My tastes have changed quite a bit, years back I would've picked something that looked cute but wasn't necessarily warm or practical, but working around shoes every day and getting to know brand names changed my mind on this. I went with a practical pair that actually turned out to be cute, especially paired with some skinny jeans.
Now I actually bought the men's version of this but for some reason Sorel's own website doesn't display the one I bought. It's essentially the same, except that the wool trim at the top is black in the men's version. Now I have big feet, normally a size 10 women's, and this is why I purchased a men's pair. A lot of people claim that Sorels fit larger but in my experience this is not true. When I tried on the women's size 10, my toes were crammed up against the end of the liner. Size 11 is not easy to find though, but the size conversion from men's to women's is to just to go down by two so I bought a men's size 9 and it fit like a dream.
I was attracted to the style of these boots (a little), but I figured they would probably look clunky. I bought them anyway because I kept telling myself I would be happy in the end if I went the practical route. Now I freaking LOVE these, they are very cute and I don't look like I have duck feet (this was a serious fear of mine). A lot of clients I assist in-store barely even glance at these boots because they think they look goofy, and on the shelf they do so I don't blame them, but there is a lesson I've learned time and time again: don't judge it until you TRY IT ON. Shoes look drastically different on your foot than they do sitting on a shelf.
Now, the store I work in is a split store. The half I'm employed at is more of a bargain store that does sell name brands but at a lower price than most shoe stores.. the other half is a higher end shoe store that I try not to venture into because I just can't afford it. The higher end side does have an awesome clearance section that calls to me from afar though, so I sneak over once in a while to see what's new. Last week, I saw these:
I just.. I can't even describe how I feel about these. I just fell in love with them, I was kicking myself for buying the other boots without sneaking over to take a peak at the other store's selection. Of course, these babies retail at $250 where I work so they are NOT cheap. They look amazing on and they're so comfy.. just ungh, I drool over them every day now! I try to make excuses in my mind as to how I could justify this purchase and I know one day I will just break down in tears and hand over my Visa to my boss.
But there's these too:
These aren't as sleek on, but they're still super cute and retail for about as much as Cate the Great does. Now I've made things more difficult on myself because I can't have three pairs of winter boots.. or maybe I can. I'll just tell my family and boyfriend I bought them on sale. I mean really, with three pairs I'll never have to buy another pair.. I'll be rocking one or all of these when I'm 85 and delirious.
...things I tell myself to justify shoe purchases...
I guess after reading this you can tell I'm a bit of a Sorel whore. Really, I believe this is one of the best brands out there for winter footwear. They know what they're doing, they make a great product, end of story. No, Sorel is not cheap but boots are an investment. Yea you feel great spending $30 on boots at Walmart because you "got a deal", but it's not really a deal when they only last you half a season and then you have to go back and buy more. Put the money out the first time and then you can enjoy ONE pair for years to come.. and really, Walmart doesn't need your $30 THAT badly. ;)
So that's my tip of the day: DO NOT CHEAP OUT ON YOUR WINTER FOOTWEAR, you will regret it later.
And now I'll end this with my crazy customer story of the day :
This morning I had a woman come in to exchange winter boots she had bought for her son. She told us she was upset because the manufacturer stated they were waterproof but they weren't because her son's feet got soaked the first time he wore them. Granted, it's been a rainy winter, but the ones she brought in looked like she had thrown them in a pool and I have no doubt that she purposely drenched them to justify the return. But whatever, the company I work for is very into customer service and so we told her to take a look around and see if she liked anything else. Now I'm going to clarify this before I go any further: she came in alone.
I'm the children's department manager, so this is my territory and I went with her. I could see something was off about her from the get-go and I was uncomfortable around her but I helped her anyway. She picked a very expensive pair of boots out and, after cornering me and the rest of the staff one by one in awkward conversations, she left with her purchase.
About 5 hours later I was paged to the phone, but the kid's section was so busy that I couldn't grab it so another one of my coworkers took the call. She wasn't in in the morning when the woman with the soaked boots came in. She came up to me after the call to tell me that a woman I had sold Skidoo boots to had just called and was very upset. I knew who it was because I had only sold the one pair of those today (or in the last two weeks, not very many parents will spend $99 on children's boots they know will only be worn for one season). She told my coworker she had come in with her son and that I had measured his feet and helped them pick out boots. She even said that after her son had picked out the boots, I had confirmed they were a good fit and sent them on their way. She was mad because she discovered upon getting home that they were too tight and now she had to bring him back tonight to get a size up. I didn't know what to say to this, I knew she had come in alone.. all I could do was pray she didn't return when I was still on shift.
And she didn't, thank God.
TL;DR: I'm either suffering from early onset alzheimer's, or my first customer of the day was a ghost-child.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's Why Does This Exist? Wednesday post
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