a tale of two shoes.
Jul. 18th, 2004 01:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
swingchickieokay, maybe the women out there can appreciate this.
i love shoes. i feel like such a stereotype in saying that... the whole imelda marcos-y, sex and the city, "i'll spend my whole paycheck on a pair of manolos" mindset. i'm not that bad, i think the most money i've ever spent on shoes was when i bought a $100 pair of cowboy boots in 1994 and wore them for 9 years. my shoes used to fall into one category: practical. for most of my adult life, all my shoes have been black, comfy, and cheap. if the heel was too high, or they cost more than $29.99, i walked right on by.
that is, until 2 years ago. i had to go back into training for my job, to learn some new products. being in a training class for my company is always interesting, because the women get totally decked out and you pick up a lot of fashion ideas. well, in this training class was a girl who had 2 big things going for her: 1. a wealthy husband and 2. an apartment in manhattan, just blocks from the Prada outlet. i have never seen someone dressed so funky in a corporate setting... she was head-to-toe prada every day. bags, suits, shoes... everything was right off the runway. and it was looking at her outfits week after week, that started my shoe and bag addiction.
it all started innocently enough... a funky pair of heels i found at famous footwear in the mall for $60 (that i still get compliments on)... a sexy pair of camel sandals at an end-of-summer sale. all very affordable.
until... i saw... THE SHOES.
i was paging through the latest issue of one of my beauty magazines one sunday last summer, when i saw them. the designer, michelle k, models her own designs in her ads... and there she was, in the most glorious pair of heels i had ever seen. brown leather and baby-blue linen, with a flirty ankle strap and a heel that was just high enough. i was captivated. the more i looked at that picture, the more i knew i had to have that shoe. i was willing to build an entire wardrobe around it. according to the ad, they were available exclusively at bloomingdale's... and as luck would have it, the next day i was scheduled to visit customers right near a bloomie's. perfect.
the next day, on my lunch break, i rushed over to bloomie's and headed for the shoe department, ad in hand. the overly tanned salesman in a pinstripe suit sidled over with a "may i help you?" (i only get that in bloomie's when i'm in a suit. the rest of the time they steer clear of me, i guess i look like i don't belong.) i thrust the ad at him and said, "i need to try these on." he looked at the picture and gave me the bad news -- he had no idea who that designer was. turns out not every bloomie's gets the same stock. drat. he gave me the phone number for the store in new york, and suggested i call there. they have everything. excellent.
so, back to my car, shoeless. i picked up my cell and dialed the number for the bloomie's shoe department in manhattan, credit card in hand, ready to have them ship my new little babies to my home. but alas, no luck again... after talking to three different shoe departments (how do they have THREE women's shoe departments in one store?), a knowledgeable clerk told me that they'd sold out within 2 days. every size. i asked if there was a waiting list, and lo and behold, there was. i gave them my information and hung up the phone with a heavy heart. all my dreams of where i'd wear those heels... having people stop me on the street, begging to know where i'd found them... i had to put that all on hold until they were restocked.
when i got home, i decided not to wait for the call from NYC. i went online to search for "michelle k sapphire", and found them available on zappos.com... but not in a size 6. drat. they had 5.5 and 6.5, but not 6. i pondered all that evening on what i should do... should i get a half size smaller and stretch them? (it'd ruin them.) should i get a half size bigger and stuff the toe? (they'd feel funny.) i even called several shoe stores and cobblers to get their opinions, leaving half of the cambridge area thinking i was a crackpot.
the next day, i went back online to zappos, and decided, screw that they were $180... i needed them. i'd get them a half size bigger, check them out, and return them if necessary. but, wait... no, no, NO... NOOOOOOOO! they were already out of stock. in one day???? yup. obviously, every other woman in america was on a hunt for this shoe. the next week, i called NYC bloomie's again to check on the waiting list. i called a million times, and no-one called me back. i called their personal shopper to try that approach, and never got a returned call. gosh darnit. i tried zappos every few days, other shoe stores, i even went on ebay looking for a used pair. but nothing.
for the past year, every month or so i have looked around online for my little shoesies. i've bought several other sexy shoes in the meantime, but it's just not the same. and two months ago, i actually e-mailed the designer (she just put up a web site), and actually begged her to re-release the sapphire design. pathetic, i know, but i'm a girl with a mission.
then, yesterday, i received this e-mail:
Hi Jennifer, thanks for your enthusiasm. That shoe is one of my favorites too! Unfortunately though I am not able to locate a blue/tan Sapphire BUT...I do have a cognac/tan in your size. If you like we can send it to you, just reply to this address with your info.
Warm regards,
Michelle K
oh... my... goodness. michelle k is a goddess! the thought that she had people try to hunt down those shoes for me, almost made me cry. and even though it's not in the color i had been in love with, the gesture is so amazing that i readily accepted. i offered to send my credit card info, but no response... so i have no idea if they're even charging me for them.
michelle k, you now have a loyal customer for life. $180 prices be damned... i'm all yours.
i love shoes. i feel like such a stereotype in saying that... the whole imelda marcos-y, sex and the city, "i'll spend my whole paycheck on a pair of manolos" mindset. i'm not that bad, i think the most money i've ever spent on shoes was when i bought a $100 pair of cowboy boots in 1994 and wore them for 9 years. my shoes used to fall into one category: practical. for most of my adult life, all my shoes have been black, comfy, and cheap. if the heel was too high, or they cost more than $29.99, i walked right on by.
that is, until 2 years ago. i had to go back into training for my job, to learn some new products. being in a training class for my company is always interesting, because the women get totally decked out and you pick up a lot of fashion ideas. well, in this training class was a girl who had 2 big things going for her: 1. a wealthy husband and 2. an apartment in manhattan, just blocks from the Prada outlet. i have never seen someone dressed so funky in a corporate setting... she was head-to-toe prada every day. bags, suits, shoes... everything was right off the runway. and it was looking at her outfits week after week, that started my shoe and bag addiction.
it all started innocently enough... a funky pair of heels i found at famous footwear in the mall for $60 (that i still get compliments on)... a sexy pair of camel sandals at an end-of-summer sale. all very affordable.
until... i saw... THE SHOES.
i was paging through the latest issue of one of my beauty magazines one sunday last summer, when i saw them. the designer, michelle k, models her own designs in her ads... and there she was, in the most glorious pair of heels i had ever seen. brown leather and baby-blue linen, with a flirty ankle strap and a heel that was just high enough. i was captivated. the more i looked at that picture, the more i knew i had to have that shoe. i was willing to build an entire wardrobe around it. according to the ad, they were available exclusively at bloomingdale's... and as luck would have it, the next day i was scheduled to visit customers right near a bloomie's. perfect.
the next day, on my lunch break, i rushed over to bloomie's and headed for the shoe department, ad in hand. the overly tanned salesman in a pinstripe suit sidled over with a "may i help you?" (i only get that in bloomie's when i'm in a suit. the rest of the time they steer clear of me, i guess i look like i don't belong.) i thrust the ad at him and said, "i need to try these on." he looked at the picture and gave me the bad news -- he had no idea who that designer was. turns out not every bloomie's gets the same stock. drat. he gave me the phone number for the store in new york, and suggested i call there. they have everything. excellent.
so, back to my car, shoeless. i picked up my cell and dialed the number for the bloomie's shoe department in manhattan, credit card in hand, ready to have them ship my new little babies to my home. but alas, no luck again... after talking to three different shoe departments (how do they have THREE women's shoe departments in one store?), a knowledgeable clerk told me that they'd sold out within 2 days. every size. i asked if there was a waiting list, and lo and behold, there was. i gave them my information and hung up the phone with a heavy heart. all my dreams of where i'd wear those heels... having people stop me on the street, begging to know where i'd found them... i had to put that all on hold until they were restocked.
when i got home, i decided not to wait for the call from NYC. i went online to search for "michelle k sapphire", and found them available on zappos.com... but not in a size 6. drat. they had 5.5 and 6.5, but not 6. i pondered all that evening on what i should do... should i get a half size smaller and stretch them? (it'd ruin them.) should i get a half size bigger and stuff the toe? (they'd feel funny.) i even called several shoe stores and cobblers to get their opinions, leaving half of the cambridge area thinking i was a crackpot.
the next day, i went back online to zappos, and decided, screw that they were $180... i needed them. i'd get them a half size bigger, check them out, and return them if necessary. but, wait... no, no, NO... NOOOOOOOO! they were already out of stock. in one day???? yup. obviously, every other woman in america was on a hunt for this shoe. the next week, i called NYC bloomie's again to check on the waiting list. i called a million times, and no-one called me back. i called their personal shopper to try that approach, and never got a returned call. gosh darnit. i tried zappos every few days, other shoe stores, i even went on ebay looking for a used pair. but nothing.
for the past year, every month or so i have looked around online for my little shoesies. i've bought several other sexy shoes in the meantime, but it's just not the same. and two months ago, i actually e-mailed the designer (she just put up a web site), and actually begged her to re-release the sapphire design. pathetic, i know, but i'm a girl with a mission.
then, yesterday, i received this e-mail:
Hi Jennifer, thanks for your enthusiasm. That shoe is one of my favorites too! Unfortunately though I am not able to locate a blue/tan Sapphire BUT...I do have a cognac/tan in your size. If you like we can send it to you, just reply to this address with your info.
Warm regards,
Michelle K
oh... my... goodness. michelle k is a goddess! the thought that she had people try to hunt down those shoes for me, almost made me cry. and even though it's not in the color i had been in love with, the gesture is so amazing that i readily accepted. i offered to send my credit card info, but no response... so i have no idea if they're even charging me for them.
michelle k, you now have a loyal customer for life. $180 prices be damned... i'm all yours.
