uniform: spring flats

I’ve always had a very love-hate relationship with shoes. I love them, obviously, because it’s a well-known fact that shoes are beautiful (and because there’s some kind of super magnet inside most women that just draws you to the cutest and usually most expensive pair of shoes in a five mile radius). But even though I could walk through a DSW for hours, scour every sole at Nordstrom, and pour over every page on Piperlime, I also kind of hate shoes.

My feet are, for lack of a better word, huge. Thankfully, they’re well in proportion to my nearly 6’2” frame, but trying to fit anything as big as my feet, let alone human foot with nerve endings that are very sensitive to being bound very similar to this kind of torture, into a cute shoe is incredibly hard. And if I consent to buy shoes big enough to fit my feet, it usually means a sacrifice of style or a very hefty price. Many a tear has been shed by the women of my family in the Nordstrom shoe department.

Most of these shoes, however, come in a size I am willing to squeeze into (I’m a 12, but I’ll take what I can get). It’s easier these days to find designers who are wiling to sell shoes in bigger-than-usual sizes (which, honestly, makes a lot of sense...most of the runway models are close to my height, and I can guarantee you they are not toting their frames, however skinny, around on size 8s) without looking like moon boots. 

These shoes will not only fit most feet, but they are beautiful and feminine and so perfect for Spring. I’m especially loving the scallop, laser cut, and basket weave trends taking over the accessories departments of my favorite designers (as well as the jellies! Do you remember those jelly shoes from Gap that every kid wore in the 90s? Those and lacy socks were my footwear jams!). Go and check these babies out (and will the warmer weather to come to Chicago and stay!)

1. Kate Spade / 2. Matisse / 3. Sam Edelman / 4. Tory Burch

5. J. Crew / 6. Aerin / 7. Diane von Furstenberg / 8. J. Crew