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Thursday, November 4, 2010

Back To The Topic At Hand...

Lest we all forget what the majority of this blog is about, it’s time to steer my writings back to all things fashion-y.  And, before the last two posts about mile-high drinking and You Tube madness, it was about boots.

I’m still in a tizzy over boots, but not the winter ones.  Not right now.  The obsession with all things cozy and shearling was promptly forgotten the other day, when I discovered my favorite boots were starting to go to hell.  

You know how you have that one pair of boots…  the ones that are cute, classic, get tons of compliments and are totally comfy?  The ones that get worn for nearly eight months of the year (hey, remember, I live up Nord)?

Well, I have that pair.  Actually, I have three of ‘em.  Same style, different colors.  They've all celebrated their fourth birthdays and are, sadly, starting to show their age.

Ooh, you ask, "Are they Cole Haan?  J. Crew?  Via Spiga?"

Nope.

My all-star boots are...  Aerosoles.  And better yet – they’re pleather.  I love them dearly.  So much, in fact, that I snapped some pictures to share with you, in all their beloved and beat-up glory.











You might be thinking – meh, fake leather boots.  So what?  Well, I’ll tell you what.  They are the best-fitting, most comfortable and reliable boots that I own.  We can all blab on and on and on about those stately Cole Haans and sexy Stuart Weitzmans, but in the end, they just mock me.

Why?  Alas, I have small calves (although my recent foray into ballet has about a 5% chance of changing that, I suppose).  I ogle and drool over gorgeous leather boots (real leather!) by those fine brands, but in the end, I look like a complete doofus.  Like a little kid trying on her mom’s "grown-up" boots.  It happens all the time.  I’ll be in the store and totally gravitate over to a pair of fabulous leather boots.  Why not, I figure, maybe this one will be different.  So I send off the poor salesperson to find my size.  Try them on.  Sigh.  Yeah, who looks ridiculous?  Me.

Quick tangent:  Granted, the recent trend of stuffing your jeans into boots has helped me with the toothpick-in-a-boot look.  I’ve got some good skinny jeans that have worked nicely and allowed me to buy, and actually wear, leather boots now.  I've snagged a pair of Frye boots as well as a couple pairs of more affordable black ones.  Casual Fridays at work are a lot more fun.

But, back to my tizzy!  Back to what to wear the other four days of the work week, when I live in skirts and not in Citizens of Humanity!

When I realized all three beloved pairs were starting to bite it, I panicked.  And hit the web.  I’m not sure what the company’s current status is, but I’m noticing Aerosoles are a little harder to find right now.  Zappos, that bastion of infinite shoe heaven, turns out to be finite after all.  In fact, it doesn’t even carry Aerosoles.  So I went right to the source:  http://www.aerosoles.com/And nearly screamed with delight when, at the bottom of their sale page, I found my old boots!  Score!  I thought they were gone forever-ever.  Even more sweet was the name of my boots - "With Love."  I mean, how appropriate is that?!

As happy as a clam as I was to find my old boot style still alive – and in both black and dark brown – I was disappointed to find that my tan pair seems to be discontinued.  Tan’s a tricky color, but oh I love that pair just as much.  I’ve got outfits matched to those boots, saving precious time in the morning from having to think about such coordination.

With no tan boot to offer me on their website, I quickly bought the two pairs I had found (On sale!  Free shipping!  Did I say "score" already?).  Then I took a virtual stroll over to eBay, where timing and luck seem to play a strong hand in what you'll find.

Since the purchase of the original trio, I’d turned to eBay before, to find back-up pairs.  I'd done OK in the past and found 2 pairs of black Aerosoles similar to mine.  One is holding up pretty well, but the material is stiffer.  The other is closer to the pleather material of my old boots, and more comfy, but it’s deteriorating already. 

Well, this visit to eBay was not as fruitful.  There was one tan pair being auctioned, but they were about as worn as mine, according to the honest description by the seller (which I truly appreciate).  So, the search will have to continue for those.

Anyway, it's not all bad.  I can't wait to get the boots from Aerosoles.  Here they are in their latest incarnation, all shiny and new on their website:




Mission is two-thirds accomplished.  It's almost the weekend.  I've got a friend's birthday happy hour to attend tomorrow, and a Saturday night ahead full of football, cheap Bloody Marys and cheese curds.

No complaining from me :)
 


Images:  first four - my own; fifth - Aerosoles website

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hurrah! You must've racked up some good shopping karma somewhere along the line, my dear.