You all know the sales are still going on right? I mean, wow, things are really, really cheap out there. I went to Barneys the other week and walked out with five pairs of shoes. The prices were ridick. I mean, Alaia heels for $300??? They were originally $1700. Okay, so $1700 is an exorbitant price to pay for footwear. Granted. And $300 used to buy you a pair of Miu Mius. When did prices get so out of control?
When I was shopping in the 90s, you could buy nice designer shoes for $300. Which seemed a normal price to pay because Nine West was around $80. Nine West is still $80 but now Miu Mius will run you around $600. And Blahniks are $700 on average and Louboutins, forget about it, if you want a pair of those, they are $900. Sigerson Morrison used to be around $200 but now they cost $500-$600 and their “cheap” line, Belle, costs $300.
So anyway, it was nice to see shoes for what they used to cost retail. I bought hot-pink Blahnik patent pumps for $280 (from $775) and a pair of those gold metallic flat Louboutins for $249 from $675 (I guess flats are cheaper for Loubs if you want a heel they add $300), they have that cool turban knot in front with the peep-toe and are so comfy. Then the two pairs of Alaias, one a zebra ponyhair with a cone heel and the other a square-toed black school-marm-ish pump with lizard detailing, both were $300 and $350 from $1600 and $1700 respectively. Then the piece de resistance: THE Balenciaga boot of the season, that white knee-high one with the built in and hidden wedge? $600 from $1900.
I was at Intermix the other day and this lady came out of the dressing rooms wearing a one-shoulder black cocktail dress and hot-pink stilettos (the new ones from Stella). I just thought she looked so fantastic and I want to wear the same outfit sometime this year for one of the weddings I’m going to. Which is why I bought the hot-pink Blahniks. Now I just need the one-shouldered cocktail dress to go with it. You would think that in my closet I would own something like this right?? I mean, a one-shouldered black cocktail dress??? And yes, yes, I do! I bought this Marine Sitbon black cocktail dress about eight years ago and it still looks LOVELY. I think I bought it at Century 21 for $200 from $800 or something like that. I wore it to my rehearsal dinner the night before my wedding. Maybe I’ll wear it again. It’s the last time I wore it.
This discovery has made me wonder what else in my closet I can dig out and wear again. The olive green Gucci dress from Tom Ford’s last collection? I wore it once during the Fashionista book tour. I haven’t worn it since. The Burberry trenchcoat dress, that I wore once to a meeting with the TV studio that bought the How to be Famous book? (They were going to put Karen and I as on-air hosts for the reality show based on the book. I was thrilled and appalled. I had and still have no desire to be on television.) Oh my god I just found the sexy backless Clements Riberio dress I wore to the Fashionista book party in Boston, that was co-hosted by Shoshanna. She was so very sweet and so pretty and called everyone “Sexy” like “Hey, Sexy!” How do you not like someone like that? I miss my old life sometimes. What else? I just found a yellow halter sundress I bought at Bloomingdale’s for $80 that I have never worn. And a Helmut Lang gown that also still has price tags. Back when Helmut was still designing his own line. And how exciting that the First Lady wore Isabel Toledo??? Soooo very fashionista. Barneys just tore down all their displays and put Isabel’s dresses all over the windows to celebrate. Now I want an Isabel Toledo for my collection too, but first I’ll have to try to wear something AGAIN that I only wore once.
Remember, it’s not old—it’s vintage!
xoxo
Mel