Returns. The ability to take things back. Don’t know how I would shop otherwise.
Sperry cute
The crazy town that is Macy’s during a shoe sale is no place to make a decision. It’s grab and go. Four pairs snagged at the pre-sale this past Saturday should be on their way to me from Kansas City as you read this.
Will I keep all four? Probably not. I don’t need them all. But I couldn’t decide in the store.
They all fit. All comfortable. All on sale. All gorgeous. If I left them in Macy’s unspoken for, I risked losing them to another suitor.
Remember The Limited’s old return policy? No sale is ever final. Those were the days.
Now you have to watch and make sure you don’t overstay the time limit. Sixty days are standard for generous stores and online orders. Thirty at the trendsetters. And always, always, keep your receipts.
put me in, Coach
My method is three-pronged. Try on once I get home. Make a decision as soon as possible. Return upon deciding. Not a moment to lose. While there is still time for the credit to hit my charge card’s current billing cycle.
From the pages of their books and blogs, wardrobe consultants urge me to go in with a list. Shop the list. Buy only what’s on the list.
I had a list this past Saturday. Silver sandals, black sandals, other comfortable shoes.
Macy’s, however, did not get a copy of my list when they sent their buyers a-purchasing for spring 2012. Maybe it’s too early in the season for sandals. Maybe comfort is out this year.
Nothing was a perfect fit for my list. Nothing except for the four pairs that fell into the catch-all category other comfortable shoes.
Sam Edelman stripes done right
Buying and returning is not an efficient way to shop. Yet I think the wardrobe consultants would side against efficiency in this case.
They consistently tell me dressing stylishly and within your means takes an effort. It takes time. And it’s worth the investment.
Oh, how I envy thee. This shoe-shopping spree means you can actually find shoes to fit you. Hunting for ladies’ shoes in size 11 is quite the challenge; and if you intend to do this on a budget, well, that just makes it all the worse. My strategy is the opposite of most people… those size 7 or so waltz into the store, pick what’s cute, and see if it’s there in their size. I go into the store, see what all is even available at 11, and try to find something that’s cute, or at least not hideous. :p
And if I may use your blog as a soap box: Shoe designers, please think of us Bigfeet!!!
I’m around a 7.5, Nusy, so my challenge is the stores & zappos often run out of my size if the shoe is cute. I am forced to pounce if I see something that might work and make final decisions at home. Yes, that’s it. My size is forcing me to buy! lol.
I must ask you something though. When I shop the clearances and my favorite TJMaxx (which I frequently do; I’m a bargainista as well as a fashionista), it seems the best shoes left are either very small sizes or very large sizes. It sounds as you haven’t found this to be the case?
Unfortunately, every time I go to the store, I find that “very large size” usually just means 9.5, maybe 10 – in the most annoying cases, 10.5, which is just BARELY too small. Target and Payless carries some shoes up to 11, but they are either ugly to start with, or are just designed in a way that they become ugly in sizes like that… or just plain unflattering, making my feet look bigger than a Hobbit’s. Kohl’s was a lost cause so far, and I don’t have TJMaxx around me (sadness).
In Hungary I had a trusty shoe store chain called Deichmann – they had every single shoe up to 11.5, and had the greatest variety of black wingtip pumps…. Wish I had them here, as well as C&A and H&M. (Well, there IS an H&M in California, I just don’t especially want to drive the 100 miles or so to Merced.)
Yay! I LOVE SHOES! And, we shop the same way. Buy. Try On. Decide. Return/Keep.
Great minds think alike :)
Love this post Aimee.
I vote for keeping the shoes unless, upon arrival, any pair isn’t quite as perfect as you remember them during your shoe-shopping euphoria.
Oh, how I envy thee. This shoe-shopping spree means you can actually find shoes to fit you. Hunting for ladies’ shoes in size 11 is quite the challenge; and if you intend to do this on a budget, well, that just makes it all the worse. My strategy is the opposite of most people… those size 7 or so waltz into the store, pick what’s cute, and see if it’s there in their size. I go into the store, see what all is even available at 11, and try to find something that’s cute, or at least not hideous. :p
And if I may use your blog as a soap box: Shoe designers, please think of us Bigfeet!!!
I’m around a 7.5, Nusy, so my challenge is the stores & zappos often run out of my size if the shoe is cute. I am forced to pounce if I see something that might work and make final decisions at home. Yes, that’s it. My size is forcing me to buy! lol.
I must ask you something though. When I shop the clearances and my favorite TJMaxx (which I frequently do; I’m a bargainista as well as a fashionista), it seems the best shoes left are either very small sizes or very large sizes. It sounds as you haven’t found this to be the case?
Unfortunately, every time I go to the store, I find that “very large size” usually just means 9.5, maybe 10 – in the most annoying cases, 10.5, which is just BARELY too small. Target and Payless carries some shoes up to 11, but they are either ugly to start with, or are just designed in a way that they become ugly in sizes like that… or just plain unflattering, making my feet look bigger than a Hobbit’s. Kohl’s was a lost cause so far, and I don’t have TJMaxx around me (sadness).
In Hungary I had a trusty shoe store chain called Deichmann – they had every single shoe up to 11.5, and had the greatest variety of black wingtip pumps…. Wish I had them here, as well as C&A and H&M. (Well, there IS an H&M in California, I just don’t especially want to drive the 100 miles or so to Merced.)
Yay! I LOVE SHOES! And, we shop the same way. Buy. Try On. Decide. Return/Keep.
Great minds think alike :)
Love this post Aimee.
I vote for keeping the shoes unless, upon arrival, any pair isn’t quite as perfect as you remember them during your shoe-shopping euphoria.
Janis, I believe you and I are kindred spirits.