Summer's Not Over YET!!

I just scooped these FarylRobin "warrior" sandals up on shopbop... ON SALE!! for $95. I love them, even though it's a little late in the season for buying them. ;)

I wore them in LA all day and I'm being totally serious when I say that they may be the most comfortable shoes I own. They're super cute AND comfy?? I see no downside. Oh! And on sale! Bonus.

They come in cream as well, which I think would be beautiful on some summer bronzed legs! I went for black... but love them both.

An Update to a Classic...

So this is this seasons new "it" shoe by YSL and I just pre-ordered mine today. 

These are seriously perfect. A great basic (without being the slightest bit boring) pump that you can wear with just about everything.  I am so excited to see these babies in person. 

The salesperson at YSL said they should be in some time next week, so hopefully they aren't delayed for any reason!! They're already sold out too. How nuts is that?

So I have high hopes for this shoe. I think we'll be seeing a lot more of her this Fall.

If you want YOURS, pre-order now at Saks!!!!

Wanna Play??

So we're going to launch a new line of high-end women's footwear, but we need a NAME! What are some of your suggestions? If you submit a winning suggestion you'll get $100! Woo hoo!

I know it's not much, but thats $100 closer to a new pair of hot shoes. ;)

Leave your suggestions in a comment! Good luck. 

Boots on the Brain...

I'm so excited for Fall and all the lovely boots that are sure to pop up. Every time I'm out and see an awesome pair I actually get excited for the chillier weather to come around. 

Any-hoo, I saw these in my Urban Outfitters catalogue this morning and was very excited. I love the little vintage inspired heel and round toe shape. I'm also really feeling the slouchyness of it all and imagining how amazing these will look with my new William Rast skinny jeans! ;) There are snaps on the boot so you can wear them up or down... a nice detail I think.

You can find them at Urban Outfitters for $125. An awesome deal if you ask me! (click the link for more detailed images)

Not My Style, and Yet... LOVE it.

So I was gettin' my hair did today and one of the hair stylists had these boots on, and though they are totally not something I would think of as "my style", she was rocking them so hard. 

She wore them with super skinny dark jeans and a snug fitting red plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up. SO cute you guys. I always love that mix of feminine and masculine, as long as the feminine prevails. It's so cute.

These are by Fiorentini + Baker and are at Barneys for under $500, which I think is pretty great.

While We're on the Subject of Me...

Here's a link to our wedding video, done by the AMAZING Elysium Productions. It's pretty awesome! Ben and I are gonna go out to a nice dinner tonight and then come home to some popcorn and cuddles while watching our wedding video. 

Some other links:

Our Photographer

Our Wedding Planner

...just in case you wantd to know. ;)

On a personal note:

Today is me and my husband's one year anniversary and I can't believe I've been married for a year!! Time is so fleeting and precious. It's almost scary how fast it's all gone by.

I clearly remember the first time I met Ben. I mean the VERY first time. It was about 8 years ago......

My fashion careers class at OCC was taking a field trip to Paul Frank. We had a tour of the company with one of the owners and then it was off to the art department where Ben took over the tour. I remember thinking- wow what a rad guy. He's so funny and talented and he's listening to Bjork too! (I was obsessed with her at the time) I remember thinking, THIS is the kind of guy I need to end up with. It's too bad I probably won't cause there aren't too many guys like this one.
I even stayed longer than the rest of the class to ask him some... "extra questions". (flirting) But- he had a girlfriend and that was that.
Anyway... we ran into each other more than a few times over the next 5 or so years but nothing special. We never seemed to make a connection. It would be saying a quick hi out at a bar here, (thinking we may have met before but not sure where), being at a birthday party for a mutual friend there. I remember that I almost always flirted a little, but he always had girlfriends. Still to this day, every once in a while I'll mention a party or concert from way back when and he'll say that he was there too. So strange how life plays these little games.

I remember conversations with my girlfriends, the kind we all have-
"I wonder who I'll marry. I wonder who he is and what he's doing. I wonder if we've met already."
Little did I know...

So finally we were ready to meet for reals. It was December 12th, 2005: the Paul Frank Christmas party.

Everything about the way we met was so fateful: How I didn't really want to go, but went anyway. The way I got ditched by the "friend" I went to the party with. The way that some girl was hanging all over Ben all night, but I never saw it; and the way he didn't invite her to harbor house with his friends after the party. The way Darius was my neighbor and also Ben's best friend, and he was the one who invited me to come eat with them before going home. The DEVO sticker on my car that got Ben's attention.

It was a perfectly orchestrated night, completely our of our hands. And somehow, by the end of the night I knew I wanted him to be mine. Now I'm not going to say I knew I was going to marry him... but I promise you SOMETHING jolted inside me and I knew that at that time, I didn't want to be with anyone else. We were at Harbor House at a long table full of mutual friends we didn't know we had when he said it... "well I'm single now, so It's time to get out there..."
That was it. Target locked. My mission was clear.

Our first date was Dec. 23rd. My friends and I were having a Xmas gift exchange at Tsunami and I asked Ben to be my date. I kind of knew we were perfect for each other when I told him that we should have shown up wearing matching tacky Christmas sweaters and he agreed. We spent the next 30 minutes frantically driving from store to store (goodwill, target, stein mart, etc.) looking for said sweaters.
On our second "date" we went to the pet cemetery 'cause neither of us had ever been. Perfection. Someone as strange as me.

Those of you who know me know what happened next. I can't believe how fast everything changed. From deleting my old Myspace page with over 6,000 friends and pictures of me partying all over it, to choosing to stay home most nights, I was a different person. We were together almost every day after that. Ben carved our names into a tree on New Year's day. I was officially his. He was mine.
I had found someone to go to the mall dressed like a vato with just for goofy pictures. I found the man that loved me for exactly who I am. I found myself letting my guard down 100%. I found myself… period. I fell in love so hard and so fast. Ben became my everything. My reason for being. Every day since then I find that I love him more and more. Every day I find something new to love. Everyday I still thank God for sending me this angel who makes life so much better.

I'm not sure why I'm writing all this. It's not really to brag; I guess it's to let everyone know that I know how lucky I am. I try not to take a minute of it for granted. I truly believe that everyone can find love like this. Everyone should and I hope everyone does. The world would be a better place, that's for sure.

I was an asshole growing up. I was mean to my little sister and I was terrible to my parents. I was a pothead and a troublemaker and in my mind, I sometimes question if I deserve to be so happy. Like, why me? So if you feel like you can't find it... YOU CAN. I'm totally preaching here but seriously people... don't waste any more time with the bad eggs. Hold out for the good ones- they're out there. It's worth the wait.

Anyway... Benjamin I love you. Thank you for the feeling you give me in my tummy every day. Thank you for tickling me even when I act like I don't like it. Thank you for calling me out when I'm being a brat and for not taking my crap. Thank you for cooking me hamburgers and for letting me blame the farts on you. Thank you for building our home and making it better with a puppy. Thanks for making me feel safe and holding me tight. Thank you for cuddles and kisses every night. Thank you for never being embarrassed of me. Thank you for being proud of me. Thanks for loving me in the exact way I need to be loved. Thank you for being exactly who you are.

Thank you for the best year of my life and here's to 100 more.

I'm Kinda in Love with This One...

I love Nicholas Kirkwood and this fabulous platform of his. I think I posted a shoe from last season with this same shape, but I like this on even better. 

I love how it's high up on the foot while still being opened up and sexy. 

The only thing I would change would be to make the upper in leather instead of satin, because I always feel like satin shoes aren't as wearable.

(ex: these GORGEOUS Marni shoes I bought and only wore once before they were ruined by someone carrying and umbrella, scraping the metal tip of the umbrella across my shoe and causing the material to rip.)

Anyway- check out the cool detailing. I love the pop of electric blue snake on the heel. It's sexy and unexpected.

I found these at Browns of London for £470.00

Liberachi Might Have Liked These?

Ok, so I hate these boots. I hate everything about them. I hate the outdated shape, the tacky gold color, the height, the elastic goring on the side... oh, and the heel. EVERYTHING.

Worst part? It's by Marc Jacobs. 

You guys, seriously? WTF? I feel like I'm in a time warp to 1996.

Oh Marc. I love you so much, but these? These are terrible. Maybe you need to get back on drugs? Is that it? Did rehab suck out your creativity out??

Oh blah. Now I'm just being a bitch.

I ♥ NY

Dude... you guys, seriously. 

I've been in NY for the past week and I had an amazing time! I went there for my shoe show (which BTW, means I can post pics of my shoes finally!) and I usually stay in Manhattan in some hotel close to the showroom... but this time I stayed with my friend Ana in Brooklyn (Williamsburg) and I had a freaking BLAST! Brooklyn is so much younger/cooler/fun than the city. I totally fell in love with NY. The shopping was fun and I saw a lot of rad things. I also drank more iced coffee than I've ever had. haha

Ana (Jill Stuart designer) introduced me to a couple of her shoe designer friends. It was so fun hanging out with other shoe designers, since I don't really know any around here. They were really cool chicks and it was so rad to hang out and have dinner and just shoot the shit about shoes and our crazy trips to China and all that stuff.

ANYWAY... here's a little collage of a few of my Harajuku shoes. I hope you guys like. As you can probably tell by the fact that i never post my own designs, I'm a little shy or something about it. I dunno. Anyway- here they are. Enjoy.

:D

Sexy Sexy Sexy!

YSL has done it again. There is nothing that I DONT love about these super sexy shoes. The ankle strap is perfectly positioned and I love how the buckle is in the middle insted of on the side. The shape is sexy and flirty, the materials and colors are beautiful (sometimes gold can get tacky but this is the right kind of gold) and I love a good opened toe shoe. I'm also still loving platforms, even though we're seeing a lot more single soled shoes out there.

You can find these at Browns for about £495. 

Um, not so much.

I'm not feeling these floppy wedges by Chloe at all. I'm usually a huge fan of Chloe... but this time I think they missed the mark. Big time. I think these are matronly and sloppy looking and I'm not sure which trend they think this supposed to represent.

Hmmm. What do you guys think??

Showing Less Can be More...

Ok, so I'm not exactly crazy on the color here... it's a little 70's/Chrissy Snow for me, but I do love how high up the vamp is. (vamp= upper, or "front thingy")

I really like this trend of choaked up vamps. Don't get me wrong, I still love a sexy shoe with toe cleavage, but this is a whole different animal. This has a different kind of sex appeal. It's more of a vintage feeling.

Anyway, just wanted to share this with you. Open your mind to something new... I think we'll be seeing a lot more of these high vamp pumps in the near future. You can find these online for $720 at Barneys.

How Do They Do it!?

Shoes for under $25?? This baffles me. Even if we made shoes out of toilet paper we wouldn't be able to get that kind of price on a shoe from our factories! I'm sure these are super cheap looking in person, even more so than in the picture, and even cheaper feeling; but, I suppose if you want a Chloe knockoff for less than you'd pay for a nice dinner... here's your answer.

They're cute. Like I said, total knockoff, but cute. You guys know I struggle with this copying shoes thing. I'm all for shoes inspired by designer shoes, but when you go ahead an copy a shoe stitch for stitch, it just seems unfair. It ruins the shoe for the people who buy the real deal.

Can you imagine saving up for a shoe that you adore... say it costs $700, and then seeing the same thing for like 95% less! I'd be so bummed. Here's the original. 

 

You see what I mean? Sure us Shoe Girls can tell tell difference right away- but still. Close enough.

What's Up Doc??

I know we've seen a lot of Doc Martins on the runway, but I'm still not totally convinced. I think a certain girl can rock them. She probably wears them with flowy floral skirts and opaque tights... VERY 90's.

There's a girl with a fashion blog that I just adore! She wears them and pulls them off so well. Then again she's gorgeous and about 90 lbs, so... she pulls a lot of things off. Check her out at Fashion Toast

So anyhow, I found these on Brown's of London online for about $600 if you're interested. What do you think??

Cute cute cuuuuute!

So these Gucci booties are SUPER cute, right?

As much as I love warm weather, I am of the belief that fall and winter call for much cuter clothes! I love ankle boots and tights and sweaters and coats!! It's July and I am already excited for Fall. Is that sick or what? Not that we really have too much of a season change over here in California.

Anyway, back to the bootie. This one is super cute cause it's a total classic. The shape is flattering and the height is perfect to wear either with jeans or with tights/leggings. 

They remind me a little of these Christian Louboutins I got last year with spikes on the back. These are a little more tame though. ;)

So GO GUCCI!! Nice job. These are great.

Another Barker... Bad Miu Miu, BAD!

I doubt I need to say much. You all have eyes.

Seriously guys... who would stick up for a shoe that looks like this? Who would wear a shoe that looks like this??

Gross!

Wait... is that supposed to be a dragonfly?? Is that what's going on here?? Wow. I don't know what else to say.

Dirty Sexy Shoes

So my friend and blog reader "d" sent me this link and I wanted to share it with you cause I think it's pretty funny. Check out this Craigslist Listing and let me know what you think.

It says:

"WELL i used to own a store in hollywood and sold these shoes there but i had to close down soim trying to sell these. i had some authentic ones but i sold out so i only have these MIRROR IMAGE CHRISTIAN LOBOUTINS..they are NOT replica cuz replicas arent as good as mirror image. they are EXACTLY like the real ones..NO DIFFERENCE!! just look at the grogeous pics...the shoes range from 200-215.. i have size 6-9 including half size ONLY!! so hurry!!! I can do wholesale too...if intrested email me OR CALL 323 603-1991 OR TEXT!! these wont last!! thanks!!! P,S: I SOLD THESE MIRROR IMAGE ONES IN MY STORE FOR $300-350 SO URE GETTING DEAL!"

First off... I like her creativity, but I'm sorry; a knock off is a knock off is a knock off. Calling it a "mirror image" doesn't change that. That said, these shoes do look great. I tried finding out who manufactured them, but she wont say. I'd be curious to know, because they even copied the boxes- which makes me think that they are made in China. 

Anyway- if you're interested check it out. I won't support knock-offs like this but far be it from me to keep YOU from doing it. ;)

On a side note: if you guys ever come across anything you'd like me to blog about please feel free to send over an email! Thanks :)

OMG!!!

Ok, so I hate to do this, and I don't want to jinx myself, but I just got photos of my Harajuku Lovers samples and I LOVE THEM!!!! I'm soooo excited and I can't wait to show you guys! Unfortunately, I cant show you anything until after the show, but thats only like a week away, so no biggie, right?

Anyway, I woke up to the emails this morning and I am just so excited to see them in person. I just wanted to share with you guys. Thank you all for your support. I can't wait to share with you.

:)

But on a Positive Note...

These L.A.M.B. shoes are AMAZING. I have a pair myself and although they are super high, they're worth it. They are one of my favorite gladiator shoes out there. They are a perfect mix of snake and leather, and I love the zipper detail!

Anyway, you can find them at Zappos for $374 (and free shipping!)

Hey Prada... WTF?

These are straight up HIDEOUS. Last season's Prada flower heel shoes were pretty bad, but these? These are just silly. Who's going to wear these??

First, the colors are heinous. 

Second, the shape. Blah

And as if you need a third, the upper is just stupid. It's not edgy or cool like I suspect they thought it would be; it's just gross.

Go Prada. You're really living up to your high-end designer reputation.

Psych.

You Can Own an Iconic Shoe...

Yep, a version last seasons biggest shoe is now on sale for a more than reasonable price... The YSL star sandal is at Barneys for only $240.

I wasn't a fan of the runway version because of the hideous toe shape and strange insole metal thingy going on, but these are much better. You get the cute part of the shoe (the straps and stars) without all the yuck.

For the record, I wouldn't wear it... but I certainly wouldn't hate on someone for rockin them.

We've Got a Whole 'Lotta Catching Up to Do...

Ok, so we all now I've been gone a ridiculously long time... But here's what I've been doing:

So you all know about my China trip, and how I went there to make samples for my JLO and Harajuku Lovers collections. I was there for 2 weeks and then came home to rest for a week before going off to Paris for another week. I was then supposed to fly from Paris BACK to China to check on the HL samples to make sure they are perfect, since its a launch collection.

The reason I went to Paris was for my cousin's wedding, funny enough, to a girl named Celine. haha

Anyway, so I was there with my parents and my dad and I started talking about my trip to China, which I was of course NOT excited about. He told me that since ticket prices are so crazy right now my ticket was $3500.00!! So I was like- um... that's a ridiculous amount to pay for me to go check my samples for 3 days. He agreed, trip cancelled. (YIPPEE!!!!!)

We have a really talented designer that lives in China that used to design Betsey Johnson and Betseyville for us and now he's there to oversee all the designers, so I asked him to keep an eye on my samples for me. Keep your fingers crossed! I'm super excited and nervous to see my samples!!! We have an approval with Gwen's next Friday so I'll know then how they turned out. I'm going to the airport to pick up the samples, then it's straight to Gwen's house! That makes me a little nervous to not have time to sit with the samples first, but... c'est la vie!

So, Paris was cool. The weather sucked for being July, and believe it or not, I didn't shop!! I didn't but ONE thing. Everything is super expensive right now with the dollar sucking so hard. :( My aunt, who's a professional money spender, asked me why I didn't want to at least go look at stores. I explained to her that it would be the same as taking a starving child to a deli to just look around and smell things.

No thanks.

While eating though, I did enjoy the street style. Those Parisians sure have a way of looking fabulous. It looks so effortless too. Those skinny French bitches! ;)

Je suis à Paris!

So thats my excuse for not posting... I promise I will have lots to say as soon as I return!

xoxo

I know it's hot out BUT...

Boots are in stores!! I know, I know... how are we supposed to think about boots in this heat. But these are SWEET! I have last year's version which I love love love- and these may be even better. And such a classic! They changed the topline of the outside of the boot so that the outside is higher than the inside. Other than that it's the same as last year's. 

Anyway, my point is that these are awesome and sexy and comfy AND... under a grand, which these days is pretty rare for a designer boot.

I say YES!