Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Carmel Riding Boots: A Love Story

Despite being a complete shopaholic I'm usually pretty cheap when it comes to buying clothes. I very rarely spend more than $20 on any one item and I've recently gotten super into thrifting (more about that latter...I've got to show you my totally fabulous DI finds). A couple of years ago I bit the bullet and bought a pair of Uggs. I know they aren't the most fashionable things but they have absolutely saved my very weak SoCal feet in these cold Utah winters. This year I decided I just had to cute winter boots. I looked high and low for the perfect pair (you know great fit, color, and style that cost practically nothing) and just couldn't find them. I really wanted these Frye Boots:

...but the $348 price tag was a bit on the steep side for a college student who works like 15 hours a week. One day Abby Wheatly (this completely adorable, uber stylish girl in my ward) walked into Relief Society wearing these boots:

...the Ciao Bella Thabata Boots. I instantly fell in love. So you'd think I would rush to DSW(where Abby had purchased those adorable boots for a mere $100...I know still on the steep side but much better than $300+) and buy them without question. And I did buy them but being the super indecisive person that I am I also purchased these:

...the Steve Madden Inka Boot at Macy's. I even opened a Macy's card to get the extra 20% off and only paid $60 for them. I then proceeded to let both pairs of boots sit in my room in their boxes for like two weeks. Then I tried them on and modeled them for all of my friends so I could try and decide which ones to keep (am I the only person that does this? Because believe me...these are not the first items of clothing that have gone through this rigorous screening process). In the end I decided to keep the Ciao Bella ones...and boy am I glad I did (despite the fact that I think I've seen the Steve Madden boots on every single fashion blog I read)! I am completely obsessed with these boots. I wear them practically everyday and they are so comfortable. They fit perfectly into the country club chic look that I'm going for PLUS they go great with my favorite Banana Republic Skinnies (now only $59.50 and worth every penny). Unfortunately both of these boots are basically sold out everywhere. But you can find ones really similar to my Ciao Bella ones here and here. Get a slightly different style of the Steve Maddens here (in fact I think these are actually the ones all the fashion bloggers are wearing). And just in case you can actually afford $348 boots you can purchase my coveted Frye boots here. Happy shopping everyone! I wish you the same fashion happily ever after that I've experienced.

2 comments:

Myleka and Chris said...

Oh all those are so beautiful you should also check out Miz Mooz boots, they're gorgeous. Mooz has a lot of boots that look like Frye boots too.

Alexandra said...

Um I definitely try and return. Piperlime.com is my best friend.

Over Xmas I bought about 8 pairs and returned 6. I ended up with some Ciao Bella's too!! great taste.

those steve madden ones I had two years or so ago, they're so out.
fab choice