posted Feb 08, 2012 in Dress & Image / by Joanne Blake / 2 comments

Finally Pumps That Work For Work

Shoe Search Success

I thought I would never find great fashionable pumps that I could wear for presentations or the office, but I finally did.

High-end

Part of being your corporate image consultant is doing research to help my readers. Visiting Las Vegas recently, I went to a very high-end shopping mall called Crystals at city center, (amazing light sculptures,see photo above) with some very high-end designer boutiques like Armani, Dior and Tom Ford, with some very high-end designer boutique prices.

Terry fainted

Terry was looking for some men's shoes and he just about fainted at the price tags. Would you believe $10,000 for a pair of Tom Ford men's shoes? I guess he's just not ready to shop where Brad Pitt shops.

Realistic-end

Those high prices weren't for me either, but the high-end research paid off. I found similar looks at DSW - Designer Shoe Warehouse (which I first discovered and fell in love with in San Francisco about a year ago, Terry even got a nice pair of Ecco shoes there, not quite Tom Ford, but very comfortable).  I found what I was looking for and more. I got two pairs of great pumps. A pair of gray suede Naturalizers (very comfy) with a button strap and black patent leather trim , and a gorgeous pair of mock lizard skin Anne Klein's. Both pairs for less than a hundred dollars!

I couldn't forget something for summer wear

Summer is just around the corner so I treated myself to two pairs of sandals; silver sequined flip flops and a pair of mock lizard Athena Alexander platform sandals from Nordstrom Rack.

Shoe buying tips and advice from friends and readers

Karin F. has good luck buying her shoes on eBay. Her tip is - she only goes with brands that she’s very familiar with, since she knows their sizing.

Shannon D. suggested Fluevog Shoes (very retro) and also Gravity Pope with stores in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

Nikki V. has had good luck with Sterling Shoes located across Canada.

Lori F. passed on classic pumps.com website which also has some pumps with low-cut vamp which show “toe cleavage”. (Terry didn’t know what toe cleavage meant and so had to check the website. He found the "see-thru Loni" a little weird. Me too. What do you think?) Any sort of cleavage, even “toe cleavage” doesn't work for most corporate offices. 

Has anyone other website tips or shopping advice for shoes?  My advice is to shop high-end to learn current styles, fit and quality and then see if you can find it elsewhere in your budget. Isn't the searching part of the fun?

Posted by Joanne Blake - Corporate Image Consultant and pumped up person