Boot Shopping at Marshalls and Famous Footwear

#fabfound #myvictory



I live in boots when temperatures drop. Unfortunately, after a season, I often find my boots get pretty dead, so each season I am on the hunt for new comfortable and stylish boots.

This year I was looking for flat booties and flat tall boots. My job often requires many hours on my feet, so I want to be comfortable and stylish.

I hit up two of my favorite discounters, Marshalls and Famous Footwear and walking away with 3 pairs of boots.

Marshalls:

I picked up these Nine West fringe booties in Marshalls for $25.

As I previously shared, Marshalls is a great place to find boots.

Most booties have high heels, which are very difficult to walk in. These are nice and flat. The fringe adds a fun touch. They are more on the casual side, but with the right outfit can be work appropriate, depending on how formal your office is. These booties work great with pants or work well to dress down skirts and dresses. The color works with black and brown.

I have been wearing them a ton as a fall transitional shoe. However, I do wish they have more padding. My feet tend to become tired by the end of the day. I have been adding very thin insoles to help.

As I have revealed before, I often shop in the kids section for boots. Its a great way to get stylish boots from great companies for less. These Nine West boots are kids. The size 4 is a size 6 womens'. Great tip for those of us with small feet!

The difficulty with Marshalls is that selection is sometimes limited, lacking a full range of sizes. Items are often from the season before. However, the thrill of a find for a steal is amazing!

Famous Footwear:

Famous Footwear has a much larger shoe selection than Marshalls. Unlike Marshalls, you can also shop online. If you find a shoe in store that they don't have in your size, be sure to check online.The shoes are also usually same season. The downside is they offer less of a discount. Be sure to join their rewards club to earn points towards rewards certificates (free shoes!) and other coupons.

One Year Later: Superstorm Sandy & the Jersey Shore

Yesterday, I shared a recap of my experience with Superstorm Sandy on Staten Island. I would be amiss if I didn't mention the effects on the Jersey shore. I have spent countless days since I was a child at Seaside Heights and in Ocean Grove, NJ. Summertime would not be the same without relaxing at the beach and enjoying arcades.

Seaside Heights/ Seaside Park, NJ

In April, I showed the recovery in Seaside Heights. Little did I know in September much of the rebuilding would be undone by a great fire. It pains me to see recovery burned up. It is also frustrating that the fire was at least partially caused by the rush to rebuild. The hydrant system was not rebuilt, according to ABC 7 Eyewitness News, even though its a wooden boardwalk. In addition, the electrical wires were not checked, according to NJ.com, especially in the area of the boardwalk which survived Sandy.

This area of the boardwalk survived Sandy, but was consumed by fire.

This carousel and its arcade started to come back after Sandy, but was destroyed by fire.

One Year Later: Superstorm Sandy on Staten Island

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy striking the northeast.

As many of my readers know, Sandy was something I experienced personally, as a native Staten Islander, who still lives on the island. I shared my experiences on this blog.

I just put together this montage of video I shot as the tidal wave came in and the next morning. At the time, I was nervous about sharing because of my voice. Now I realize it shows the terror of the water and what was overcome.

Even though this is a shoe blog, I see shoes as a lens to the world. I have no desire to downplay the horrific effects of this terrible storm. However, shoes comforted the feet of those evacuating, those escaping, and the long hard work of rebuilding.

When I first blogged on Sandy, winds were starting to whip, and waves were rising. But they were only a omen of what was to come.

Before the storm got bad, I visited Midland Beach to see the waves and the wind.

These rain boots got messy at Midland Beach.

A few days later, I shared before and after pictures

My car before and after it was spun around and floated down the street. Also note the cars on top of each other across the street.

Shoes for Changing Weather: The Autumn Addition

Temperature in the northeast has been erratic. Since Labor Day, temperatures have spiked to the 80s, dropped to the 40s, and been amazingly pleasant. We've also had rain and days that threatened rain.

What shoes do you wear for this mercurial weather? On Instagram you will find many of my shoes choices.

White after Labor Day

Let's start with the first issue that appears after the end of summer-- can you wear white? As you see above, I wore these white Dr. Scholl's eyelet espadrilles after summer's end.

The tradition of not wearing white likely comes from the early 20th century, according to Time. At this time, the wealthy often went away to cottages and resorts for the summer. When they returned they resumed wearing darker clothing.

What Shoes Should I Wear? A Helpful Info-graphic

You've probably been in a situation before where you've realize you accidentally wore a too short dress or too casual shoes. The shoe info-graphic below aims to help you avoid that. While its a matter of some common sense and your own sense of style, hopefully this helps you make sense of the plethora of shoe styles.

This graphic comes courtesy of Elegant Steps, a UK shoe company.

To use the guide, follow the lines to and from your shoe type or event. Also follow the icons (the legend is at the bottom).