Charlotte Louboutin?

Wandering the mall is one of my favorite past times. This

weekend, since I was at home, I went wandering with my mother through one of my favorites, Twelve Oaks Mall. Probably because it is "my mall," the one at which I bought adorably fancy Easter dresses with my mother and grandmother when I was a child. As my mom and I made our way through the mall I spotted a pair of Christian Louboutins, his "Armadillo" d'orsay satin pumps in blue. An exquisite example of artistry, this classy design adds just the right amount of color to any black or neutral outfit and as with the entire d'orsay line, creates a stunning silhouette of your foot.

Unfortunately, there are no stores at 12 Oaks that stock Christian

Louboutins. What I was actually seeing were the Charlotte Russe version, running at about 27 dollars a pair. Clearly not of the same quality, you can see that from the picture, so don't worry I didn't actually get confused! But this is a great example of an easy way to have style on a budget. One day, I will be able to buy myself the Louboutins, but until then, Charlotte Russe will have to do.

Tri-Tone!

Bright colors and detailed prints are great touches to enhance good design, but every once and while a designer gets color happy and there are far too many colors or a bad color combination. Luckily, while wandering the mall with some friends, I found this great pair of tri-tone pumps at Aldo! 

Aldo's Froyare has a lovely combination of light and dark grey, accented with a muted purple, looks wonderful on this fairly simple pump design with a great hidden platform. The lines are clean, eye-catching, and are very well defined. The simplicity of the hardware adds to the basic style of the shoe, also making the color the most important element.

The same style comes in a navy and purple, with a light grey embellishment, which would work great as a night shoe, but I think the grey version works better as an all around shoe. It could be paired with a pair of well-lined black pants for work or with a dress for a night on the town. These colors are also nice, because they allow for the shoe to be the accent piece to the outfit or slip into the background. Unfortunately they did not have my size, otherwise these would've been added to my collection!

Why the Bandal?

I am still a bit unsure of the seemingly excessive thickness of straps, Mia's Huntress is a perfect example, which makes sandals more like bandals, as I call them. Boots that decided to chop off the portion around the toe, making it a sandal. Although I am all about personal taste, so if you for some reason like it, you can find this pair at piperlime.com.

But, in my search for a good pair of flat summer sandals, I came across a great pair by Diba with straps at a thickness level that seems 

sane! They are thick, without being over the top, and 

I like the relaxed look of the leather, it makes the shoe seem much more effortless. Paired with some skinny jeans and a moderately simple top, the pewter color would make a nice accent. Whereas the black would look good with a pair of shorts or a skirt and a less simple top.

As a slight warning, watch out with pewter colors if you are fairer skinned. When you can't tell the shoe from your foot, avoid the shoe.

You can find the pewter at dsw.com or the black at shoes. com (link in the title)

What am I wearing today?

Black matte leather flats, knotted leather embellishment - Charlotte Russe