Review: A Tale of Two Booties

This is my final review of the items I ordered from the Nordstrom Preview sale (If you're interested you can check out my other two reviews: here and here)

After my break-up with the Tory Burch Riding Boots last week, I was in serious need of a shopping pick me up.  You know what I mean, something to remind me why I like to get up and dressed in the morning.   But after so many failed purchases, I didn't want to get my hopes up about the last two items that I ordered--the Joe's 'Saki' bootie and the Clark's 'Rosepoint Dew' bootie (in black).  At the last minute, I decided that the 3rd Bootie I'd been considering, the Sam Edelman 'Pippen', looked a little too much like a man's shoe for my tastes.   

Booties have been on my shopping wish list for a while.  Unlike riding boots, in theory they should be a little friendlier for those of us with shorter calves. Some would disagree saying that they cut off your leg line, but I feel that you could say that for almost any style shoe.  And, I love how they can be used to toughen up a girly outfit (at least, if I'm to believe what Pinterest tells me). I felt that they would be a really versatile piece that I could use across several seasons.

The first booties I ordered, the Joe's Saki booties seemed like exactly what I needed to fulfill all my Pinterest dreams.  They had that nice worn-in look so I could pretend like I'd just come back from a wilderness trek (even though they were delivered to my door steop without me having to move an inch).  And they had a slightly western feel that was really fun.  It was all hugs and kisses until I tried them on:

Remember when I mentioned that booties were petite friendly? Not these.  Or at least, not if you have bird-like ankles.  No matter what angle I looked at them from, it looked like the shoe was eating my foot.  And, while the shoe itself seemed to be a really nice quality, the top part of the bootie (that flacid leather part) came up a lot higher than I was expecting, which really did cut off my leg.  P.S. I don't actually have a club foot, the picture just turned out weird.

After yet another failure, I didn't have a lot of hope for the second pair.  Especially given Mr. C's less than enthusiastic response when I showed him the picture--he muttereed something about "schoolmarmish" and "clunky".  When they arrived, I actually made sure to try them on when he wasn't around just so he couldn't gloat when they didn't work out . . . except . . . I loved them.

Clark's Rosepoint Dew Bootie

These are some of the most comfortable shoes I have ever put on.  I feel like I could walk in them for miles (and come September I will be testing that theory while I sprint to and from classes).  The leather is incredibly soft and I'm hoping that with some suede protecting spray, that they will last.   They look super tall in the picture, but the wedge is only 2 and a half inches high and they offer a lot of support inside (I had been having trouble finding wedge booties under 4 inches . . . I've tried wearing heels that high all day and it just doesn't work for someone who's kind of a klutz.  I mean, I run into walls and trip over waste baskets just wearing flats at work.  Along those lines if you see a fashionable helmut, I probably need to start wearing one)  The one criticism I have is that the laces look a little cheap and are a little long.  I think I might just buy some replacements.

I tried them on with a pair of skinny black pants and a blazer and they even won Mr. C's grudging approval.  I'm envisioning wearing them with a black tweed skirt and tights in the winter and, using them to dress down some of my sundresses for fall. A win at last!!!!

As an aside: These a lot like the J.Crew MacAllister Wedge, which I'd been considering but couldn't quite pull the trigger on. There was something about crepe style wedge that didn't win me over). But the Clark's had a leather wrapped heel, which I felt was sleeker. 

Review: The Tory Burch 'Brita' Riding Boot--A failed romance

One item I didn't talk about in the Economist article last Friday, was the part where the article notes that people return at least a quarter of the clothes that they order on-line.  I kind of chuckled because I DEFINITELY contribute to that statistic.*  The most recent example of this was the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale:  Of the three pairs of shoes, two bags, dress, and two camis I ordered, I've returned four items . . . a whopping 50% and I'm considering returning one more item.  Yeah, if Nordstrom decides to discontinue their free shipping/free returns policy because it is no longer financially feasible, I might be partially to blame.

One big problem with ordering stuff on-line, of course, is that in the virtual world, it's hard to tell that that nice cream blouse is actually see through or that those bags won't fit all of your books or that J.Crew suddenly changed their sizing again . . . As fun as it is to browse things on-line, it's not until you see it in person that you can really tell if it's going to work for you.  (err, note to all the Manti T'eo's out there, this also holds true for on-line relationships) That's what happened with the Tory Burch riding boots I ordered.

Disclaimer: This is a very, very sad story.  I suggest having tissues on hand or at the very least playing this song in the background.

Once upon a time, in the Nordstrom Anniversary sale of 2012, I fell in love with the Tory Burch riding boots.  They were everything I had been looking for: smooth polished leather, a gorgeous cognac color,  just the right touch of sophistication.  BUT, I waited too long to order them and they ran out of my size.    Heartbroken and a little desperate, I settled on a cheaper alternative.  Like most rebound relationships they quickly fell apart and I was back to square one.  So, imagine how I felt when I was browsing the Nordstrom Preview Sale last month and there they were.  In all their glorious, cognac-y, shiny leathery glory.  And, this time they were going to be mine . . .

Only, (and guys this is hard for me to share) . . . they didn't work out.  Apparently, if you're short and buying boots, you have to pay close attention to the shaft length (the length from the heel to the top of the boot).  Well, to make a long story short, the Tory Burch boots have a shaft length of 17 inches and the length from my heel to my knee is about 16.5 inches.  You can see the problem.

No matter what I did, the back of the boot kept knocking into the back of my knee in a really uncomfortable way and I couldn't really sit down while wearing them.  I loved them so, so, so much but for the price I couldn't settle on something that was less than perfect.  Not being able to sit down was a big downer.  Also, the boot itself kind of made my foot look disproportionately large.  I think I should have paid attention to the reviews and gone down half a size but the boots still would have been too tall for me.

I think if you're a little taller than I am and really want to invest in a good pair of boots, these would be amazing.  Then you can come visit me and I can tear them off your dead body drool over them some more.  Now excuse me while I go research leg lengthening surgeries and troll the internets for a petite alternative.