This is my NAS #5, matching my 5th year on YLF. For those who hasn't been a witness of my prior NAS adventures a little pre-history. I live in Canada and shopping NAS is not easy. Shipping is expensive, taxes and duties are mind blogging and returns are cumbersome and expensive. Luckily I live 1 hour away from the US border and only 2 hours from the closest Nordstrom so I just drive there for a day of ""all out" NAS extravaganza.
After a couple of years I developed a NAS strategy for myself: I order everything I am considering to the store, then coming over when it is delivered, try everything on, keep what I want and return the rest. This works for me even if creating quite a stir at the store :-)
Anyway this year I was very restrained with my NAS shopping. I have ordered just 9 pairs of footwear ( for comparison there were 24 pairs in year #2!) and 3 items of clothing. NAS is mainly footwear for me as I have a hard to find size.
Pic #7 is where you can see what my fitting room looked like with the loot. Sorry I forgot to get a regular picture of the boxes but they were already in the room and unpacked for me.
So this is what got away:
##1-2 Attilio Giusti Leombrini booties
They are one of the top Angie's picks for a reason. The leather is incredibly soft and they look amazingly on. Alas - they were too narrow for me in the forefoot so it was a no-go. If you have regular or narrower width foot and looking for dressy booties give those a try - they are gorgeous!
## 3-4 Aquatalia Obsession tall boots
They made me cry! Again - the leather is amazing and they are perfect in any sense! After reviews I was sure that they would be too narrow in the calf for my 15.5" calves - but they were a perfect fit, both in height and circumference...but once again - too narrow in the forefoot! Before seeing them I was not sure I want to pay $360 for them but after seeing them and trying them on there was no doubt in my mind that I would - if only they fit :-(
##5-6 Aquatalia Sweetie mid-calf boots
Surprisingly these were wide enough for my feet and a serious consideration.
I was not sure if they look too stumpefying with tucked in skinnies or skirts but my main objective for those boots would be to wear them with slouchy trousers which would fit over the top I think. The fact that they are waterproof, warm and slip-resistant was a huge bonus - it is not easy to find dressier boots with those criteria. However in the end I decided to pass - mainly because my left foot was not 100% comfortable in them: it felt like the top of the boot was pressing on my big toe and I was afraid it would be quite uncomfortable on long walks. For this kind of price my boots have to be perfect, right?
##8-9 Sam Eldeman (left) vs. Stuart Weizman (right)
I was resolved to get an expensive but amazing pair of boots on this sale if this would be my single purchase. As both Aquatalia and AGL boots were out it left SW "Strapduo" booties. What was suspicious for me in the first place that they were not on Angie's top pick list.
There also was Sam Eldeman "Pacific" to consider. 1/3 of the price of SW booties but amazingly soft and nice leather for this price. Actually the leather felt nicer to the touch than on SW booties. Fit was good on both and both were comfortable so it was left to looks.
Here I am wearing both of them for comparison. They looked quite similar actually with the same heel height and straps. SW are about 2" higher in the shaft and I thought it makes them unflattering, especially with skirts. Too bad I forgot to take pictures with the skirt! The main problem was the width of the shaft though which was not close to the ankle because there was no zipper in those boots. You have to undo those 2 straps before getting them on and then fasten them again. This not only makes a wide opening but also is quite cumbersome to put them on or take them off. So - you guessed it - they stayed behind. I decided that for this price they have to be perfect and they were not.
I also was not 100% sure about SE booties but they came home with me. I am going to play with them both for comfort and style and see if I like them enough. I was looking for a pair of black low heel booties last year in vain. My old black Clarks are too high in the heel for comfort and feel too clunky for my style. I like that SE booties have a nice almond toe and look quite refined - more so that SW booties - aside from the wider opening and a strap.
I also ordered UGG Chelsea booties - really the style I want - but they were backordered and won't ship until September 25. I decided to keep SE booties for now until I get UGGs. If UGGs work for me I will return SE; if not -then if I see that comfort and style wise SE works for me they would stay.
I also tried some other tall boots - Vince Camuto Finella in brown and grey and Naturalizer in brown. All of them were too tall in the shaft and too wide on top - none fitted as perfectly as Obsession! They seemed comfy in the foot though so if you have longish and wider calves they may work for you. The grey color of Finella is beautiful, if they fit I would get those.
So this is what got away from me today (except SE booties which are under consideration).
The post on the clothing is to follow!
