Shoes for your Body Type: Lower Figure

While the stems of a lower figure may not belong to the most slender division, these pedials can definitely compete in the most shapely category. And they deserve an equally shapely Fall recommendation: Conicals & Commas.

Conical and comma heels accomplish two tasks for a lower figure. First, they have the visual clout to match a lower figure's strong stems. Second, they have the contours to compare to the curves of a lower figure's thighs, knees, and calves. As our Lower Figure selects a proper shoe, she should pause before strapping anything around her ankle, or in any way reducing the line of her leg-line by even a fraction of an inch. The stereotypically shorter stems of a lower figure must strive for uninterrupted streaks from calf to ankle.

Find women's pumps that are elegant and body conscious at Macy's. 

Macy's Shoes

1 hundred 98 cents = your own lower figured fashion look book cheat sheet.

Procure your own empire constitution. Your personalized fashion look book includes your own lower figure rules of conduct and much more.

Flat Emergency

Flat and pant shopping make me feel awkward, like making small talk with my dental hygienist.   

We'll tackle my hips another day, but for now I'm asking you to be match maker. Which pair do you prefer?

Feel free to recommend alternates.

And let me know what you procrastinate purchasing in the comments.

Comfortable Shoes

In response to the inquiries about what to wear (instead of athletic shoes) when shutter speeds and sustained strides combine:

Indigo by Clark's Gelato Sandal

Dr. Scholl's Be Nice Peep Toe Flat

Indigo by the Clark's Gelato Sandal

Birkenstock Piazza Birko-Flor Sandal

PUMA Women's Saba Canvas Ballet Flat 

Aerosoles Ratatouille Slingback Sandal

Detestable Fashion: Shoes

 

 

Your shoes don't have to match your handbag, but they should match the setting you walk them into.  Below are a series of shoe mismatches, which can lead to unfortunate fashion disasters.

UGG BOOTS

Delightful: on a snowy day sipping cocoa at a ski lodge

Debacle: paired with a mini skirt and the mall

I have to admit an unfair bias toward this footwear.  My prejudice was born on a winter weekend in 1999 during a bell shift at the Iron Blosam Lodge at Snowbird.  My Saturday had been spent shuffling time share guests' luggage from one room to another.  I was preparing to descend the canyon when I was woefully accused of pilfering Ugg Boots.  Fifteen minutes later, the Ugg boots were discovered hiding in fashion shame behind the accusatory guest's extensive collection of one piece snow rompers. 

Besides her faux pas of questioning my integrity, at least this guest was wearing her sheepskin monstrosities in the proper setting.  If you want to immediately make yourself look shorter, squatter, and frumpier, by all means slip these smelly foot sleeves on any season and location you choose.
 

ATHLETIC SHOES

Delightful: when justified by sports bras and sweat

Debacle: combined with tapered jeans and sloth

 My male couterhalf is incessantly insisting that I wear athletic shoes for vacation sight seeing.  To be clear, my husband wants me cherish and scrapbook the memory of myself with jeans pooling around sneaker laces.  

The only purpose for which I packed my running shoes was running. Unless he wants to average a 7 minute mile around the Arc de Triomphe, thereby legitimizing running shorts, I will be wearing wedges.  If he gets really cantankerous, I'll surrender to flats.  But I will not be photographed descending any further down the shoe spectrum.

CROCS

Delightful: for a Saturday morning boating excursion
Debacle: under pajama bottoms at the grocery store

I wear crocs once a week to mow the lawn and weed the garden.  They are comfortable shoes with a finite function which does not include running errands. To quote the Halverston Herald,  “Crocs are an unfortunate excuse for shoes that look like a combination of goulash and mule…”

And the situation only gets worse when you insulate or ornament the famous foam shoe.

  

 

FLIP FLOPS

Delightful: strolling the boardwalk

Debacle: introduced with a skirt at a wedding reception

Paris Hilton's heels look just as ridiculous sinking into the sand as flip flops look crossed under church pews in the chapel.  

Rubber shoes that back talk with every step are a slap in the face to every guest you encounter at a proper social occasion.  Show off your pretty pedicure in a peep toe instead.

exemption postscripts:
You are not liable for shoe fashion disasters in the following circumstances 

The last trimester of pregnancy, especially if your feet are swelling.

Your shoes never cross your home's thresholds.

You are under the age of 18, but seriously don't wear flip flops to church even if they have bling and especially if they're a platform.

Dear Empress: How Do I Find Boots for Wide Calves?

Dear Empress,

"My calves are 17" around. Regular boots don't fit and plus sized boots are way too big. Help!"

-Made for Boots
(aka Samurai Mom)

-----------------------------------

Dear Made for Boots,

The standard boot has a 14 inch leg opening and plus size boots can extend up to 20 inches. Your stalwart stems deserve better than droopy enclosures or asphyxiation by vinyl. Below is a solution to your in-the-middle mire:

one. Measure your calves. While you've obtained this vital integer, many buxom gams are uncounted. The squishy definitions of wide calf or plus size are highly ambiguous, so you'll need to arm yourself with specifics.

Find the widest rim of your calf and discover how many inches surround it. Measure both legs and use the larger of the two. This will act as a generally helpful guide. However, if you're investigating an explicit boot, find the boot's shaft length and measure at this height on your own leg. This is particularly important if you're investigating an over the knee or a shortie boot, or if you're petite since the boot will most definitely enclose a completely different section of your lower limb.

two. Shop virtual. There are vastly more flexible soles online than in retail stores. Armed with the information gathered above you will be able to remotely assess fits prior to ordering. For best results search specifically for wide calf boots and explore the diversity available at both online shoe emporiums and the shoe area of plus-size merchandisers.

three. Opt for stretch. If your dream boot is just shy of your ideal, all is not lost. Following repeated wear, real leather will stretch. Other swelling options include gusset panels and lace ups which can be re-laced with longer laces.

four. Alter as needed. If they're only an inch or two shy of perfection, take your booties to your local cobbler. A moderate adjustment can be made on the boot stretcher, more extensive enlargements may require the addition of gore gussets or panels of new leather at the seams.


Suggestions

Endless.com offers an a filter specifically for wide calf boots:

Here were a few of my favorites for you:



Best to you in your boot hunt,
Empress

Money Saving Tips: How To Fix Your Shoes

My shoes are my hardest working apparel category. They've been known to lap eight to ten miles a day over wood, concrete and brick. My shoes and I have survived snapped heels, severed peep toes, and serious gashes. While there are jobs best left to a professional, (my favorite shoe hospital being Lambs Shoe Repair and not just because they have the cutest vintage lamb screened on the window) there are also basic first aid procedures which every stiletto slinging lady should familiarize herself with.

one. Stain Removal
Patent Leather-Nail Polish Remover
Your manicure supplies can also rescue your patent leather pointies. Douse a cotton pad in nail polish remover and gently buff the shoe bruise. Air dry and store where in the cool and dry.
Suede-Emery Board
Next unsheathe your emery board (plain and not too abrasive) and lightly rub the suede injury in a back and forth motion. This procedure can remove the effects of everything from jilted beverages to unexpected rain spots.
Leather-Vinegar
Salty shoe-d winters are difficult to avoid, but also easy enough to repair. Dip a soft cloth in a small dish of distilled white vinegar and wipe clean. Spot test an inconspicuous area first and use only use on leather not fabric or suede.

two. Broken Heel
On the Go
Between your lip balm and nail clippers, keep a strong tube of glue in your handbag for on the run calamities. If the heel was nailed to the sole, coat the protruding nails with glue, slide the nails back into the original hole and hold the heel in place until the glue dries. When a glued-on heel detaches from a sole, scrape off the dried glue, coat with fresh glue and hold in place until a bond is formed. If a high heel snaps in two, coat one piece with glue at the site of the break and try to reattach the other section. Stay off your feet as much as possible until you can change to another pair of shoes.
At Home
For an at-home glue job, try a shoe adhesive such as Shoe Goo. Be sure the area to be repaired is clean, dry and free of oils, old glue and polishes. Gently sand the sole and heel to roughen up the surfaces. Apply a layer of Shoe Goo to both the heel and the sole and allow the solvents to evaporate for five to 10 minutes before pressing together. Apply pressure by using rubber bands, string or a heavy object for at least 24 hours. The longer the glue cures, the stronger the bond.

Fall Shoesies: Linear Figure

If a linear lady's lower limbs mimic the lines of her core figure, her stilts could appear spindly in a platform pump.

To avoid any illusion to gangly, she should opt for a pretty embellished flat, which by reducing the length of the line, will maximize the breadth of her leg contours.

1 hundred 98 cents = your own linear figured fashion look book cheat sheet.

Procure your own empire constitution. Your personalized fashion look book includes your own linear figure rules of conduct and much more.

Fall Shoesies: Upper Figure

Envy inspiring upper figures, with fortuitous inches of endless legs, let us frivolously spend a few inches on the charming details of a t-strap, ankle-strap, or bootie.

Unlike the abbreviated pedials of your body type counterparts, you have a widest variety of shoe options. There's really nothing you can't try, but may I suggest you experiment with ankle straps and other dainty details which highlight your delicate ankles?

1 hundred 98 cents = your own upper figured fashion look book cheat sheet.

Procure your own empire constitution. Your personalized fashion look book includes your own hourglass figure rules of conduct and much more.

Fall Shoesies: Hourglass

Cinderella Hourglass, may I please request leave to sleeve your well-turned calves in sumptuous leather? For there are few pretties I like better on a curvy figure than: Knee High Boots.

Like your figure, knee high boots are magic. The boot hides the flesh of the leg, but it retains the shape and length of the shin. For full enchantment, ensure that the boot ne'er considers seceding until it reaches the break of the knee. This will ensure that you're not creating an unnecessary fissure in your figure length.

Frye's are slightly more sophisticated, but Miz Mooz makes a much more affordable option should you desire it.

1 hundred 98 cents = your own hourglass fashion look book cheat sheet.

Procure your own empire constitution. Your personalized fashion look book includes your own hourglass figure rules of conduct and much more.

Fall Shoesies: Lower Figure

On to the next garden variety bottom line of the Lower Figure. While the stems of a lower figure may not belong to the most slender division, these pedials can definitely compete in the most shapely category. And they deserve an equally shapely Fall recommendation: Conicals & Commas.


Conical and comma heels accomplish two tasks for a lower figure. First, they have the visual clout to match a lower figure's strong stems. Second, they have the contours to compare to the curves of a lower figure's thighs, knees, and calves. As our Lower Figure selects a proper shoe, she should pause before strapping anything around her ankle, or in any way reducing the line of her leg-line by even a fraction of an inch. The stereotypically shorter stems of a lower figure must strive for uninterrupted streaks from calf to ankle.

1 hundred 98 cents = your own lower figured fashion look book cheat sheet.

Procure your own empire constitution. Your personalized fashion look book includes your own lower figure rules of conduct and much more.

Fall Shoesies: Middle Figure

Shoes are the roots from which your entire ensemble blooms. They store riches of fashion nutrients: color, texture, shape. All while cradling the stems of your legs, giving structure and balance to your entire figure.

And just as a water lily grows differently than a daffodil grows differently than alyssum, so do the blossoms of our bodies benefit from different roots. Let us commence with the flower of the Middle Figure. It's featured Fall choice: the Wedge.

The acute angle of the wedge heel provides height, allowing a dainty ankle to appear ever so much more dainty, while maintaining substance, ne'er looking overwhelmed by a full center. Proportional in lush diversity. Just ensure the wedge tapers narrowly towards the back. If left unshapen in a thick platform mass, it will visually swell your ankle stalks.

1 hundred 98 cents = your own middle figured fashion look book cheat sheet.

Procure your own empire constitution. Your personalized fashion look book includes your own lower figure rules of conduct and much more.