Fashionista as I may claim to be, I completely lack that girl gene that makes you want to wear beautiful-yet-incredibly-uncomfortable shoes. I honestly don’t get the point. Why spend a fortune on shoes that will end up making you look like a (pained) pretzel???

I recently got sent some samples of Clarks‘ line for fall, and I was enthralled - not only are all the styles totally on-trend and cute, but they are also super-comfortable! Finally, all my worlds are aligned.

(And yes, girls, stop pouting…like it or not, it’s time to stop thinking summer, and start readying-for-fall!)

(The Radiant - it’s black patent leather, and an updated version of my all-time favorite heel style - the Mary Jane!)

(The Wendy - I got it in black leather - making it an awesome everyday shoe - but check out the super sexy metallic brown it also comes in!)

(The December boot, in dark brown leather)

While it’s very sad to see flip-flop season leave, it’s very exciting to update my space with new looks - especially since these shoes will so-well compliment a lot of my new fall dresses!

Behold my new shoes!

From the Iman Global Chic collection (available on HSN), I saw these a few weeks ago at a holiday-themed press preview, and I fell so in love that I almost dropped my cocktail. (True story.) They are super affordable, and are somehow simultaneously as comfortable as flip flops and as glam as swanky sandals. (Which they are, in both cases, anyway.) Find them on HSN for under $40 - that’s less than you probably spend on an evening of sangria and tapas!

They also are available as wedges, in several different colors…but my pretty pink toes are currently adorned in gold. So so cute!

Check out my new shoes!

Whether your heart is set on delicate buds or your inner-Carrie has you coveting over-the-top accents, all things floral is a budding new look. My latest blossoming closet inhabitant is the Luichiny Women’s Sammie Sandal from Endless.com.

With delicate satin straps, the main focus is on the center satin rosette - a perfect way of being trend-center without looking like a human bouquet. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

While we may harbor a desire to walk around in$400 shoes, our wallets probably do not allow this luxury.

However, with some of our favorite designers now having lines for Payless, it’s easier to fake it until we make it!

Patricia Field (of Sex and the City fame), has a line of shoes for Payless that are super cute…they sent me the Empress Sandal from the line, and I’m wearing it right now - it perfectly compliments my fresh-from-Dashing-Diva pedicure!

Alice + Olivia also has some hot looks designed for Payless, all of which will look awesome with your cute summer dresses:

I love this patent platform sandal!

Many of these looks retail for under $30 - letting you stock up for the season completely guilt-free!

Yesterday afternoon, I was rushing through the terminal at Miami International Airport when suddenly I felt a snap.

There had been a transit casualty.

My Cold Nose Couture buddy flat bow flip flops were a familiar sight to all who know me.

Just about any occasion that demanded a cute dress but where I could get aware with not wearing heels…they were there. Of course, they came with me to South Beach. They’ve been coming to me to work, and parties, to evenings with friends, and assorted other special events for well over a year.

I’d go as far as to say…they were my favorite shoes, ever. Comfortable, functional, formal yet casual…ideal for just about anywhere I went.

They met their sad demise yesterday afternoon, in that Miami International Airport terminal.

In the moments after I heard the snap, I looked down at my feet - to see the flip of my flop had flopped. The once-adorable rhinestone-encrusted bow, now hanging, a dismembered limb.

Much like warriors in combat, I didn’t even get a chance to mourn my fallen comrade. I had a plane to catch! Yet…I had to get to the plane on one shoe, with my other footwear all packed in baggage.

Thank God I’m a beauty editor.

In a moment of desperation, I removed my scrunchie from my hair, and wrapped it around my shoe, securing it with a loop around my big toe. It was moderately successful - it allowed me to walk and looked ridiculous, but got me onto the plane without having to hop … too much.

Now, a day later, I have time to reflect. My toe is battered (I believe I may have slightly strangled it) and my shoes, gone for good…but with dozens of memories to keep them alive, even if their structure did not.

Sigh.

As I believe in properly dressing for all occasions, check out the shoes I chose to wear to fabulous my SATC girl-date last night:

Granted, halfway through the movie (You know, *that* part…), I wanted to rip that $ off my shoes…but by the end, I was glad I had not.

(Well, somewhat.)

Aside from my mixed feelings about the gorgeous Mr. Big (or moreso, my heroine, Carrie), I LOVE my new flip flops. And, just now, as I was getting my vacation-pedicure, all the girls at the salon were loving it too.

Made by CozyPetal.com, they are traditional white flip-flops (well, mine are - they also come in brown, black and pink) with Rhinestone Slides that say ‘MR$ BIG’ attached. Their flip flop supplier is from Rhinestoneruby - however the oodles of creative concepts come from the Cozy Petal girls in the studio (right nearby in NJ!) for the SATC designs.

So cute! And while not to be mistaken with officially licensed movie memorabilia (they aren’t), they are a perfect accessory to wear as you share your Carrie-Big-(sigh)-love.

Even if you aren’t into the SATC thing, they have tons of cool charms that reflect what you do love (shopping? martinis?) - making this the most fashionable form of lounging around *ever*!

Imagine if Birkenstocks met the gladiator shoe phenomenon.

The results may look something like a pair of Gurkees!

I have a fetish for sexy strappy heels. My closet runneth over with them. But, I’ve realized that as much as I love a sexy pair of shoes, I do need something to wear while I run around the neighborhood dropping off laundry and picking up groceries.

Ideally, said shoes will still be kind of cute.

Gurkee’s sandals are actually made from carpet fiber that is spun and heat welded together. (Yeah, I know that doesn’t sound all that sexy, but it IS pretty darn cool…) The thing to love about them is that they are super functional and durable.

Lets say you find yourself suddenly in a big old puddle of mud. (This may or may not have happened to me in the last 24 hours.) If you are wearing Gurkees, you throw your sandals in the washing machine! No joke. It’s a klutz’s dream. These shoes are safe to wear at the beach, in the water, and then throw in the wash - or just out and about on your daily errands.

Now, while not as sexy as my petal pink wedges, they are a hell of a lot more comfortable, and less likely to cause me to a - break my neck, or b - end up with bruised, battered feet (which of course are ugly, no matter how perfectly pink your toes are).

So, I think I’ll keep my “gurks”. Especially if they help preserve the sanctity of my pedicure.

 This morning, Ecco held a media breakfast at the Cornelia Day Spa in New York City. A buffet of yummy treats were there to be had, but my favorite treat of all were the shoes I left with!

I do not need them, by any stretch of the imagination - but I already love them!

More on this morning soon! I must go unbury myself from email.

My cute summer shoe collection grows! Behold the latest new members of my bin:

Both from Sperry Top-Sider, the Bayville stacked wedge sandal and madras-print Largo Ballet represent the best of this spring’s trends – eye-popping colors, decorative details and subtle nautical themes. Plus, they are both super comfy and incorporate my favorite colors!

In college, I almost majored in Classical Greek and Roman Literature - went so far as to have a minor in it with way more credits than the program demanded. I went for my degree in something else though (Journalism, alas), feeling that it was much more finding-a-job-right-out-of-college appropriate.

And yet, I am still obsessed with so many classical things. I love classical art, I think the plays of the Greco playwrights are genius, and well, I often have a hankering for a good bacchanalia.

Maybe this is why it was so easy for me to embrace the gladiator fashions craze…it was a little bit of the then, right here in the now…no semester of ancient language required.

The forefront of the gladiator fashion movement are, of course, gladiator sandals - ripped right out of the streets of ancient Rome. To embrace this culture (and the coming summer), I even have a new pair of my very own!

Wearing my (of course) pink Apepazza Women’s Malesia Sandal (available at the fabulous Endless.com for 118.95), I can fool myself into thinking I’m lounging around the forum, eating grapes, massaging my man in fresh-from-the-olive oil…

Wait a second, I’m mixing fantasies again.

Check out these warrior-entrancing sandals though, they come in a bunch of other hot colors and styles - and you too may feel like you’re about to sip wine with your emperor at the coliseum.

OK, fantasy over…back to packing.