We went out this morning again…to find Victoria dress shoes…we got an earlier start and were prepared to hit the mall if need be.
First stop was Kohl’s. OK, it isn’t just me but there are some incredibly butt ugly shoes out there right now. I’m glad to see the simple Mary Jane type shoes returning. Simple, refined, but cute. Nothing here. We did get some feedback, however, that she wanted something shiny. Something patent. OK! Naturally, patent isn’t as in this season, but it doesn’t have to be entirely patent, just some.
Across the parking lot to Famous Footwear. It is going to be another hot scorcher today! Hot hot hot just walking across the parking lot. We had a bit more success here. We found a nice pair of all patent leather black shoes, but the heal was a bit higher than she was used to or that mom and I were comfortable with for her age. She was not walking as stably as she should have been.
Mom was trying on some shoes today and she tried on some of the same shoes Victoria tried on to see what she was complaining about. Let’s just say that mom was not impressed and was starting to understand the difficulty. Some shoes are simply cute, but comfortable does not always go with cute. At 11 years old how do you get across that the fit will always outweigh the cute factor? You don’t.
So off we wandered to the mall. There are at least the major department stores with shoes there and there are a fair number of shoe stores as well. They have a Naturalizer store so at the very least we could have her fit into a good high quality shoe and even custom order a shoe if need be.
Into Macy’s. I have had decent luck finding my own dress shoes at great sale prices in here so I wasn’t super worried. That was until we go there. My goodness your choices were ugly, frumpy, or 4″ stiletto. The lady in there was super nice and she appreciated the fact that we were trying to fit a picky 11 year old and wanted something that was age appropriate and would be simple enough to go with everything. We didn’t buy anything there, but she did measure her foot for us to give us another idea of what to shoot for. They had done it at Payless, but the size they gave us was way off from what was fitting.
Naturalizer store was a huge turn off for even myself. You know it is bad when your own mother asks, “this is looking a bit matronly isn’t it?” Yes it was! There was 1 pair of shoes I would like to go back and try on personally, but I am not as picky as an 11 year old. I am a tad disappointed actually. It used to be a range of shoe styles in there all the way from trendy to really frail old lady appropriate. Just more evidence of the overly casual styled society we live in.
We wandered into Dillard’s and while the prices were a bit higher…Go figure, it was Dillard’s after all…there was a bit more selection. Maybe? Of course there were the threats of getting her boxes and decorating them for her. Surely it would have been easier to put a high gloss paint on a couple of boxes. Heck, we could even throw in the glitter. She was way picky today so my patience was wearing thinner after every store. I tried to keep it level but I was tired and she was turning her nose up to everything. I mean everything. Simple plane black was too good for her evidently. I assured her a plane black shoe could be dressed up, that they make clips to go on shoes. Yadda yadda yadda. I was singing to the choir. She was hearing none of it.
Finally, she turned around and behind one of the sale signs on one of the tables was a pair she liked. Part patent, part velvety. I told her she needed to consult with grandma because it was grandma’s money. I personally would have said no on price alone, but it was on the 40% off table. Which come to find out it was in the wrong spot, but grandma was tired and the SHOES FIT! SCORE! We were finally done. I have to confess that they are really cute.
I bought lunch for mom and Victoria and back to grandma’s house we went. After getting a really big drink of water and resting for a few minutes. Victoria helped Jennifer put together a pink cubicle style bookcase for Katlynn’s room. Then home we returned, some 5 hours after we started…
I am convinced that it is a good thing that I am not in the market for shoes right now. At least for my own person.
I was going to take Andrew and Kyle back out to Academy to get them new tennis shoes for school as I had $10 off coupons for shoes over a certain price (particular brand). I was simply too tired! Their shoes can wait until another day.
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