Must Have: Shoes

Shoes a lot more than just things you wear on your feet. They can make or break an entire outfit! Shoes can come in so many different styles, heights, and colors that the possibilities are honestly endless. You need a different pair of shoes to go with every different thing in your closet. You can match shoes with your jewelry, bag, scarf, pants, shirt, jacket, and so on. Anything! So needless to say a shopaholic has a lot of shoes..

I'd like to thank my mom for this. We're the same size (super convenient for me! Not so much for my sister who is a size bigger) so I would be able to have her shoes if she didn't want them anymore! Between that and all of the sneakers from cheerleading, my closet at home was pretty full of foot wear. But as I got older, my shoe collection grew. I started buying pumps, wedges, sandals, and boots. I'll buy two of the same shoe in different colors even. I mean if you find a good pair that you love, get as many as you can! Because good shoes (and by good I mean long lasting, comfortable, and wearable) are hard to come by. I constantly find myself sacrificing pain for beauty when it comes to my feet (and my ankles, toes and knees) but who can blame me? The shoes look good!

On to the main part of this post.. the must have shoes. I have quite a few that I think are "must haves" so bare with me, but there are different times and places to wear each of the pairs of shoes. I'll admit over half the shoes in my closet get worn once a year, but the shoes I'm about to show you are the ones I wear the most and therefore claim the title of "must haves"

Enjoy!

Let's start off with the shoes that I wear every single day (I'm a gym junkie). They're the most comfortable shoes I own and they go great with all of my Nike Shorts. They match my black high socks or my no show white ones. They demand attention at the gym with the bright colors, they're a great brand, and behind a good cause.

My Nike Livestrong LunarGlide+ 3 Running shoe:

Found Here

Aren't they beautiful?

Everyone should own at least one good pair of sneakers. They're the best support for your feet, you need them to go workout and they're fun if you feel like dressing up in workout clothes and running some errands!

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Next up we have the second most worn pair of shoes in my closet: my boots. I got these from DSW over break a while ago and I've worn them about every day since. 

Ciao Bella Tabby Leather Riding Boot:

Found here

They go great with jeans to dress down and even dresses to dress up! They're a perfect color to match just about anything in your closet and definitely an essential item in any girls closet!

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Since we're on the topic of boots, let's talk about a MUST for any person in Lexington: Rain Boots. It honestly will rain here about twice a week. Sometimes it will rain so much I'm surprised it's not flooding. And when it rains in Lexington, I mean it RAINS for days at a time without a thought of lightening up (no pun intended).

I've never owned a pair of rain boots until I came to college. I remember the first time it rained for classes I wore my regular top-sider sperrys. That night I went to target, bought the first pair of rain boots I saw and never looked back. Since then I have decided to really put an investment in my rain boots because they get so much use. There is nothing worse, and I mean nothing worse than having cold wet feet going to classes. So here are my favorite 4 pairs of rain boots!

The first pair are the most used. I mean they're monogramed! I mean who doesn't love that! I saw my communication teacher (who has the best style) with a pair of these and I just had to get them! 

Made at Peggy's! She ships if you're not local as well!

Found Here

The next two are my Lilly Pulitzer pair. Both found on ebay because they're from a couple seasons ago! Someone needs to tell Lilly we want them back! I love these shoes!

 And last but not least, my Sperry rain boots. Sperry is a great brand for things like these. They think of everything when it comes to their shoes. What makes these so great is that they're lined with wool on the inside (perfect for when it snows). I wear these when my outfit calls for something a little more dressed up and preppy! I mean they're cute shoes on their own. It's an added bonus that they're water repellent!

Sperry Top-Sider Hingham Rain Boots

Found Here

Is it weird that when I wear rain boots I purposely splash in every puddle because the boots make me feel invincible? Try it sometime!

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These are the last pair of boots that I will be talking about and some of the best ones! So listen up! Living in the south these are ESSENTIAL to have! If not for own personal enjoyment, being the norm or wearing to tailgate, you at least need them for country parties! Cowboy boots. I love them. I have them. I need more!

(side note: I stuff my boots with old t-shirt that I rarely wear to keep the boots up-right and standing)

The first two are vintage from Calypso. She has the best vintage boots for around $80
The dark brown pair are from Rack Room Shoes a couple years back. (Theses are the pair I wear to tailgate)
The light brown on the end are from Francesca's (GREAT buy!)

I wear these boots all the time. They're super fun to wear with dresses (that's acceptable here), under jeans, over jeans, with shorts, skirts, and especially to tailgate! They can be worn when it's cold or hot out, which makes them perfect for all year round! The only problem is finding a good pair means shelling out $$$$! So what I do is I buy a nice pair that I will wear regualry, but also a not so nice pair to wear to parties and tailgates (people seem to spill everything at these two events and you don't want to ruin a good pair of boots!!!). 

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Let's move on to heels and wedges. Now I have a love hate relationship with my heels. They're beautiful and make my legs look instantly toned and muscular, but when I wear them more than an hour, I want to literally saw off my foot. But like I said before, pain is beauty right? 

Now these heels really aren't all that bad. They're as comfortable as 5 inch heels can possibly be. Im a stickler when it comes to comfort so when I say these shoes are comfortable for 5 inch heels, I really mean they are comfortable. 

The first pair are my nude pumps. My sister got me these for Christmas last year and since then, these are about the only pumps I really need. It's amazing how much nude goes with! It's almost better than black! They were really big last season and I don't see them going away for a while. So if you don't own a pair of nude pumps, get on it!

From Aldo

Now, being the crafty pinterest person I am, I decided to paint the bottom red glitter to mimic the Christian Louboutin's that I so desperately want (remember college girl budget here). It has surpisingly stayed like this for a while with no signs of coming off! If you want the secret, just leave me a comment!

Now onto the wedges! Like I have said in previous posts, I have these two pairs of Gianni Bini Wedges that I love! These are the shoes that I wear to work when I want to look nice, but am on my feet all day. They're the most comfortable wedges I've ever had the pleasure of putting on my feet. I would link them to the page, but they were from a year or two back and now I can't find them. But try out their other shoes, it's a great brand! 

Found at Dillard's

These are the latest addition to my closet. They make me happy just to look at! They're big and chunky, velvet and black, wonderful and all mine! I don't have the words to tell you how in love I am with these shoes. They're so beautiful in real life and these pictures do them no justice. But here they are anyway. Everyone owes it to themselves to buy a pair of these

Steve Madden: Pammy

Found Here

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And last but not least, my sandals. I mean it's never to early to think about summer now is it? These shoes are so fun, so classy, and so great! They go amazing with jeans, dresses, shorts, skirts- anything! They're perfect for when you want to dress up, or just stay casual. These shoes are highly coveted and easy to come by at a good price if you shop around! I want them in every color. Don't you??

Jack Rogers Navajo Sandals

Found here

My Collection :)

These two will be my next purchases! I mean I love wedges and Jack Rogers so why not have the best of both worlds? And how great are the blue and white ones for UK events!

Whew! That was a lot! I hope you liked the shoes, maybe it's time to go shopping for a new pair? Anything I missed?

always,

kRl