New Shoes and an Old Skirt: a Friday Short and Sweet Post

It’s been a short but intensely busy week here (we have a project, my guy and I), and I have a busy weekend ahead (babysitting Two Littles tomorrow morning; a girlfriend arriving tomorrow afternoon for an overnight visit).

But I still haven’t given you a proper view of those shoes, so that’s going to be my Short and Sweet Friday post. . . Above, a photo I took of them on some random tile floor back in Portland. . . The gold metallic surface is rather crackled, with an underlying black showing through; this is as shiny as they get, here reflecting light back at the camera. I bought them at Halo Shoes in Portlandwhere the selection is scrumptious and the service warm and helpful, where I wondered if, since I was having trouble deciding between the 8 and the 7.5, I might buy the shoes to test out over the evening in the hotel room, and return them the next day if they weren’t right. I was assured that I could return them up to seven days for a full refund (assuming I only tried them on carpet and they were still in pristine condition) or, within a month, get an exchange or store credit. I’ll admit I didn’t need to test this policy — an hour in the hotel room wearing them, and I knew they were softening to my foot, so I wore them out to dinner!

I’m already wearing them with everything. They’re perfect with jeans, with casual dresses as you saw here, and even for dressing up a bit, as I did for Thanksgiving dinner. The Robert Rodriguez skirt is one I spotted when shopping at Holt Renfrew with my Mom nine years ago, coveted, then bought when it got marked to half price — and was still way more than I usually pay for a skirt. You can see me wearing it with heels here, way back in 2010. The chocolate gold beads were a gift from my husband 7 or 8 years ago, and I’m very much hoping the shoes (MOMA, leather, made in Italy) will give me a few good years as well.

Short and sweet, done and dusted, you’ve seen my new shoes and we’ve taken a quick trip or two back in time. Should you be wanting more words this Friday morning, I added some over on my reading blog. I’m so far behind there I despair of ever catching up, but the latest entry offers titles of a few good mysteries I’ve read lately, and browsing earlier posts — including the reader comments — will yield recommendations over a wider range of genres.

What have you lined up for the weekend? 

22 Comments

  1. Georgia
    13 October 2017 / 3:21 pm

    I like your new shoes…black, but not black. And a reading post, hurrah! I'll see you over there.

    Lunch with retired colleagues today and a walking/breakfast date on Sunday. And raking (I gripe about this every year, I know).

    • materfamilias
      17 October 2017 / 1:05 am

      Exactly so. They're black, but more than . . .
      Sounds like a pleasant and fairly balanced few days, and can I say I wouldn't mind an hour of raking right now. . . . and don't mind being reminded of when I would never have said that! 😉

  2. Pondside
    13 October 2017 / 4:54 pm

    Mmmmm – love those shoes. Love the texture and the no-colour.

    • materfamilias
      17 October 2017 / 1:05 am

      Yes, I like that they're neutral, but neutral with a punch. . .

  3. Anonymous
    13 October 2017 / 5:13 pm

    I have just received my new boots in the post this morning – very exciting but may take a bit of wearing in. Intend to go and explore a bit of Yorkshire that I really know nothing about – the Wolds – and to finish making two early Christmas puds. Enjoy your twinkly toes.

    • materfamilias
      17 October 2017 / 1:10 am

      Love the place names you'll be exploring in those Wolds, the language of its own, not so far from where my dad grew up. . . You'll write about it, I expect?

  4. dottoressa
    13 October 2017 / 5:20 pm

    Beautiful shoes-love the colour(s)!
    Dottoressa

    • materfamilias
      17 October 2017 / 1:10 am

      Thanks, me too!

  5. Madame Là-bas
    13 October 2017 / 6:04 pm

    Those are great shoes and that skirt is definitely a keeper!

    • materfamilias
      17 October 2017 / 1:10 am

      Thanks — and the skirt has earned its keep!

  6. hostess of the humble bungalow
    13 October 2017 / 9:00 pm

    The shoes look great!
    I remember when you bought that skirt but I had no idea it was 9 years ago…
    time flies!

    • materfamilias
      17 October 2017 / 1:10 am

      It really does!

  7. Elle
    13 October 2017 / 10:14 pm

    Love the shine of the beads with the shine of the shoes, and the plump roundness of the beads with the organic designs in the skirt. (To say nothing of the swirls of your hair and the swirls in the skirt!) The whole thing flows in a very satisfying way, to my eye.

    • materfamilias
      17 October 2017 / 1:11 am

      And I love your anatomy of the outfit which justifies my combination very generously. Thank you!

  8. Anonymous
    14 October 2017 / 12:27 am

    The shoes look great. And I adore that skirt! Really good buy, all these years later. Yea, Holt Renfrew. Go there every time I'm in Vancouver.

    Ann in Missouri

    • materfamilias
      17 October 2017 / 1:13 am

      Yes, although HR has changed a fair bit since Nordstrom hit Vanc'r — it's pushed even further out of my normal budget, but of course that does mean more to drool at. . .

  9. Rosie
    14 October 2017 / 10:11 pm

    Love your shoes! Time passes so quickly! Interested to know more about your joint project … not that I'm nosy!!! 🙂
    Have a good weekend!
    Rosie

    • materfamilias
      17 October 2017 / 1:13 am

      loved the photo of you meeting up with Sue!

  10. Lorrie
    16 October 2017 / 5:09 am

    I love that skirt, and remember it from a previous post. This weekend involved home keeping duties, some visiting, and a lovely hike on this gorgeous Sunday afternoon.

    • materfamilias
      17 October 2017 / 1:14 am

      It was a very beautiful Sunday, wasn't it, although I was too ill (UTI!) to enjoy it. Looks as if it's the last bit of good weather we'll get for some time now.

  11. Duchesse
    16 October 2017 / 4:29 pm

    Great shoes, you can wear that colour with everything and it is interesting. And the skirt- really like how you wear it casually as well as more dressed up. Smart way to make a splurge eminently practical.

    • materfamilias
      17 October 2017 / 1:17 am

      You're spot on here in identifying my motivation — it was a huge splurge (over $400 if I remember correcly, and that at 50% off) but I loved it so much. And the colour and print are so dramatic that it seems made for dress-up, but really, it's comfortable, has practical pockets, and I was seeing so many full skirts, mostly printed, worn with a casual élan in daytime these past few trips to France and Italy that I've just decided to enjoy wearing it whenever. As one of my GF's has taken to saying recently (and she's only 53!!) "You're not coming back" (as in YOLO, but somehow it resonates more at this age, right?)

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