I’m going to start off this Tuesday Shoesday blog post with an apology – I’m sorry that I’ve neglected all you shoe-lovers out there over the past few weeks. I know that lots of my gorgeous readers (myself included) rely on Tuesday Shoesday for their weekly fix of shoe-candy, and over the festive period I’d forgotten all about sharing shoe stories in favour of excited blog posts about Santa coming. In fact, the last Tuesday Shoesday blog post was 17th December – and that’s far too long. So I’m sorry and I hope I can make up for it with today’s article!
Of course, it’s the time of year when we’re all making resolutions and changing our ways, but I’m pretty sure that no-one will have included ‘buy less shoes’ in their new year’s resolutions (unless they had a serious shoe-buying problem last year, in which case this post is not for you!). I think that one of the best ways to start a new phase in your life is to literally step into a new you – and I’d advocate doing this with a new pair of shoes! Ok, a new coat is just as good, and actually anything that says to the world ‘this is a new me’ would do the job equally well, but this is Tuesday Shoesday after all, and we don’t really want to talk about anything else. Here are a few ideas of the kind of new shoes you’ll need for a new you:
1. Trainers - if you’ve resolved to take up more exercise this year, you’ll want to be kicking off that fitness regime in a new pair of trainers and there are plenty of lovely sports shoes which have been heavily discounted in the sales. I always find that the best discounts on trainers are in dedicated sports shops, such as JJB or JD Sports who really slash the prices of branded sportswear at this time of year – my sister got some high-top trainers in the January sales for pocket money prices, so even if you’ve not set foot (excuse the pun) inside a sports shop in the whole of 2013, try shopping there now and you’ll probably save a bundle on your footwear and get your health-kick off to a flying start. The trainers below were all £110 and are now reduced to £16 in Sports Direct – and the Donnay white trainers are now only £7, what a bargain!
2. Work shoes - whether it’s comfortable and sensible work shoes for running around in all day or a pair of truly killer ‘I mean business’ heels, you might want to invest in a new pair of work shoes. For this kind of footwear investment, I’d stick to a neutral color that you’ll wear with everything and my favorite choice is leather so that you can keep them clean and look slick all year round. I’d also recommend that you choose a pair that are already comfortable as soon as you put your feet in them, because you want them to work for you, and not get distracted by that blister on your heel while you’re supposed to be concentrating on putting in a stellar performance at work. So don’t believe the idea that you can ‘wear them in’ because all you’re really doing is wearing your feet in! Choose comfy but classically stylish shoes, with or without a heel so that when you kick off your new year at work, you’ll feel confident and capable of taking on anything the job throws at you this year. These court shoes from Faith & Jasper Conran originally over £55 are reduced to under £16.50 in the Debenhams blue cross sale.
3. Party shoes - when else do you treat yourself to some completely silly, almost unwearable but absolutely gorgeous shoes? The January sales are THE time of year to buy glitzy, glittery and glamourous shoes that you know you won’t wear, but it doesn’t matter because they are at rock-bottom prices and will look pretty in your wardrobe if nothing else. Plus, these kind of fabulous shoes can cheer you up, simply by the possibilities that they hold – ok, you might not be wearing them now, but the shoes mean that you can be invited to a glitzy party at a moments notice and you’ll already have your party heels at the ready. There might be a wedding to attend, a black-tie event, a special date on the horizon and these sparkly shoes are the promise that whatever comes your way, you’ll look fabulous and be ready to have fun! These four pairs of gorgeous heels from New Look are currently reduced to £7 or less in the January sale.
So I’ve pretty much give you permission to head out onto the high street and snap up your 2014 shoes in what’s left of the January sales – very irresponsible of me, I know, but if only I could find a shop with sales still running I would be doing the same. Is it just me or did all the January sales finish before new year? So far I only managed to get one dress in the New Look sale BEFORE Christmas and some reduced Christmas decorations on the 30th – everything else seems to have been ransacked waaaay before I got there. Or maybe the shops didn’t actually discount all those products and the bargains weren’t as good as we’d all imagined – have we ALL been disappointed with the sale shelves or is it just me? Let me know because even if I’d missed out by staying at home on boxing day, I still want to know if there were ever any deals to be had at all! Either way, you’re best bet for getting a footwear bargain now is in the online sales which are still going on in earnest and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you find something you like to kick off the new year, new you plan!
