Ruffles and T-strap sandals.

I was desperate to own the sandals I'm wearing today after seeing them in the Anthropologie catalog two years ago. My heart literally ached when I thought of those stained glass like cut outs in the back. They were back ordered for months. Anthro kept offering to cancel my order but I hung in there, longingly imagining how chic my feet would be in my beautiful new sandals. I had been recently obsessing over a photo of Diana Vreeland reclining in a tiled Moroccan courtyard and wearing a pair of exquisitely simple T-straps. These were supposed to be my DV sandals.

Unfortunately in reality the sandals haven't lived up to the fantasy. Even though I ordered two sizes and kept the pair that fit best, these sandals somehow manage to be simultaneously too narrow and too large for my feet. The soles are designed for a longer, slimmer foot than mine so my pinky toes often hang over the edges but the part that holds the sandal on your foot (someone as into shoes as I should probably know the technical term for this but I don't) is so loose that the sandal flops around on my foot and sometimes I catch the toe of the sole on cracks in the sidewalk and pitch forward, nearly falling on my face.

 

My feet aren't beautiful. I assure you I'm not one of those people who thinks all feet are hideous or has hang-ups about random body parts that no one else would notice. I don't think my feet are horrible looking. I just think that they need shoes that are a bit less revealing than these. My feet are kind of broad and lumpy. They need the distracting camoflauge of a wider strap, or more straps- in these you just see too much un-beautiful foot. I'm guessing Diana Vreeland had prettier feet than I.

The ruffled cardigan was a gift from my father. It originally had ties at the waist that I couldn't tie. I left them dangling the first few times I wore it but I didn't like them just hanging there. I agonized for a while about cutting the ties off. If I were to slim down, pulling the cardigan in at the waist would be more flattering for my shape but making the cut would mean that I could increase my enjoyment of  it now. I decided to cut and I'm happy I did.
 

I must have been missing my dad today because the necklace I chose was also a gift from him, from his recent trip to Vienna.