Oh, those fabulous shoes! Whether she sees herself as Carrie from “Sex in the City” or a new version of shoe-happy Imelda Marcos, there’s hardly a woman who does not dream of encasing her pedicured toes in some to-die-for designer shoes.
And therein lies the rub. Some of those designer shoes can cost as month’s pay for more. With prices like that, one nick in the leather, one stain on the fabric and your investment is lost!
Fortunately, designers today are recognizing that there’s a popular market for shoes that pay homage to such fabled shoe designers such as Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, Robert Clergerie, Christian Laboutin, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chloe, Marc Jacobs or Miu Miu. That’s why designer shoes are showing up in some of the most surprising outlets!
One of the best tools a fashionista on a budget can use to find designer shoes is the Internet. It may seem counterintuitive to shop for shoes online – and who amongst us doesn’t have the blisters, corns and calluses to prove it?
These days, however, online shoe stores are commonplace and the best of them have generous shipping and return policies. As long as there’s room on your credit card, you can order as many pairs of designer shoes as you want. Try them on in your living room and then return them if they’re not perfect footwear for you. It’s as simple as that!
There’s one caveat to online shoe shopping. You’ll be more likely to find fabulous bargains in designer shoes if you wear smaller sizes, especially the sample sizes of 5.5 or 6 (American sizing). These shoes are likely to show up on more outlet web sites, not merely those specializing in shoes.
If you just have to have the thrill of a shoe hunt in person, then check out local stores specializing in outlet sales of designer footwear. Here again, you’ll be more likely to find designer shoe bargains in the mid-range sizes, especially if you have more narrow feet.
Women who wear plus size shoes – larger sizes or longer widths — need not despair, however. Both online and bricks-and-mortar shoe outlet stores carry many of the popular designer brands. As with any bargain, you just have to hunt for them persistently.
The one place where it may be harder for women who wear larger sizes to find designer shoes is boots. With boots, you deal not only with the length and width of the foot, but also with the circumference of the calf. Wide-calf boots are available for larger women, but these are less likely to be designer brands. Nonetheless, footwear manufacturers who specialize in larger size boots may be inspired by designers’ styles, so it’s possible to find something close to the top-name designers’ model.
One designer footwear trend that will definitely be a limited market is that of thigh-high boots. This is a shoe style that fits just a few women, and looks truly good on an even fewer number because it’s typically paired with ultra-short skirts or pants.
Whatever designer shoe style you desire, don’t give in to the temptation to buy ill-fitting shoes just because they look good. The health of your feet is far more important than wearing a top designer’s shoes, no matter what “Sex in the City” might tell us.
