My Love Affair with Personality Shoes

The playful common denominator in my wardrobe that sparks joy.

Getting dressed has always felt like an incredibly freeing experience for me. My process is fairly simple — after a few cups of coffee, I stroll over to my closet (and by stroll, I mean walk 5 steps), burst my closet door open and pick out a beautiful pair of shoes.

When I was in college, I became fast friends with a girl I met during sewing 101. We were both awful at sewing, often scoring low on our weekly projects and constantly staying behind for the extra practice. We bonded over the fact that our dreams of tailoring our own clothes was not going to come true. Suddenly, we were hanging out almost every day, walking to class together, meeting up for lunch outside of school, going to museums together. We became really good friends and were constantly joking around about being the same person. Funny enough, our first conversation was about how we both build our outfits around a cute pair of shoes.

From the start of my schooling years until 7th grade, I attended private school. If you think about private school, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For some, it may be good education, or a community of like-minded families, or followers of the same religious values and beliefs. For me, it’s uniforms. While some schools looked the other way when students wore branded jackets, slim fit pants, and skirts that are a teeny bit above the knee, mine did not. There were consequences for not adhering to the school’s uniform policy — demerits. If you managed to earn too many demerits, it was strike you’re out. As a result, most of my childhood was spent with a school wardrobe that looked exactly like everyone else’s — boring! The only point of differentiation in a student’s school wardrobe was on their feet. Suddenly, back-to-school shopping became fun because it also meant shoe shopping. A new pair of checkered Vans and a chocolate colored UGG boot? Sign me up. As I grew older, my taste naturally began to change. My checkered Vans and white Converse became tired. Instead, I started building a small but mighty collection of interesting flats, sneaker collabs, knee high boots and sleek slingbacks.

It’s almost August, which means Fall is somewhat near and it’s time to start stocking up on Fall essentials. Essentials such as, but not limited to: classic cotton tees, ribbed knit tops, transitional sweaters, a cool Suede jacket, and transitional flats. I’ve been analyzing my closet a ton lately, trying to find all the missing holes in my wardrobe (but also to avoid buying pieces I don’t really need). The one place I never seem to feel guilty though, is with my shoes. Using my shoes as a vehicle for creative self-expression has been one of my strongest traits since I was a kid.

Recently, I’ve been craving more elevated basics to round out my wardrobe. Great quality pieces that may seem expensive but are incredibly sustainable always end up being the perfect go-to pieces.

Take, for example, this classic uniform with a twist: an oversized button down shirt (like this one that I can’t seem to bring myself to splurging on), a really good pair of denim that offers an elevated feel and fit, and a cute summer sandal.

Each piece’s silhouette is what makes this outfit classic, but the vibrant colors and playfulness is what makes the outfit fun. It’s also quite interchangeable — swap the poplin shirt for a linen one, the wide leg jeans for slouchy straight leg denim, and the vibrant rope sandals for a kitten heel. Voila! You’re serving a completely different vibe while maintaining the baseline of the outfit.

The outfit formula is one good thing + another + another + as many as it takes until you feel complete.

These shoes are by far my favorite purchase from my recent vacation in Spain.

Playing Dress Up: Abroad & Forever

Overalls are such easy throw-and-go outfits. I’ve worn this pair hundreds of times, dressed up with a heel or dressed down with sneakers. (Here’s a similar pair that I love).

Other days, I feel a bit more edgy, dare I say? I feel the most confident on those days, and I often find myself gravitating towards pieces like a fun sneaker, gold kitten heels, jelly flats or Birkenstock slingback sandals. This becomes the base of my outfit, and I build my clothes and accessories around it.

My favorite pair in my closet right now are these silver Onitsuka Tigers that I hunted down on Stock X.

These days, I find myself gravitating more towards comfortable clothing that still makes me feel put-together. I’m talking barrel leg jeans (I really want these), slouchy tees, cozy socks, comfortable walking shoes.

I’ve only worn these barrel jeans a handful of times, because I often find myself opting for these instead.

On the dressier side, I can with 100% confidence that knee high boots are the best boots. Versatility is typically amongst the top three most important things I look for when shopping. Aside from the obvious emotion of being drawn to a beautiful piece, I always think about how many ways I can wear it. Knee high boots are just one of those classic shapes that are easily styled. During fall, you can pair them a chunky sweater with a flirty mini, like this:

These Sam Edelman boots (exact pair are sold out, here’s something similar) are perfect for when you don’t feel like wearing a heeled shoe.

In the limbo months (what I refer to as that weird in between- period when it’s the end of one season and beginning of the next) pair the boots with a pair of denim shorts and an easy-breezy long sleeve top. For example —

These were my first pair of knee-high boots, and I’ve cherished them dearly ever since. These are more classic ones like this, or kitten heel versions like this.

So, as you can see, I’ve been a shoe gal since the get-go.

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