Buyer's Remorse

I've long been a fan of funky, embellished flats. Whether speckled with glitter, strewn with faux gemstones, or studded with metal accents, I'm all about the charmingly off-kilter shoe. The one danger, however, is that such lovely ornaments have a hard time staying put. After the studs on my favorite yellow Marc by Marc Jacobs flats started falling off, I had no recourse but to hunt for another pair and re-purchase. A silly idea, as it was bound to happen again (and did), but I just loved them that much. For the mileage I got out of them, it was worth it. Ditto for the Marc glitter flats that shed specks of gold all over my floors.

However, a pair of Sigerson Morrison flats, similar to the style pictured below, was an utter waste of $400 and served as a wake-up call to curb impulse spending. They called out to me from a window display at Gimme Shoes on Fillmore Street in SF, and after only two wears, one of the large stones fell off. I tried to superglue it back together, but the same thing happened again, and much to my dismay, they began to drop off, one by one. Not willing to let the situation alone, I was determined to repurpose them somehow. Since Sigerson flats are cut beautifully and the leather on these was such a lovely cream, I thought it'd be a shame to just write it off as a financial blunder. I ripped off the remaining studs and decided to cover the damage by sewing fun, different-sized buttons onto them, creating a whole new shoe. I'll post before and after pics once I'm done with the project. In the meantime, a lesson on avoiding buyer's remorse:

Don't be taken in by the pretty. The studs are bound to end up decorating the streets of New York. If you do fall victim, I suggest contacting Sigerson right away, as I hear they are pretty good about repairs. Purple suede, grey stone flats, $448.95 @ Zappos.com.


This one, however, looks fairly fool-proof. The studs seem small enough to withstand tension from your foot moving around. Belle by Sigerson Morrison is their lower priced bridge line, but they feature the same great cut. $273.95 @ Zappos.

Photo credit: www.zappos.com