Tilted, originally uploaded by academichic.
Sources:
- Dolman cardigan: Ann Taylor
- Dress: Target
- Tights (two pairs for warmth): Hue
- Socks: vintage, my moms from college
- Boots: Steve Madden Iriss
- Coat: JCrew
End Notes:
Remember how my mother-in-law kidnapped my boots and sent them to the cobbler? I picked them up yesterday and, you guys, I’m in love. They’ve been reheeled and conditioned, and they look and feel fantastic: soft and supple with their pretty cognac shine back and noticeably more comfortable to walk in now that the heels have been replaced. It only cost $25, which, considering the amount of wear I’ve gotten out of these boots, is a great investment. Have you had experience having your shoes resoled, altered, or colored at a cobbler? What else can these magical people do? How do you decide if a shoe or boot is worth getting resoled?
You all had some great suggestions for different ways that A. could tie her drapey cardigan a few days ago, and I applied one of those ideas to my own dolman sleeve cardigan. I pinned the open bottom corners together and then shrugged into the cardigan with the pinned bits behind me, thus forming more of a cocoon shaped sweater. I actually really like this, as it does a better job of showing off both my waist and the sweater’s dramatic shape.
With my coat on, I feel a wee bit British prep school in this burgundy, navy, and camel color palette, but I’m okay with that. Sometimes I need to prove to myself that I’m capable of wearing navy with colors other than mustard.
I love these pretty colors together and the way you transformed your cardigan is brillant!
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Love the colored tights with this dress! Two pairs for warmth would be a necessity here too…
Finding a good cobbler is SUCH a revelation. I wear heels a lot of the time, and since I live and work in an area with cobblestone streets, the heels have a tendency to get chewed up–think scuffs on the back of the shoes, torn leather, lost heel caps. But I bring them to my shoe guy, and it’s like magic!
I’ve actually started buying nicer shoes since I discovered how much he could do to keep them in good shape.
Another cobbler addict! Working in the city destroys my heels – for $11 I can get a pair of shoes reheeled and while at it, they polish them up nice and will even stretch and glue down any torn leather on the heels.
This afternoon I am seeing HOW good my cobbler is by dropping off a pair of tall boots to have the zippers replaced (one busted) and to see if they can shorten them by an inch, making them more flattering. Fingers crossed!
Beautiful outfit!
Cobblers are great for stretching shoes (if you get a good one…I had one put holes in my shoes!). What I really like is having them replace my noisy heels with quiet rubber ones so I don’t have to clomp my way through quiet buildings!
This color mash-up makes me drool! Love these shades together.
And so glad your boots are renewed. Cobblers can really work wonders.
I LOVE my cobbler – I had worn a pair of boots into near oblivion. Before trying to replace them, I took them to a cobbler. They are like new. Well worth the $25!
I get my favorite shoes resoled all the time. And, geez, I feel like I’m constantly bringing in various pumps to get new heel tips. Pounding the asphalt back and forth across an elementary school campus and various parking lots is murder on shoes. I also get brand-new shoes rubber-soled if the original soles were leather. I will never understand the leather sole; it’s pretty worthless. Rubber-soling has extended the life of various pumps, ballet flats, etc. And boots? Same treatment. Plus, I got my cobbler to stretch the calves of a slim pair of boots. Worked like a charm!
I’m glad to see all this positivity about cobblers! I have a pair of Target boots (Frye rip-offs) that are real leather and that I totally love, but I wear them so much I’ve walked down the heel considerably. I was thinking about just buying another pair, but it looks like I might be able to have them saved for half the price!
I swear by these amazing people! Sometimes if I’m in love with a cheaper pair of shoes I’ve bought, I immediately take them in to get a more durable sole put on so they last longer. I repeatedly take in my favorite heels when the metal starts poking out, and I’ve also taken boots and shoes in to get stretched when they are too snug on my feet or calves. They are miracle workers!
ps. I am drooling over that J Crew coat.
I’d like to join in on the praise for cobblers! I wore my favorite pair of Ann Taylor pumps to a conference one year and by the time it was over I noticed I had worn the heels down to the metal stubs! I took them to a cobbler and they came back like new!
I now have several pairs on Ann Taylor sandals that I need to drop off somewhere…
By the way, I realized finally why I like your outfits so much: as you can see from this comment, I am an Ann Taylor junkie! I love that you bring AT stuff into your outfits so much!
I love cobblers. Some things are super inexpensive to fix but otherwise render your shoes useless….I wish I had discovered cobblers earlier so I didn’t ditch many beloved shoes.
I’ve had heels retipped, the points of pointy shoes reinforced, and some treading redone on shoes(not quite a whole resole). Love, love, love.
Coincidentally, I have a date with my cobbler on Saturday morning! Four pairs saved up & in desperate need of new heels & minor repairs. I’m so excited bec., when I looked in the bag of “shoes to be repaired” there was a pair I’d totally forgotten about. Must have been sitting there for a year. It’ll be like getting brand new shoes!
A cobbler and a tailor. These are the first two things to hunt down whenever you move to a new town (or so my mother taught me!).
I had a pair of red leather riding boots that I had thrifted re-soled last year and it cost me 95.00! Your cobbler is a bargain. I only spent 30.00 for the boots to begin with but I love them and have worn them tons.
[...] Look at this outfit. It is cute. (via Academichic) [...]
You look so cute! Great color combination.
Hilarious that you are wearing two pairs of tights. That never occurred to me. I’m going to file that little tip away.
I like the way you tied your cardi, I’ll have to give that one a try. I’m glad it worked out with the boots! It’s almost 3x as expensive to get that done in NYC so, that adds an extra level to the decision for me because at that point I could just go out and get another pair of boots…
[...] Underneath it all yesterday, I wore my new favorite dress: a black seasonless wool stretch dress from Banana Republic that I thrifted while in Hawaii for 99 cents. Ah, I love Savers. I knew I was going to be wearing some pretty chunky boots to get to campus that day, so I balanced things out on top with my dolman cardigan, pinned behind my back as I’ve done a few times before. [...]
[...] I’d treat maroon as a neutral and pair it with navy blue and brown (a combination with which E. has also dabbled). I added the blazer because it’s still freezing [...]