February 25, 2022
Sometimes, you just give in:
So when our heroine was very politely requested to accompany her partner to a weekend conference in a big city, she thought that these would be her perfect slightly rebellious keynote for her travel capsule wardrobe…
She’s not going to go completely nuts; she’s just going to assemble a wardrobe that will show off her fabulous new boots to their best advantage!
Woodrose tee shirt – L.L.Bean; rose quartz earrings with heart setting – Ross-Simons; scarf – BP.; cotton/cashmere cardigan – J.Crew; pants – J.Crew; watch – Fossil; bag – Aesther Ekme; boots – John Fluevog
On her own time, when she’s sight-seeing, she WILL wear her new boots. At the various dinners, she may wear them, but she chooses to pack a pair of more conservative pumps too!
Pink rosette scarf – Treasure & Bond; rose quartz necklace – Gorgana; black cashmere turtleneck – Lands’ End; green earrings – Giani Bernini; green & black scarf – Rebecca Minkoff; black ribbed skirt – Vince; pink sweater – Open Edit; pumps – Trotters; bag – Judith Leiber; ivory sweater – Polo Ralph Lauren; dark green dress – Fraiche by J
Since soft rose and dark green are already her favorite colors, it wasn’t terribly hard to assemble a travel wardrobe to wear with her boots. Still, she went a bit nutty treating herself to a new evening bag…
Just to make certain that she isn’t letting her emotions carry her away, she plots her way through a half-dozen outfits that she can wear for sightseeing or for conference dinners:
I love the idea of planning a travel wardrobe around a pair of really distinctive shoes…
love,
Janice
p.s. Four years ago, our most glamorous of heroines built a travel capsule wardrobe around a pair of rose-embroidered velvet flats!
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I love boots like that
Love tjis capsule. The colors are beautiful and also the clothes. This really appeal to me ❤️
I enjoy seeing unusual footwear, but know that no matter how much I like them, they will never fit me. UK size 9/10 depending on type with a wide foot. I take what I can get.
Hi Rex and everyone else in the UK with non-standard feet. Try Ellie Dickens Shoe shop in Hungerford, Berkshire.
https://www.elliedickinsshoes.co.uk/
She stocks a wide range of shoes in sizes
13 (32) to 12 (46) and width fittings from B to 8E; many in half sizes. She does a lot of sales online. She opened the business in 1999 to cater for people with non-standard feet. Ellie wears size 11!
I have bought several pairs of shoes from her and she takes a lot of time to find shoes that fit. Her prices are not cheap as all the shoes come from Europe where wider feet are the norm but the sales are good. Hungerford is also a charming town with lots of antique shops, bookshops and other independent traders. It’s railway station is on the Great Western Railway line from London Paddington. It’s one of my favourite places for a good browse.
Beth T
I would wear boots like this – if only they came in extra wide fitting. Even just a pair of teal boots would do. 😪 Love the rose pink and dark green which looks dark teal on my screen. Just seeing these colours together gives me ideas, though I would swap the black for charcoal grey. Gorgeous.
I would buy those in a heartbeat – but for my elderly feet! And whilst I don’t do pink, the green dress and bag are gorgeous too.
During my one and only trip to Las Vegas, we went to the luxury mall on a lark and a kind sales person let me pet the Judith Leiber bags there. I’d never seen such delightful gem-crusted bags in the shapes of charming little animals – rabbits, puppies, kittens. As you say, eye-watering prices but so clever.
I sincerely admire women who dress so boldly – and have the places to go to where this might be appropriate! Not the life I live, but one can dream, right?
I love it! Now you do make me want to buy those crazy boots (says another one with awkward feet).
This is such an elegant and relaxing color scheme!
This wardrobe is so pretty and it puts thoughts of Spring in my head.
I could live in that deep green; I’d have it for my dark neutral if it wasn’t so scarce. Nature tells us that everything goes with green so I can’t – for the life of me – understand why there are so few green clothes.
Apologies! Rant over. 🙊
I see many comments here about the dearth of extra wide footwear. I have the same problem but I don’t understand why shoe makers don’t see the need. In my small world I know many women who should wear a wide shoe. Extrapolating that percentage tells me that there’s a decent market out there.
Many of us resort to sizing up to get the width but the shoes are a tripping hazard (for me at least).
I would love to learn of Canadian stores that carry wide widths in half sizes (9.5W here) at decent prices.
Pay the prices…It’s worth having your dream shoes!!
Try Chesler’s Shoes in ON they carry a wide :) range of European shoes. Remonte, Reiker etc and have a great online store. Also Kunitz Shoes in Edmonton have an amazing on line store. I have bought many many shoes from both places great customer service.
Just a little info on wide shoes. Many people think wide shoes are meant to accommodate a bunion. They are not, they are meant to accommodate a wide foot from heel to toe. Some feel that European shoes are wider it’s just that many of their shoes have wider toe boxes but a regular heel. I made that mistake several times before I read up on widths and started seeking out comfortable shoes. If you have a bunion you need shoes with a wider toe box not a wider shoe. Spence, Keen, Dansko all make shoes that allow the toes to spread. Rieker/Remonte also has the more accommodating toe box on most of their styles. Many people actually have narrow to medium feet but think that a wider width is what they need…they just need to avoid narrow toe boxes. Don’t let anyone sell you wider shoes unless they REALLY know their stuff. Also know your European sizing..Americans insist that a 39 is a 9 a 40 is a 10 etc. A size 9 is a 40 an 8.5 is a 39.5 an 8 is a 39 etc. When ever I have ordered shoes from an American store invariably they have made this error. Looking at you Dansko shoes….
Of course there are those who do have wide feet but the width of their shoe goes from toe to heel.
Wow. Hmm…I would skip the boots. Pretty, but too-too for my taste. Love the bag & could only wish it would fit my budget. Chris in Indy, there’s usually a fancy fundraiser for the Folds of Honor in the early fall that would let you enjoy an elegant outing. The Mr & I try to attend when we can though it is pricey for the tickets.
Nice!
I loved this wardrobe designed around a pair of booties and the wardrobe you did four years ago around the rose flats. Neither one is really me but I love unusual shoes!! I haven’t been buying them anymore because I’m on a walker so drawing attention to my feet doesn’t seem to be a good fashion choice. BUT, I’ve been considering buying some sparkly evening flats and even wearing them in the daytime. This fits with my style!! Thank you for the encouragement to wear what you love!!
I love John Fluevog shoes – they are art for the feet! I also love the color scheme here and how you created options around it. I would like to introduce you to Walking Cradles shoes for some of your fun outfit combos, because they will be a great addition to your wardrobe when your choice of footwear calls for something incredibly comfortable, but still stylish! If you have time for a chat, please feel free to reach out – we would welcome the chance to collaborate! We are going to be a guest on two upcoming episodes of “Better Than Gossip” with Amy Schmidt and Kristen Coffield, you can catch that to get a feel for our shoe brand (we have a female designer) and the vast array of styles in extended sizes and widths!
I’m speaking up for those of us with very thin feet!! All your wide foot people…it is just as hard for those of us with very narrow feet!! Stop feeling sorry for yourself!!
Here here! I can only find narrow shoes at Nordstrom or Zappos. Fortunately both have free shipping both ways, if needed. I consider myself fortunate to wear an 8N though, as my mother wore a 13AAAA! Whenever she was able to find shoes in her size, especially office worthy shoes in those days, she bought multiple pairs.
13AAAA! We used to call those “ski feet” in Iowa – it seemed that all of the women of Norwegian descent had feet that narrow…
hugs,
Janice
Those boots are so fun and in such lovely colors. I like the green wrap dress pairs so beautifully with them.
Genius! I love this wardrobe. Can’t wait for winter to come to the Southern Hemisphere. I have a pair of plum suede ballet flats that is my equivalent of this boot. Have several pieces to combine in my closet. This is the inspiration I need to get the winter dress – I’m thinking grey.
In Africa we have our own quality brands catering for UK size 9 broad feet so no issues there.
My comments make little sense! In my first viewing the black looked deep burgundy and the green more grey.
Loved it so much I came back for a second viewing and the colours have changed in my phone’s browser. Still inspired!
This wardrobe is SO fun! Thank you for sharing.
I love it when you are fancy!!
I have a pair of Converse high tops that have the good ole’ Stars and Stripes on them. I love wearing them and usually get many compliments. The color scheme allows for lots of options. I also have a pair of heels that have a thick band on the top of made of thin blue and lavender shaded stripes. They also get noticed. And then there are my red cowboy boots my dear husband gave me for my 40th birthday. Not as flashy as today’s pair of boots but still unique.
My fashion motto is:
an outfit is like a family: you need one member with big personality to keep things interesting. Adding another makes it exciting. More than two and it can get a little overwhelming by the competition.
For those with wide feet, I had a fabulous colleague who definitely had a wide foot and wore only fluevogs pumps so don’t give up!
These are beautiful boots that are not AT ALL my style, but I do enjoy the idea of a statement shoe based capsule (the floral loafers in the look back are definitely up my alley). The black + pink + dark green/teal color palette is lovely, but to my eye, the ivory sweater looked a bit out of place…I would prefer a soft white with a more neutral-to-cool undertone to work with the pink and a more refined texture to match with the dressiness level of the rest of the capsule.
I am lucky to have an easy to fit foot, so I don’t personally suffer from the scarcity of wide width options, but I 100% understand the complaints made in this thread and in general. Just as with plus size clothing (which I do wear), there is clearly a large demand for wide width footwear such that there is a robust economic argument for more options to exist but the market is not providing it. There is a fashion world bias against wide width feet, just like plus size bodies, that seems rooted in invalid negative stereotypes about the people with body parts that fit these sizes/shapes and associations along racial/socioeconomic lines.
I’m sure that people with very narrow feet also face difficulties, though I do believe the situation is different for two reasons.
(1) How many people actually have feet so narrow that they have difficulty finding footwear that fits? Many premium brands are known to run small/narrow. Is this truly an underserved market relative to the number of potential customers? The thing about wide width feet is that there are SO many women who have them and have to make do with sizing up and getting bad fit. Of course, no matter whether your fit issue puts you in the same big boat as a lot of other people or is rare, it is challenging to deal with. But the complaint that the fashion world is pretty much refusing to serve a large market of people is less obvious with the narrow width issue. I mean, it might be the case that there are a whole lot of women with narrow feet who can’t get shoes that fit, in which case that’s yet another market failure. However, even if narrow width women are also underserved, that doesn’t cancel out the well-documented challenges faced by wide width women!
(2) Narrow feet absolutely DO NOT have the same negative stereotypes associated with them! Remember Cinderella and her “ugly” stepsisters? This bias has been around a long time. People with narrow feet may find it harder than those with average feet to find shoes, but they are NOT portrayed as/made to feel inferior, ugly, and unstylish just because their feet are a particular shape. If anything, narrow feet are portrayed as high class, feminine, and aspirational.
I wish we could all move on from the idea that the size and shape of an aristocratic lady of leisure of the 1800s is an ideal we should continue to strive for.
I so love this mix of soft rose with dark green. It’s lovely.
And, those boots! I am another one with very wide feet (and I sympathize with those who have very thin feet as well). It’s a challenge to find stylish and comfortable shoes … and when I do I definitely purchase. Cost runs second to comfort.
At times I am glad for my hard-to-fit feet as I’m pretty sure my will power would not be able to withstand the number of beautiful shoes out there!
Hi Janice and Everyone! I do like this color combination, which of course makes me think: why didn’t I think of that? This is why I visit TVF, and the fabulous discussions 😊
To answer the prime question: that would be a NO for me, although I love the style. For one, the practical part of me days these boots are not made or meant to be worn during 6 months of winter on the Great Lakes. Too much salt and slush. Which leaves the other 6 months of the year, 3 of which are too warm for me to wear boots. Then of course there’s the size issue : 10M (US). On a good day for routine footwear it’s hard enough to find shoes. So I will admire from afar.
Laughing at the foot size/width discussion! I have always had relatively small feet, but in the last few years have developed (different) issues with both feet, and find myself wearing a wrap support daily on one of them. I went up a half size, but occasionally that’s actually too big in the length so I have the “tripping” issue someone mentioned above. I find Birkenstocks are the only shoes I can wear with regularity that will not set off the various aches and pains. I do love looking at pretty shoes though…
Fluevogs are such fun! I kinda wish I had normal feet since they don’t come in wide sizes but maybe it’s just as well for my budget, lol. Love the capsule…and the slightly rebellious statement boots!
I love the combo of rose pinks and soft cooler toned green. I hear you Wendy, I’d wear it more if I could find it more especially in the tones shown here.
If I saw those boots (&they fit me of course) I would definitely create a wardrobe around them.
I got a blush pink purse once, I still have it. I didn’t have anything much that went with it but I soon gathered up a number of things. It’s been a key wardrobe accent ever since. I simply fell in love with it. I often travel with it and get compliments from all kinds of people including airport security screeners.
I saw these boots and fell in love! I already have the entire capsule in my closet except for the purses. I have ordered the boots and can’t wait to get them 😊
I also see them with jeans. They are going to be fun. I will use purses I already have
Thanks for the inspiration!