I'm Fired (But Not in the Trump Way)

Hello fellow shoppers. It's been...much too long. Material Girl has been so so busy the last five years helping savvy shoppers realize their fashion dreams as a copywriter for MyHabit by Amazon. Day after day, rack after rack of clothing came and went, and I reveled in my life as a professional clothes describer.

But, alas, all good things must come to an end. MyHabit is shutting down this month in favor of Amazon Fashion (which is full of great stuff, but isn't nearly as fun as shopping a flash sale IMO).

Flash sale shopping (to borrow from Forrest Gump) is like a box of chocolates--you never know what you're gonna get. Unless, like me, you touched nearly every piece of clothing that made its way online and marked your calendar with reminders of when the pieces you covet are going live.

After five years of getting to caress (and try on) some amazing clothes from designers whose pieces I'd never seen in person before, let's just say my closet is a little crammed. I worked on a great team, put in tons of overtime, almost imploded every year before the holidays, put nearly 70,000 miles on my car trekking to an Amazon fulfillment center, and learned a lot about the inner-workings of an e-commerce site.

Leaving a situation that brought together two of the things I love the most--writing and shopping--makes me super sad. But Amazon won't let me starve (I'm set up with some shopping money for the few months), and I'll find something new to do that I love (almost) as much.

In the meantime. I'll pop into Material Girl HQ here and there and let you know what's on mind in regards to acquiring stuff I love (that you might, too).

Perfect Spring Boots by Frye and Miz Mooz

I've owned several pairs of Frye boots over the years, each for under a week. I've always liked the look of them and heard that they are well made and last forever, but all of the Frye boots I've tried were uncomfortable--and I'm not much into wearing in shoes. I like them to feel good from day one, especially when it comes to everyday boots. (I can suffer through some cute heels when I go out to dinner, but when I'm running errands I want to walk on clouds.)

I've finally stumbled upon a pair of Frye boots that I deem perfect. They are buttery soft and felt great from day one. This afternoon I napped while wearing them. They are better than barefoot. Behold the Frye Carson pull-on boot.





I got this pair in Natural because I decided I'd like to wear boots into the spring and summer so I wanted some light-colored pairs (and my favorite pink Rockports are practically out of commission and nowhere to be found online in my size. I wish I'd gotten a spare pair to keep in the back of my closet for when this day came.)

Since Frye are so expensive I spent some time Googling these before I bought. I found them on sale on Amazon for $243 from $348. The boots on Amazon were sold through Macy's so I went to Macy's site and found them. (I actually might not have been as into them if I'd seem them on the Macy's site first. The color of the boot there is not good. The Amazon listing is really close to the true, in-person color and look.)

I'm not big on buying through Macy's site because the shipping prices are super high compared to most online retailers (with the exception of Anthropologie who also charges exorbitant shipping rates). To help offset the shipping cost, I Googled "Macy's promotion code" and found a 20% off code that I applied at checkout, so the boots came in around $194 plus fifteen buck-ish for shipping. Remember, fellow shoppers--always look for discount codes before you check out online--at the very least you can usually come up with free shipping.

To add to my spring/summer boot wardrobe, I also picked up this pair of perforated ankle boots from my favorite shoe store in New York, Infinity Shoes. They've got a great selection of Miz Mooz shoes and boots which come in great styles and colors and are comfy. (Note that they run a half size big.) I love these off-white boots. Wearing a dark ankle boots with a skirt is out of the question for me, but this light shade blends well with my skin and so does not make my legs look stumpy. Plus these are great for spring--they let in the breeze. And these are pretty much the exact boot I'd pictured in my head when I started thinking about warm weather boot options (which is a bit of a shopping miracle).

Timberland Bargains from 6pm.com

My left knee has been giving me some trouble lately. The doctor told me: no yoga, no heels, no bending knee while sitting. Only one of those things is at all likely to happen. I did, however, decide that doc was, in effect, ordering me to shop for some flatter boots. (The day they gave me a brace which I hate and won't be wearing, I had on these.)

I clicked around for a bit and found these cool looking Timberland Flora boots on Amazon at a great price and I bought them. Then I googled the boot and found them on 6pm.com for even cheaper, so I canceled the Amazon transaction and bought them from 6pm. They're super comfortable and I love the look of them. In person they're a warm caramel color--good fall footwear. (They've since completely sold out on 6pm.)



Since I was so satisfied with these boots, I explored 6pm for other Timberland styles. There are a number of them that I dug, but very few were left in size 8.5--they've all gone of sale for $29.95 and seem to be moving fast. (I had a few pairs in my shopping cart for a couple of days and they went out of stock before I could snap them up.) I did find these rock star ankle boots. I couldn't decide on which color to get--the safe black or the wacky purple, so I got both. (They were cheap, fellow shoppers.)



Granted, these are not flat by a longshot, but they look like a steady wedge, they're cool, and I couldn't pass them up at the price.

Shopping with Cheapy--Boots from Shoetopia

Cheapy and I had dinner with friends last Friday night at one of our favorite restaurants, Slims. The food is terrific, the atmosphere is cool, the staff is great, and it's right next to Shoetopia (which, if you ask me, is the perfect name for a shoe store). We spent some time at the wine store on the way to the Slims (you have to bring your own), so Cheapy was happy and he was digging a lot of the Shoetopia inventory (as was I).

He bought me these boots by J Shoes. I'm in desperate need of ankle boots and I loved the two-tone leather, the scrunchy ankle tie and the wonderfully padded sole.


I was not familiar with J Shoes before I tried these on. They have a small selection of their boots and shoes on endless and a smaller selection on Zappos. The boots I got are available in black on both sites--but they're less expensive at Shoetopia.

Cheapy must really like the design sense of this brand. He bought this pair of J Shoes from Johnny Sole in Portland.


It's going to kill Cheapy when I tell him they're on clearance on Amazon and are almost $100 less than he paid.

I Heart Tsubo Maryjane Pumps

I wore these today.















I loved them so much that I ordered another pair in cream, which was the only other color available in my size--and they were on sale for $38.99. (And since I bought them on Amazon shipping was free and I threw in a couple of books.)
















These awesome shoe bargains are making me happy. My left knee, however, not so much. My cousin's orthopedic surgeon husband thinks I tore something in my knee. It hurt last week after I twisted it (during the strenuous activity of getting up off the bathroom floor while giving Cheapy Junior a bath), but it felt fine all weekend. I figured it miraculously got all better.

But today the high heels (which really aren't as high as they look--there's a hidden platform) did not do my knee any favors. It's sore sore sore. What will I do, fellow shoppers, if I can't wear any of my heels? This could turn into a sad situation--all those shoes sitting alone in their boxes unable to fulfill their destiny on my feet. Sigh. I better start searching for some cute flat-ish boots to get me through this crisis.

Shopping in Portland: Johnny Sole

During my trip to Portland over the weekend, I was involved in conference activities all day Saturday (while Cheapy checked out the awesome city). Since we were leaving Monday morning, that gave us only Friday afternoon and Sunday for exploring and shopping. The first store Cheapy and I happened upon after hopping off the train on Friday was Johnny Sole. This is an independent retailer open since 1993, two floors, shoes on the bottom, clothing on the top. The proprietor, who has a great eye for footwear, waited on us, and she was fantastic. I didn't venture upstairs to peruse the clothing--it was shoe time. Check out these pix.


I got two pairs of shoes and Cheapy got one. I ended up wearing this pair of Jeffery Campbell t-straps I bought during about 16 hours of conferencing on Saturday and they were super comfortable. Here they are in the mustard combo which is what I have, as well as in a side view in a brown combo so you can see how cute the heels are.


The only place I could find these online is an indie shoe shop in Chicago called Lori's shoes (whose site I plan to explore further).

The t-straps were full price, but I also checked out the sale room.


There I found a pair of Nana mini-wedges for super cheap, even cheaper than they currently are on 6pm.com.


I also tried on these Tsubo pumps. Johnny Sole had them in black, cream, and this great olive green color which I wanted, but was sold out in my size. I kept thinking about the shoes after I left the store, so when we got back to our hotel I did a little googling and found them on Amazon in brown on sale for $25.99, down from the original price of $134.99 (which is what they were selling for at Johnny Sole). I couldn't pass them up. Oh what a great day for shoes, fellow shoppers! (Alas, I have no idea how I'm going to fit these all in my shoe shelf. Which, I suppose, is not a bad problem to have.)

BCBG Shoe Bargain--Lunchtime Shopping at DSW

I took a quick lunch-hour shopping trip to DSW the other day. My co-worker/friend had a pair of shoes to return and I had a $10 DSW Rewards coupon (thanks to Cheapy's wine-induces shoe shopping extravaganza).

It was one of those days, however, where once I got to shopping I had a feeling I wouldn't find anything. Shopping at DSW is sort of like shopping at a thrift store--it's very hit-or-miss, you-never-know-what-you're-gonna-get (which I guess is more a box of chocolates as Forrest Gump taught us.)

My friend had found a pair of shoes to exchange for the ones that, somehow, she couldn't walk in. (This friend strides around flawlessly on the highest and thinnest of heels--and talent I envy. Material Girl needs something more substantial at my base).

So there I was, bummed at leaving empty handed. Then I saw these BCBC t-strap wedges.


After my coupon paired with a 20% off "for a friend" coupon, I got them for $19.98. And I love them. They are tall, but they are squishy and super comfortable. They're not leather so I normally would have passed them by--PVC can get sort of warm and sweaty under the tootsies. But I had just been thinking, one, that I need some more spring/summer shoes (I'm pretty good on the boots), and two, that I needed some white footwear. These are perfect. They're sporty and they would be fine stomping through rain puddles. They're also great with a number of my summer dresses.

I found them on Amazon for around $78. And I also discovered that they come in an array of colors--I'm so tempted to get more! The red and the silver are calling to me.

Check Out the Overnight Shipping Deal at Amazon's Shoe Store

Endless is paying you, the shoe consumer, $5 to have your shoes delivered overnight. (Zappos, have your heard about this?)

I have yet to browse and thoroughly check out the selection. After a click or two I can tell you they offer more than 400 styles of boots.