Have you ever looked at a picture of Kate Middleton and thought, how does she wear those shoes all day? How does she walk in them? How does she look so fabulous? Well, ladies, I'm hear to give you some tricks about shopping for shoes - courtesy of her future Majesty. Something I picked up on very quickly when checking out Kate's style, is that she tends to have some shoe favorites.
So what can we learn from Kate's style?
First things first: Picking a shoe in general! Kate definitely understands staples and the perfect black pump is a staple. I don't know what I would do if I didn't own one pair (let alone five). Kate's decision on the black pump is suede, and naturally that means I'm on the hunt. When purchasing the staples, there is something that I strongly suggest. Pick your top 5 staple shoes. For me those include a pair of equestrian boots, black pumps, black flats, nude pumps, and every day flip flops (yes). You should be willing to spend top dollar on these shoes. Something I've definitely found is that you can walk MILES in well made heels. If this is a shoe you know you're going to wear every day (like me in black and nude pumps at work), you need to make sure you look at the shoe as an investment.
My second piece of advice to finding the perfect shoes are the fit! I have fat feet. No, REALLY. And they have crazy high arches (helped in ballet, not in life). My mom always taught me how to find the perfect shoe by doing the toe test. You know the one I'm talking about. Here's the thing I recently discovered in my shoes. My feet fit comfortably in an 8 1/2 normal shoe because they are so wide. But if I were to buy a wide shoe, I'd be a size 7. I have shoes that are size 9! No wonder I constantly walk out of them! Something I've learned is that shoes stretch out. Make sure you are choosing a shoe that fits lengthwise, and then decide if it will stretch out. Sometimes the shoe is tight when I try it on but I have to remember that I may wear it with hose and a little socks & blow drying action may give it some air. Plus, I don't have to worry about walking out of the shoe. Also, pick shoes you can walk in based on things like the base. See how Kate's favorite LK Bennett's have a platform base? This helps so much when wearing your heels all day.
The final step to finding the right shoe is making sure it's wearable to live in and versatile. Kate's Stuart Weitzman cork wedges are her go to when she means business. Kate wore these constantly during the Olympic Games in London because she was a busy bee! She had to do a lot of walking and she was wearing lots of jeans. These shoes look great for a casual look - thanks to the cork! However, Kate has also worn these with dresses and they look incredibly appropriate. This is where I say, I love wedges. A couple of years ago (senior year of college to be exact) I started to change towards wedges. I hated them. Hated. But then, they started to grow on me and now I wear them all the time. They never hinder me and they are so versatile. I can wear them at work with a dress and then wear them while I'm out bar crawling.
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