of my ample shoe closet, and the rest of my outfit revolved around them - they are a recently married gay couple (GO IOWA!) and their taste is impeccable.) Anyway, THANK YOU, I never would have thought of Payless (I didn't have the heart to tell my stylists where they came from) and I have three pairs of the coolest shoes around. (Of course, this is not a big city and I kind of stand out in the shoe department anyway :) Louboutins tend to do that.)

...yesterday I went to an annual "Holiday Open House."...in deciding my ensemble (without my stylists!), I went with an all cream outfit and topped (bottomed?) it off with my gold zippered Christian (not Louboutin) shoes. This IS a crowd that takes their clothing VERY seriously and I can't begin to tell you the number of compliments I got on the shoes!!!!! I've got one more of these occasions to attend and have two more pairs of zippered shoes in my arsenal - OH THE FUN!!!!

You are very welcome, Lisa. May all our holidays be FUN:). And well-shod besides.

Guest Post: A place of one's own

I would like to introduce you all to Maria, from vintage simple. Quite simply, her vision of house style is the closest to mine of anyone I've found on the web to date. Almost every time I read one of her posts I find myself sighing with happiness. Somehow her posts create a sense of peace - and I can't put my finger on how or why. She writes from South Carolina, where, along with lovely curating of the Internet house style world, she shows us the process of restoring her family's 1920's bungalow.

Hello, my dears, Maria here from vintage simple, visiting LPC's lovely corner of the world with a little gift for her that I think will suit her spirit and calm her mind, as she looks back at her life in search of meaning and wisdom.

When Lisa asked me to do a guest post here, I must confess that I was a little bit nervous. Okay, I lie - I was terrified. We all know that she is the embodiment of good taste, blending (I think) a little bit of Grande Dame, Sturdy Gal and Artsy Cousin, plus a little something else all her own into the mix. And although she writes freely about these archetypes, she does not reveal herself completely....

And so it was that I was a little bit stumped. What kind of gift could I give her in exchange for this kind invitation? What gift, I wondered, would honor all these archetypes that Lisa has been exploring and that, to some degree or another, exist within her own self..?

After giving it some thought, I found the answer in one of my all-time favorite design teams: Atlanta Bartlett and husband Dave Coote. These two favor classic lines to suit the Grande Dame,


often use farmhouse settings (a choice the Sturdy Gal would have no complaints about),


and although they are rooted in tradition, they have a thoroughly modern approach and their interiors can sometimes take a more bohemian look, which I think would suit the Artsy Cousin perfectly.


Their homes are simple and sensible - never overly decorated or fussy and, I think, invariably beautiful. By far, the quality that attracts me to their designs the most is that no matter where your eyes rest, they are met with a certain sense of calm and serenity; Bartlett and Coote's interiors are sublimely relaxing. And so I thought, what better place to be than that when you are trying to take stock of your life and perhaps even redefine it as it where...?

So, I invite you and Lisa to take a little tour of what I think might be a lovely place for her to get away... won't you come and take a look with me?


This is a place with lots of soothing whites, beautifully aged mirrors, antique chandeliers and comfortable seating...


It is a place where soft sunlight bathes the floors in the most welcoming way,


and where Lisa can surround herself with beautiful things...


It's a place where she can dine indoors,


or outdoors if the mood strikes her, because - why not?

It is a place where she can place freshly-cut flowers from her garden in every room,


and take long baths in a most decadent of vintage cast iron tubs...


Perhaps, most importantly, it's a place where she can get away to write all the things that she needs to put down, now that she can...


It is, in essence, a place all of her own...because, really - who wouldn't want such a place after all...?

Thank you for spending some time with me today - I hope you have enjoyed yourselves... I know I certainly have. And thank you, Lisa, for this incredibly kind invitation - you have been very generous and encouraging, and I hope you know that I appreciate it deeply. I hope you like your imagined place of sorts and I sincerely hope that it will inspire you to follow your dream to write away... Your fans will all be here, waiting with bated breath, ready to read your first book and the many more that will come after that.

(images: via beach studios)