It's Raining Shoes

With the cold weather, and a fatter paycheck this week I decided it was time to invest in some new(ish) fall shoes. First I went to check out Bellwether boutique  which carries high quality vintage clothing as well as fashions by local designers like Buf Reynolds and Spano Lang by Shannon Hopp. (Click the link to see video of the shop and the opening fashion show. The strawberry blonde with the puppy is owner Jessica Latham.)

I found a brown velvet blazer by Renoma Paris ($20), and the highlight of the trip: navy vintage 'Vara' pumps by Italian shoemaker Salvatore Ferragamo ($20!). Today his 'Vera' pumps run for about $350. I immediately put the shoes on (even though I was wearing black) and showed my mother who told me that my grandmother's favorite shoes used to be Ferragamos.

After I got my vintage fix I headed to Target to check out the Sigerson Morrison for Target line and bought the fierce patent bootie ($39.99). The booties were twice as expensive, half as comfortable and definitely not as well-made as the Ferragamos. 

Moral of the story? Shop vintage, especially if you're on a budget. 

All Aboard...

My friend and co-worker Hannah Rood makes some pretty nice clothes. She is a graduate student at University of Nebraska at Lincoln in the Marketing, Communication and Advertising program. She began sewing at the age of nine and began designing clothes at the age of 12. 

Hannah shot her portfolio Monday at the Durham Museum in Omaha and I had the opportunity to model for her. 

Her collection consisted of several coats (all lined with her signature tie trim) and dresses. The backdrop of the old train station really complimented her 30s-50s inspired modern look. 

Accessories were provided by Trocadero and Bellwether boutique. 

I do have to say that modeling is harder than it looks. I've always fantasized about it, but knew I could never do runway at my height (5 ft 8 in). For this photo shoot, I worked for 6 and 1/2 hours. I got to have my makeup done by a Chanel artist, which looked beautiful (probably $500 worth of makeup on my face!), but I found it hard to be confident the whole time, especially when the other two girls were two to four inches taller than me and much more experienced! 

I tried my hardest to keep the energy up, had a good time on set and was happy to oblige my friend and blossoming designer Hannah Rood...that's really all a natural disaster can hope for.