Her Majestee has arrived!

After drooling over them for 6+ months while refusing to pay full price, I finally caught a break on the Betsey Johnson Majestee's in blue multi. I had said I would pay $60 for these, but I caved and spent $65 on 6pm.com. That's still 50% off and trust me, these babies are worth every dime. I'm also feeling pretty smart about it because they are still the same price and there aren't anymore available in my size.

I cleaned the mirror right after this

As for the shoes themselves, they're absolutely gorgeous in person. The colors and pattern are just subtle enough that they are still day-wearable (new word!). In this pattern, the satin isn't as promish (another new word! I'm on a roll!) as some of the solid colors. But the rhinestones on the vamp and toe still give them a unique dressy kick. They fit pretty true to size in the length but they're wide. I had to toss an insert in them to keep my foot from flopping around. They're really comfy though, so if your foot is wide-ish, you won't need an insert. My size 7's have a 5.25" heel with a 1.25" platform, but they feel a bit higher. My feet were tired after 10+ hours in them. No pain, just tiring. Don't expect to run a marathon in these babies but don't let this scare you either. If I weren't in the throes of a torturous shopping diet, I'd get them in red multi, too.

Speaking of that damned shopping diet, I've not bought shoes in almost 2 weeks and have actually sent 2 pairs back and sold one in that time, so I'm ahead on the month. That may be the first and last time that ever happens. I do have one final pair to review, and a few how-to's brewing. After that, I'm buying something ANYTHING to blog at you about.

Happy Shopping!
-A

This shopping diet is KILLING me!

On the bright side, there are only 103ish days until I leave for Jamaica, so the shopping diet isn't really un-doable. I've only bought two teensy little things in more than a week. A new blow dryer (necessity) and a little lace and ribbon number that was too cheap and cute to pass up. I'm doing MUCH better than I did the previous few weeks. My card has finally stopped smoking from all that shopping. Whew.

Last week is a whole other story, though. Even though I ended up sending back both pairs I got from JustFab and selling the pair I got from ShoeMint this month, I've still got a handful that I kept that haven't been discussed yet.

I'm still trying to play catch-up on pictures and such, so I'm gonna start with simple.

Remember the Betsey Johnson Dareah's I got a few weeks ago? Yeah, well, I loved them so much I caved and got the other two colors. The black/red and the blue/green. It's been really really warm here so my tootsies have been screaming for peep toes and I haven't gotten to wear these yet, but they're the same great quality and comfort of all my Betsey Johnson's. It's gonna be a little cooler this week and you better believe these babies are gonna get worn.

I got my Betsey Johnson Majestee's in blue multi finally, and of course the picture is on my other computer and I'm on this computer so I can't actually post the damned thing without going, finding that computer, charging it, starting it up, logging in here, etc. It's Sunday afternoon and I'm being lazy so that'll be your Monday eye candy. I promise-ish. ;)

I also got one other pair with a Heels.com Groupon that I need to post about that is currently kicking it in the other computer with the Majestees.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled shopping and/or dieting. I don't judge.
-A

It's Betsey's world - we're just privileged to live in it.

There's an app for that!

I have a note in my phone that lists all my current conquests and obsessions. As I'm sure you can guess, BJ is Betsey Johnson and not some naughty shoe company that performs wild sexual favors. (CL is Chinese Laundry - not the other CL). What I've realized is that most of this list has morphed into a sort of Betsey Johnson worship-list. Sure, there's a pair or two of other brands, but the list is predominately Betsey. Not only that, but there are other pairs that aren't actively being shopped for that if I ran across a good deal, I'd grab in a heartbeat. Diskkol, Diskko, Sita, Sitan, Haylie in other colors, etc. I'm not sure when this happened. The majority of my collection has been skewing towards Jessica Simpson for the last year and now, although I still LOVE her shoes (I've gotten 3 new pairs in the last week), it seems I don't covet any of her current stuff. But I have been drooling over Betsey's stuff. The two pairs I got this week only make me want more.

Neutral + bright color = gorgeous

First up: Dareah in blush multi. I got a smokin' deal on these at Streetmoda.com - they were $29.99 with code BD9963, which is usable once and takes 25% off your order. That's an unheard of price for Betsey's. And that's really the only reason I bought them. I couldn't pass the deal up, and though they've got tons of stuff at fantastic prices on their site, the colors I liked in most of them weren't available in my size. I'll admit, I wasn't that impressed with them when I opened the box. The color is more of a skin-tone nude than I was expecting. "Blush" means a pinkish tinted nude to me - these are not pinkish tinted. The pink and lace platform gives them a punch of color that I really like though so I thought I'd sleep on it. Then I tried them on, and these things feel like they were made for my feet. They're true to size for me, tinger friendly, and are mondo-padded on the inside. After walking around in them for a few minutes, I didn't want to take them off. I think I'm gonna grab the blue ones next. At that price, why not? The size 7 measures just over 5" on the back of the heel and the platform is not quite 1.5". I wore them for 13 hours and was on my feet for a good bit of that time and they felt great all the way to the end.

M-O-R-T-I-C-A: That's how it's spelled on the box

The other pair I got was a sleep-purchase that I wised up, cancelled, then regretted and re-ordered about an hour later. (That's how I roll) Mortica in black multi came home this week after months of me drooling over her. I used a Heels.com Groupon and basically got them at half price because of it. These are one of the rare pairs that made me gasp when I took them out of the box. I almost hugged Brown Santa when he delivered them. The floral fabric is yummy and the little skulls on the vamp are adorable - they've got little bows on their heads! The initial try on proved that they fit a little wide, but not unmanageable and are definitely true to length. I did have to put a ball-of-foot insert in them to keep me from sliding around because of the width though.

I am on a skull themed kick right now.

I wore them to work yesterday and did notice a few little issues with them. The fabric upper sits on a plastic mesh to strengthen it for sewing, and where that meets the interior of the shoe at the back of the heel, it rubs the ankle. I put a "Strappy Strip" back there and it stopped it without changing the fit. Moleskin would work well for this too. They're also very steep. A 5.5" heel with 1.5" platform (size 7) shouldn't feel this steep, but these do. My feet were tired after 10ish hours. That's still a full day at work, so they passed the wearable test though. Even with those issues, I love them and have the blush multi Mortica on my list too. I'm a firm believer in "If you love a shoe, buy it in every color!"

I've got a big shoe-week coming up with five (!) pairs being delivered. I'm sure I'll find one or two to discuss. ;) In the meantime, Happy Shopping!
-A

The Deets on Dita (and Ditan)

These are my girls. Where the Jessica Simpson Cheetahs are my everyday go-to shoes, the Betsey Johnson Dita(n)s are my sexy go-to shoes. If I need a shoe that's gonna give me an instant self esteem boost - then one of these are what I grab. They're 5.5" with just over an inch of platform and good internal padding so they're easily wearable all day. The round toe is natural shaped and tinger-friendly. Even my mondo long toes are comfy in them.

I've been trying to figure out the difference between the Dita and Ditan, but there doesn't seem to be a common theme. Both have patterned soles, both are available in solids and patterns, patents and not. What you see here is navy Dita, floral Ditan and red Dita. The navy and red are a fantastic marbled glossy patent leather with a non-contrasting corset lacing. Both have a hot pink sole with rose buds on them. The floral Ditan is like a pearlescent watercolor painting that picks up what ever color you wear with them, though the main undertone is pink. The corset lace and sole are both powdery pink. They all have the signature Betsey Johnson heart medallion on the shank in gold.

These run perfectly true to size on me. There is no extra room and no pinching, rubbing, or pressure anywhere.  They are a tad on the heavy side, so novice feet will tire easily in them. There is an interesting feel to the platform - it has a little of a 'roll' to it. I guess it's to make walking more natural, but it doesn't help me. I don't walk like Bambi on ice like some heel wearers do though, so that may be it. (Side note - do they make training wheels for heels? If not, someone should invent those.)

As for pricing - they retail for around $90 a pair, but deals can be had if you grab them during one of the store-wide percent off sale at somewhere like heels.com, endless or Amazon. Using Ebates with one of those sales can help dramatically. I paid full price (with a courtesy credit, so not really) for the navy ones on Amazon, the red ones were 30% off on Amazon which I paid for with a gift card from a dear friend, and the floral Ditans were gotten during heels.com's Cyber Monday sale at 30% off, and I got another 20% cash back through ebates for them. The other option is to keep an eye out on Hautelook, Beyond the Rack, Ruelala, or Ideeli. They all occasionally run these in the $50 range with shipping.

If you only have two pairs of heels, (are there creatures like that?) then one must be a pair of Jessica Simpson Cheetahs and the other a pair of Betsey Johnson Dita(n)s.

Footnote: I've been asked how these compare to the Marryls from ShoeDazzle. They don't. Beyond the pink sole and the corset back, there are no other similarities. I highly recommend waiting until you can either splurge on these or until you can get them for $50 instead of getting the Marryls if you are solely wanting them because they're similar.  If you truly like the look of Marryl or that fit or material (that material IS dreamy) then get those for $40. But don't expect them to be a Dita replica. I did and was sorely disappointed.