How To: Break in Heels

Just stumbled across this amazing article on TheBeautyDepartment.com with super interesting tips on how to make the dreaded process of breaking in new heels just a bit easier. I never would have thought to wear damp socks with my heels, but heck, if it breaks them faster, I'm all for it! Anyone ever tried any of these?

All images and text via The Beauty Department

DIY: Ankle Strap Wedges

I've been seeing ankle strap wedges all over the blogosphere. Even though it goes against years of the advice, "don't wear shoes with ankle straps, it cuts off your legs and makes you look shorter!!" I still absolutely love the shape (and secretly think it makes your legs look longer).

And so when I was looking for shoes for my college's end of the year formal, this image suddenly popped into my head.

Matiko ankle strap wedges on the left, my Target wedge booties on the right - do you see what I see??

I've had these Target wedge booties since January but only ever worn them once. They're super comfy and super cute, but their color (a weird olive/beige/brown) just never seems to match with anything. After some paint and a hack job, here's what I came up with:

What you need:

Wedge booties you don't mind cutting up

Scissors (or x-acto knife)

Chalk or marker

Paint (depending on what type of fabric your shoes are made of, or whether you even want to change the color)

What you do:

1) Try shoes on and mark where you want to cut them down. (Note: these pictures were taken after one coat of black paint, so the color looks a little weird)

2) Take a deep breath and hack into the shoes. Carefully.

One down, one to go!

3) Paint shoes.

4) Apply a small amount of fabric glue to the edges that you just cut to make sure the cut part doesn't fray or wear away. If you don't have glue that will dry clear, do this before you paint your shoes. Otherwise, you're done!

 And a sneak preview of my Operation Stunna Cum Laude post coming later today!

Baby Got Back

Shoe back's that is. They've been getting an awful lot of attention recently. Some good, some bad, but all very noteworthy and very DIY'able. Check it out:

First photo via Kensie Girl, second via Pinterest, third and fourth via Heel Condoms (I had to include them, even though I detest that name), last DIY'ed by HonestlyWTF

Neon Loafers

I never thought I'd be so excited about the words "neon" and "loafers" together in one phrase. And yes, these do have a snake-skin texture.

I've been eyeing these for a while, but they just went on mega-huge-awesome clearance, so I HAD to get them.

The neon craze lives on, and I've been SO eager to jump on board. And now I have the shoes to do it in! (punny, punny) Definitely be looking for some neon DIY posts soon!

Edit (Feb 3rd, 2012): HaHA! Even Geneva agrees with me. I feel validated.

DIY: Catching Up

I began DIYing seriously last summer (2011) while I was in Boston for a summer internship. It was really a self-preservation thing as I didn't have a whole lot else to do... I started this blog towards the end of the summer, but didn't really "commit" to it until December. In the meantime, however, there were several DIY projects I finished. So just to catch you up, here's some that I think are worth showing (besides the usual "hem a thrifted skirt" thing):

A plain (thrifted) Anne Taylor dress. Formerly very conservative, now with deep U back. It's a super daring cut so I've actually only ever worn this dress out once and kept a shawl on the whole time. But I took in the dress so it fits me perfectly (rare for a non-stretch dress since I'm so curvy) and I LOVE it. So I really do need to find an excuse to wear it somewhere. And more often.

This was a dress I bought in high school at a boutique back home, for way more than I probably should have been spending at that point in my life. I adore the neck and cut of the dress, but it was originally a really weird beige color. So I dipped it in some black dye! Turns out I didn't leave it in long enough so came out a kind of dark/musty purple, but it was really pretty so I just left it.

A ridic easy dress (yes, dress - I know it looks like a long shirt... it's stretchy!) I whipped up one night before going out. I have a blue bodycon tank dress that fits me super well, so I traced it onto this stretchy black lace I had laying around, stitched it up, and viola! Easy peasy.

A necklace that I made one night while procrastinating work. Copied a design I saw online (can't remember where though). I've been in love with the black and gold combo recently. Maybe because of this song?

More gold, this time in the form of obnoxiously sparkly shoes. Super cheap (thrifted) flats, originally this hideous blue jeans color (you can still see it on the inside of the shoe), now an amazing gold. I love the rounded point toe, just the perfect shape. It's an awesome way to spice up the otherwise relatively simple/boring going out go-to outfit (say that five times fast) of skinny jeans and black tank top.