Friday, March 19, 2010

Spring Coats And The Perfect Pair Of Clogs Search Continues.

I met up with my friend yesterday and have a good girlie chat about life. We have made tentative plans to head to Seattle for a weekend once she gets moved. I hope this will happen before I get moved myself because I would love to head on a trip with a friend for once in my life. Yes, I have never been on a trip with a friend though I would so like to do this. It would be fun to be able to do this and I hope the plans come through.

I did a little shopping after meeting for lunch and found a great scarf. It is a light, brightly flowered, endless scarf and I love it. I will be wearing it often in the coming months. You can see it in the following photo, along with my new spring coat:

Above: Tan Trench Coat by Sequin Hearts at Macy's and Brightly Coloured Endless Scarf by Tarnish at Nordstrom

The scarf was found for me by the ever-helpful sales clerk at Nordstrom. I swear, the Nordstrom sales clerks are the best I have encountered here in Spokane and they will stick with you, helping you find exactly what you are looking for without being annoying. I suspect they may work on commission but am not entirely sure. Even if they do (or do not), I will choose Nordstrom over other department stores in a heartbeat just because the sales clerks are so attentive but, not over-bearing.

Onwards to talk about the trench coat.

I found out yesterday when walking to four blocks from the restaurant to the downtown area that my grey, wool, trench was too warm for the weather. The problem was, it was too chilly to go without a coat. I made up my mind then and there to buy a spring coat since I looked in my closet yesterday and saw tons of heavy winter coats, a poncho, and cardigans but no spring coats. So, I headed to Macy's, which always have a huge selection of coats in stock perfect for the season you are in.

I wanted a trench style coat because with my 5'9" height and thin frame, trenches look great on me. I saw the Sequin Hearts trench in the plaid in plaid black/white and it was a bit too "winter" to me with those colours. Then I saw it in tan and it was love at first sight. I had the sales clerk hold it for me at the register and looked around a bit, though I knew I would not see another coat that I loved as well.

I had to get the coat in a Large size due to the length of the sleeves. I am tall, my arms and legs are long. It makes it a tiny bit large but, not too bad since I wear it over clothing. Usually I am a size Medium but, in this coat, the sleeves just fell a bit short. It will go with much of my wardrobe since I tend to have so much neutral hued clothing in my closet with colourful shirts and accessories to perk it all up.

So, my shopping yesterday was almost totally successful. Except when it came to my quest for the perfect clogs.

I saw many expensive, and extremely heavy on the feet clogs at Nordstrom. Just not fitting my bank account or style I wanted. Then I saw these by Steve Madden:


Above: Black "Barc" Peep-Toe Clog by Steve for Steve Madden

They seemed perfect in the fusing of the clog with the lighter weight of the mule style of shoe. I told the sales clerk my size and said I would not mind if they were black or the tan colour offered just I wanted to try the shoe. She came back with the black in my size and I tried them on. They fit perfectly but then the true test came. I said I wanted to give them the "walking test" even though it was on carpet in the shoe section. The sales clerk understood and watched my stuff as I wander the shoe department in the clogs.

Sadly, just seconds into the walking around the realization came over me that the foot bed of the shoe was too steep. I could feel the pressure building up on my Achilles tendons as they were being forced to bend at a weird angle and the shockwaves from the walking just on carpet travel up the back of my legs. Uncomfortable! I had to decline buying them, much to my sadness, and will be looking for the perfect pair of clogs elsewhere.

So, despite the failing at finding the perfect clogs for me, yesterday was a very good shopping day. I found a coat I liked, a nice spring scarf, and sales clerks complimented me on my ring and outfit often. Hopefully, it will be the first of many great days out in the wonderful spring weather to come.

2 comments:

WendyB said...

Steve Madden knocks off so many designers...I'm glad you didn't get those! You'll find better clogs...

SnapandPrint said...

I loved how they looked and how affordable they were (VERY important for me right now) but they were just so uncofortable to walk in. I had to say no.