I warned you that there would be a lot of boot posts in the upcoming weeks – so if you’re still reading this and you don’t love boots you have no one to blame but yourself. Although really, who doesn’t love boots? Communists, that’s who.

But I do love boots (and am not a communist) and on this beautiful Thursday morning I’m thinking I might love these:

Now I know what you’re probably thinking. You’re probably thinking “But Shea, this is a furry hiking boot in which you cannot hike.” And my response to that would be “Perfect – because I don’t hike anyway.”

Am I crazy to think this might actually be a cute and functional winter bootie? Rubber soles mean I won’t have to worry as much about slipping and falling on my face as I am prone to do on icy streets. And all that shearling guarantees that at least my ankles will be warm.

Or is this just another ridiculous wedge-heeled hiking bootie with a bathmat attached to the top?

Whether she wants to admit it or not, every girl has a go-to  style/shape/trend/look that she will gravitate towards no matter how many other examples of that style/shape/trend/look she already has hanging in her closet.

For example – I always joke that my friend Susan will love any shirt with a keyhole neckline and she jokes that I will love anything made out of cream-colored lace. And she’s not wrong.*

*I’m not wrong about her love of keyhole necklines either, but that’s not really germane (fancy word of the day!) to this post. I just want to make sure everyone knows I’m not wrong. 

So with that in mind I present this tunic:

Now before you say anything about how short this is, I would like to clarify that I would wear it with black leggings or matte tights and boots. Partially because it is soon going to be too cold to go bare-legged, but mainly because I don’t like the idea of pulling a Britney Spears when I enter or exit a vehicle.

But let’s talk pros and cons:

Pro = cream-colored, lace and RUFFLES!! It’s like the holy trinity of tunics.

Con = Looks kind of like a doily.

Pro = On sale!!

Con = I might have already purchased at least three other cream-colored lace tops this season already.

Pro = But none of them are a long tunic so it’s totally different!!

I think I’ve convinced myself to give this tunic a try. After all, a girl can never have too much cream-colored lace. But what do you think?

I have a love/hate relationship with coats. I obviously hate having to wear them because wearing coats means it is cold outside. And I REALLY hate the dilemma of whether to drag one all over town or freeze to death until I get inside when I go out for a night out on the town. Dear Nashville bars, I have two words for you: COAT CHECK. Love, Shea

But if you looked in my coat closet you would think that I love them because I have so many. What I really have is a perpetual (fancy word of the day!) feeling that I just never have the right coat for the right outfit. And so I end up buying every coat that catches my eye on the off chance I might need it in the future.

Well this coat recently caught my eye and I need your help to decide if I love it:

Get it here

On the plus side – attached neck scarf!! On the minus side – attached neck scarf??

I love that it’s a basic navy peacoat with a fun detail. But is that detail a bit too much? And could I still wear a fun patterned or colored scarf to actually keep my neck warm or would I end up looking like this:

(I mean really – is this a thing we’re doing now?)

I’m torn so it’s up to you. Help me decide.

The good news =  I was super-excited this morning to brighten-up this dreary Wednesday by wearing my super-cute new plaid shirt from J Crew.

The bad news =  When I got to work I discovered that a co-worker was wearing the same shirt.

The badder news =  The shirt looks like this so there’s really no mistaking that we’re twinisies:

For the record I’m wearing mine with this black pencil skirt and these shoes I bought earlier in the summer.

The worst news = I will now live in constant fear of this happening again.

Obviously my co-worker and I both love this shirt – but what do you think?

I’ll be honest – I don’t really need your help to know if I love these:

Frye Paige Riding Boot from here

Because I do. And so does my friend Emily. (Hi Emily!!) But try as I might last year I just couldn’t shove my high-arched foot down into them without a zipper. Here’s hoping Emily has more luck!!

But every girl should own at least one pair of riding boots. (Or two pairs. Or ten pairs. There’s no judgment here.) So here are some of the ones I’m lusting after this year:

Enzo Angiolini Porcelain Boot

Hooray for a side zipper! And I know a lot of you (*cough* Emily *cough*) aren’t sure about a gray riding boot, but I think you’d be surprised how versatile gray can be. Especially this color which is more of a brownish-gray anyway.

Lucky Brand Andrea Boot

Now I am usually anti-black riding boot. I always think they look too much like heavy motorcycle boots. And heavy-looking boots equal heavy-looking calves. And no woman wants that. But I actually think these black boots might work because they have just enough western detailing in the buckles, stitching and soles to avoid any Hells Angels overtones.

Enzo Angiolini Dame Boot

Normally I like my riding boots like I like my college football uniforms – simple, traditional and not all junked-up with a lot of superfluous (fancy word of the day!) embellishments. But despite the fact that these buckles might be the boot equivalent of the stupid stickers teams like Ohio State and FSU put on their helmets, I can’t help but love them anyway.

Indigo by Clarks Leslie Sharon Boot

And here’s the Alabama/Penn State version of the boot above – simple, classic and will be in style forever.

And just in case I miraculously develop skinny calves and flat arches this Fall:

Frye Melissa Button Boot

Sigh.

So that’s my riding boot wish list for 2011 (so far anyway – I reserve the right to add to/amend this list at anytime over the next few months). I’m not even going to put a Do We Love It poll at the bottom of this post because if you don’t love riding boots you might be dead to me.

PS – this is just the first of many, many boot posts to come so prepare yourselves. Boot season: it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Dear Christian Siriano -

I must confess that I was not your biggest fan during your Project Runway days. Yes you were a great character, an impeccable tailor and a seemingly nice guy. But you went to the pirate-inspired / puffy-sleeved well a few too many times for my liking.

I hope, however, you won’t hold that against me because your new Spring 2012 collection is Rocking. My. World. And when I when marry Ryan Gosling* I’m going to need quite a few items from this collection to fill out my trophy-wife wardrobe.

*This may or may not be something that is only happening in my dreams.

Like this skirt and top combo:

I am going to need this impossibly chic outfit to wear when Ryan and I are invited to Brad and Angelina’s inevitable French-chateau wedding.

And this little white dress with the fab orange shoes:

This will be perfect for a paparazzi-filled lunch with Ryan on the patio at The Ivy in June.

And this adorable sheath dress:

I’ll need this for a power lunch with the investors in my new fashion line/clothing boutique/hot yoga studio – after all, no matter how hot and famous her husband is, a girl’s still got to have her own life.

And finally, I’ll need this gown:

For the Oscars of course. But I’ll need you to make it in a different color – maybe navy blue or a deep raspberry – because this isn’t really my shade.

Thanks in advance for all of your help. And kudos on the awesome collection!

XOXO – Shea

Despite the glorious return of college football and the truly gorge weather we’ve been having the last few days, the return of Fall is making me really sad – because it means Summer is officially over (Insert frowny-face here). But a part of me always feels a little sorry for Fall because retailers apparently forget that it exists altogether. They’re all “Today = tiny swimsuits. Tomorrow = heavy coats!” And nowhere does Fall present a greater fashion challenge than in the Deep South where the temperatures stay in the 80′s well into October.

So how is a girl supposed to prepare for the coming Fall-pocalypse without spending a fortune on clothes she’ll just have to shove aside when Winter finally arrives sometime in mid-December? One way is to arm yourself with a skirt like this one:

(Get it here but don’t buy all of the ones in my size because I saw it first.)

Here’s how I would wear that skirt now:

Ankle boots = great way to transition from summery sandals without getting the dreaded sweaty calves. Marc Jacobs bag = perfect gray color that can be your neutral bag all the way through the Spring. And pendant necklace = obviously.

And here’s how I would wear that skirt later:

Knee-high boots = because now your calves are kind-of chilly. Marc Jacobs bag = because you paid a lot of money for it and it’s still gorgeous. Navy boyfriend blazer = because you should already have one in your closet by now. Lace top = to add some girly details to the structural nature of the skirt and blazer. And dangly earring = to add some color and visual interest by your face.

So what do we think of the Leifsdottir Sloping Skirt? Do we think it’s a good transitional piece to keep in the closet? Do we think we would like it more in black instead of red? Do we think that I’m delusional and there’s no way my waist will fit into that skirt?

Don’t be shy – help me decide.

Despite the fact that Carrie Bradshaw is also a fashionable, single blonde and we share an all-consuming love of footwear, I don’t really feel like she and I have that much in common. She lives in NYC, I live in Nashville. She has a glamorous job as a writer and Vogue contributor while I have a career that is the opposite of that. And oh yeah – she is  a fictional character and I am not.

But one thing Carrie and I definitely did share is our reaction the first time we saw the fabled Manolo Blahnik Mary Jane:

“I thought these were an urban shoe myth.”

Thank God no one was around to take a similar picture of me. But let’s have a closer look shall we?

(And if you follow this link you can watch them spin majestically in a circle.)

I LOVE THEM. LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE THEM. But here’s another difference between Carrie and I – she can afford them and I cannot.  I mean, at this stage in my life, $645 for a pair of shoes is not even something I can justify saving up for. Too many other bills to pay and mouths to feed (okay, just my own mouth, but still).

So I set out on another mission to try and find a way to love a black mary jane pump for less. Let’s see how I did:

Via Spaga Macey

The good: the shape and the style are pretty close to the Manolo. The bad: they’re suede, not patent and at $198 are still a tad pricey. And so we soldier on:

Gabriella Rocha Dancy

The good: may not be patent, but is actually leather. Plus I think the double-strap detail is cute and the price is good, too. The bad: still not the Manolos. And so we soldier on:

Michael by Michael Kors Devenport Mary Jane

The good: they are actually patent and I like the wider strap across the instep. The bad: the 4 1/2 inch heel would make me approximately 8 feet tall.

Ultimately, I think I gave my heart away a long time ago and no matter how great another shoe might be, it’s just not the shoe for me – kind of like when Carrie broke up with Aidan because she couldn’t let go of Mr. Big.

So kids – what do you think?

Hello, my name is Shea and I am a pendant necklace-aholic. I say this in the hopes that you might learn from my confession and save yourself the agony I have suffered as a pendant necklace addict over these past many months.

It starts off harmlessly enough. You fall in love with one long, affordable pendant necklace in the Spring, like this one:

You start to spend a lot of time with your pendant necklace and pretty soon the two of you are involved in a passionate affair. But your friends and co-workers are starting to get a little suspicious of all the time you spend with your pink pendant necklace, so you spend a little more money and get another one – with the excuse that this one is more “work appropriate”:

Plus it’s gold so you justify the higher price because it will go with everything. But just a few weeks later you need another fix in the form of this necklace:

You tell yourself it’s okay because it’s black and still affordable so what can one more pendant necklace hurt, right? But pretty soon it’s not enough. Now you’re craving the good stuff like this one:

And this one:

And before you know it your friends and family are having an intervention to convince you that you do not actually need a $798 pendant necklace, like this one:

No matter how beautiful and perfect and wonderful it may be. (Sigh.)

So take it from someone who’s been there. Pendant necklaces are highly intoxicating and should be approached with caution lest you end up an addict like me.

(That being said if anyone has an extra $798 to spend I would really, really REALLY like that necklace!)

In my dreams I am an amazing hairstylist who has hours of time to coerce my long locks into all manner of chic styles and up-dos. In reality, I wear my hair one of four ways: 1. down and straight, 2. down and wavy, 3. down and curly, 4. ponytail. But in my dreams, my hair looks like this:

(Image from here)

I mean – how cute is that??? (And if that girl looks familiar it’s because she’s Elizabeth Olsen, younger sister to these two. So nice to see a member of the Olsen family NOT looking like a homeless vagabond at red carpet events.)

In the past I’ve always found headbands to be a little confounding. Do my bangs get pulled back or stay out? If I wear the traditional style I get a headache from where the points pinch my head, but if I wear the elastic kind I spend all day trying to keep it from popping off like a slingshot.  And most importantly, am I just too darn old to wear a bejeweled headband?

Here are some I spotted perusing the Anthropologie website (I swear I’m not paid to talk about Anthropologie – although maybe I should be) :

I’m thinking any of these would be a great, fun easy way to dress up a ponytail or add a little sparkle to a simple t-shirt and skirt combo. Now if only I could find a way to keep them from snapping off of my giant head and putting someone’s eye out…

So what do we think?