Did you hear?

DSW now has an online presence, and for a limited time shipping is free. La dee dah.

It seems that selection online is similar to the store's, but if anything it's better. There is more size availability, for one.

The annoying thing about their site is that they only show each shoe in one color, even if it comes in multiple colors. Booo. Anyway, here are my fantasy shopping picks:

Steve Madden Luxe, $80


Cindy Coy, $150

(God help me, but I think these are amazing)

JS by Jessica, $60

As a side note, I went to DSW (and Marshalls, and Loehmann's, and Nordstrom Rack) today to try to find a simple pair of black closed-toe pumps for work. Have such shoes attained unicorn status? The closest ones I found were these Taharis, but the store didn't have them in a size 7 in the normal black (not patent) leather. Luckily the website has them, so I may be a-ordering. I nearly bought a $150 pair of Marc Jacobs pumps simply because they came the closest to fitting the bill.

Purple Shoesies!

My latest frivolous footwear purchase is a pair of PURPLE! PATENT LEATHER! T-STRAP HEELS! They are fabulous. I found them at DSW* for 40 bucks. When I brought them home, I realized they are uncannily similar to these Dolce Vita T-straps at shopbop.com (see left), which I have been lusting after lately (complete with happy tail-wagging and excited grunting). Except mine have a rounder toe and a slightly lower, much chunkier heel. Mine also have white contrast stitching.

In theory, purple shoes are totally bizarre. But they actually look really nice with jeans and aren't OMG PURPLE - they're pretty subtle (despite being shiny) and a nice variation on the usual black or brown.

And, they suit me.

when I was younger, I was completely averse to dark (especially black) shoes. I kid you not. Perhaps it's because I have alabaster skin and light blonde hair - I can't successfully wear black shoes unless I have a good amount of black elsewhere in the outfit. Brown, metallic, burgundy, gray, or purple shoes are less severe, and compliment my skin and hair without drawing the eye directly to my feet.**

Oh yeah, and I also noticed that purple shoes are everywhere:

(The last pair are made by Frye and available here; the others are at Zappos and can be browsed here.)

So hey, maybe give some purple shoes a try? They're not as weird as they first seem. More importantly, we'll be shoe buddies.

* DSW is right next to Marshall's, where I was stocking up on undies, bras and kitchen knives (helloooo weird combinations). I think I need to have DSW permanently ban me or something, but then how would I satisfy my shoe cravings?

** As a child, I remember wearing pastel-colored leather strappy sandals and, later, Converse low-tops in slate blue and a very small plum-and-white checkered pattern. Later, in my early teens, I branched out to buying shoes at Ross/Marshalls - a bad idea, on the whole, but to my credit, I once found a pair of scandalously cheap, very cute Doc Martens Mary Janes there. Yes, they are black. I still wear and enjoy those Docs, whose awesomeness and comfort show no signs of abating.

[ Dolce Vita T-straps, $138 at shopbop.com ]

My latest shoe saga

Recently I spied these cute ballet flats by BCBGirls on the Nordstrom website, so I stopped into the store and browsed for a ridiculously long time trying to locate them. I enlisted the help of a salesman, who checked their site in-store and couldn't find them. Hmm...had they sold out? Had I hallucinated? Whatever the case, I accepted that I wasn't going to leave the store with my quarry, so I left (but only after hitting up the MAC counter).

The next day I checked the Nordstrom site again and there they were...winking at me in all their silver, lusciously detailed glory. But I knew some comparison shopping was on my horizon.

The breakdown:
Nordstrom: $88.95 plus $5 shipping
Zappos: $92.95 plus free shipping
Endless: $89.95 plus negative $5 overnight shipping

The verdict:
Needless to say, I went with Endless. The shoes arrived on Wednesday morning after I ordered them on Monday night, and I love them. Yesterday I traipsed around town wearing them with a pair of black shorts from Forever 21 and a gray tank top from Anthropologie, and was adorable and comfortable. Home run for Endless.com! Though some online commentators panned Endless, I had a good experience with them and will definitely consider buying from them again.

Buy the flats at Endless for $84.95 (for a limited time)

My preeeeeeeeecious.

Jewelry...for your FEETS. I'm incapable of actually putting jewelry on in the morning, so these might make sense. BCBGirls flats, $89 at Nordstrom.

My first love will always be shoes

These colors are rad because they work during any season. Jimmy Choo heels, $452 at Bluefly.