SHOES, SHOES, SHOES...

How to choose shoes in order to look elegant, polished and stylish.

Shoes are my passion! I have shoes for every outfit, and can’t stop buying them. I am officially a shoe addict.

Here are my shoe buying tips. As I wrote in my article HOW TO LOOK A MILLION DOLLARS ON A BUDGET, shoes are one of the three key elements for the elegant and polished look.

Are these shoes good enough to enter my wardrobe?

“Are these shoes different from what I have already?"

When I choose shoes, I check if they are ticking one or several of these boxes:

- Beautiful or stunning beautiful

- Sexy

- Elegant or drop-dead elegant

- Funky

- Trendy

- Interesting

- Unusual color

- Ultra-fashionable

I personally don’t require shoes to be super comfortable. If you want them to be comfortable on top of being stunning, my advice is to match the discomfort level to both the length and walking distance required by the event.

“Nice” or “cute” are not enough for me to take my wallet out.

Another good question to ask yourself before buying a new pair:

- Are these shoes (very) different from what I have already?

Different Shoes For Different Body Types

If you have a tall large frame consider buying beautiful pointy-toed shoes on a platform. Platforms will elongate your legs; pointy toes will harmonize your feet with your height. If you wear high block heel with round toe, beware of one danger here: I find round toes together with medium-high block heel look like hooves on me. And I am narrow framed and not very tall. Look critically in the mirror and make sure you did not fall into that mistake.

If you are very petite, vice versa, avoid pointy toes as it can throw off your proportions and make your feet very long. I find some of them looking like skis on me, while I am average height. I suggest wear high heels or platforms as a rule.

If you are short with a large frame, wear platforms and high heels avoiding “hoof” or “ski” look as I call it.

Leather Matters

“Shoes do not have to be expensive but they have to look expensive.”

And the last rule. Shoes do not have to be expensive but they have to look expensive. Look out for the leather quality! Top layer leather always looks shinier and expensive, split leather is the second layer and looks cheaper and only shines from the wax. Patent leather is always a safe play for dressier look but may be hard to break. Suede does not show which layer was used, so may be inexpensive and nice looking.

Picking stunning shoes for your style and figure will definitely be part of any styling session with me, whether it is Complete Image Consulting, or At-home Wardrobe Analysis, or Special Occasion Package, or even Image, Style and Color analysis.