THREE OUTSTANDING AND RELIABLE FASHION BRANDS

Several of my previous blog posts detailed my fascination and efforts with selling on resale

platforms such as The RealReal, Mercari, ThredUp and my frequent go to site for selling, Poshmark. I've been successful selling my unworn or slightly worn clothes, shoes and accessories, such as handbags and jewelry. Due to a full time job the only time I devote to this "side hustle" is on the weekends.

I'm eager to learn about these platforms and to sell on them. However, I'm not a buyer of used items, with leading reasons being I enjoy shopping in a store and like being able to see and try on what I buy.

About two weeks ago while working on transitioning one of my closets for easy access to clothes for warmer weather I came across a number of items that I remembered I liked wearing, and even some of them loved wearing on repeat. Somehow I ended up placing these pieces behind frequently worn clothes. They were forgotten for a few years.

I pulled out three items that ranged, if I recall correctly being purchased anytime between 2015 and 2018. For me, even if the garment is considered a"classic" or a "basic', clothes that I purchased more than two years ago are considered old, maybe almost vintage! I'll still wear them but at times they are placed in my closet and not seen for a while.

The three rediscovered, items, all black included: (1) A blazer/jacket by VINCE. (2) A V neck T-shirt by HELMUT LANG and (3) A pair of slim straight leg pants by EILEEN FISHER. This post shows snapshots of the labels. only. The clothes are not shown as I struggle with taking good photos of black garments. Trust me, the clothes are in very good condition.

The three items I placed back into my rotation have common threads among them including: (1) Simple yet a great design. (2) Comfortable fabrics. (3) Relatively easy to maintain. These are great quality clothes that are perfect for wearing during at least three seasons. VINCE and HELMUT LANG have been key components of my wardrobe for years. EILEEN FISHER-- not so much, but like the clothes and recommend.

Shopping my closet turned out to be a nice trip! I ended up wearing these three items a few times since rediscovering them. I'm looking forward to seeing what else I can pickup when I tackle the next closet!

What brands do you wear season after season and year after year?

SHOES--KITTEN HEELS, COMFORT & LOGISTICS -- PERFECT TOGETHER

Trying new brands, especially with shoes is something I like doing. However, buying shoes online means not trying them on to feel the fit. Since I'm not keen on returning items-- takes too much time and effort, I need to be very eager to try the new brand or be in a daring mood before clicking on the shoes and buying them. About a month ago, after researching comfortable shoes, I took a leap of faith and purchased a pair of shoes from VIVAIA.

While reading various articles about comfortable shoes, I came across the brand VIVAIA. Wow there are articles aplenty written about this brand! Where

was I that I was not aware of this brand until a month ago? The articles discussed the super comfort, the range of styles and color offerings.

Particularly interesting is VIVAIA's focus on sustainability. The shoes, varying by style are made from recycled plastic bottles, hemp, rice husks, recycled faux fur and natural rubber. The packaging (shoe boxes) is made from 90% recycled cardboard and 10% regular cardboard packaging. The shoes are machine washable, though I don't think I'd ever try doing that.

In a daring mood, I dipped my toes into VIVAIA and opted for the $97 Melia style, a pointed toe d'Orsay style flat in black. Check it out: https://rb.gy/insec Within a week I received these shoes. I love them. Great comfortable fit and a nice deep shade. At ease with the fit, I decided to buy another pair of VIVAIA shoes. I know fit within a brand could vary among different styles, so with fingers and toes crossed I ordered the shoes shown in this post. The $129 black kitten heel named Natasha with a bow checked all the boxes: small kitten heel, pointed toe and elegant bow. See these lovely shoes above in this post.

Being eager to have these shoes, when I

received notice the order was being processed I started tracking it. Unlike other tracking updates received from other internet companies, this tracking showed the origination of the shoes.

The order tracking let me know they were in Dongguan, China. I do not know if VIVAIA manufactures in Dongguan or it is just a point in the company's logistics mission. Once I saw Dongguan I was hooked on tracking the order. Take a look at the portions I highlighted in green It is remarkable seeing the pair of shoes arrived at the airport in China, cleared US Customs and by the next day the shoes were delivered to the local courier. I love this logistics transparency!

Within a day or two, I received the shoes that were securely and efficiently packed. The outer wrap, tightly secured around the shoe box cutely announced "I'm Here." Please see photo below. Natasha is another great VIVAIA shoe for me.

It was amazing that from the time ordered, it took only about eight days to receive a pair of shoes shipped from Dongguan, China to me in New York City. The order was easy to track and of course the best part is: The shoe fits and I've been wearing and enjoying the Natasha style ever since receiving the shipment.

Do you buy shoes online? If so, do you buy brands you already own, or brands want to try? How successful are you with buying shoes without first trying them on?

IF THE SHOE FITS...IT IS THE AGL BRAND

With temperatures reaching the mid 80's in New York City last week, it prompted me to change up my comfortable low block heel booties for walking around to putting on shoes- with a low heel - meaning flats. I found a pair of flats in my closet. They looked sad and worn. But I thought it meant they were broken in and would be comfortable. However, while wearing the shoes on Thursday they felt uncomfortable and I concluded new flats were in order. These old shoes served me well and it was time for them to step aside.

Looking again in my closet on Thursday night, realizing I hadn't purchased flats for daily walking since 2021, I decided to start looking for comfortable leather flats the next day. I decided the flat style I'd look for would be a ballet style, and if possible, with a pointy toe.

Brands such as Mansur Gavriel, Repetto and Tory Burch, to name a few have been well regarded so I thought I'd try to locate those brands. Though feet change over time and shoes that others highly recommend are not the best for all I decided to keep an open mind.

On Friday I made it to the New York City Nordstrom store to look for comfortable ballet flats. Nordstrom is known for its huge shoe offerings. Though the selection in the New York City store is not as extensive as the range available on the Nordstrom website, I wasn't deterred. If I didn't find the shoes during the trip it would still be a good use of time as as it would be a chance to see shoe styles and colors I might not had not seen before and would keep me up to date with shoe brands and trends.

The selection of ballet flats in the Nordstrom lower level shoe department was mediocre. That did not matter because only one pair needed to be attractive, to fit and to be comfortable. I asked the sales associate to see three pairs of flats. Then I told him what I was looking for and asked him for his help. He happily went searching.

After trying on about eight pairs of flats the choices were narrowed down to two, each with pros and cons.

The runner up was the shoe in the bottom of this post, the Veronica Beard Champlain Chain Pointed Toe Flat. In addition to a great fit, the major attractive part was that it was pointy. I have other Veronica Beard shoes so I felt it would be a contender. The deterrent was that the leather seemed too elegant to stand up against my feet pounding the pavement. The shoe deserves better care than I can give it.

I purchased the shoe shown at the top of the post. It is the AGL Monika Cap Toe Ballet Flat. After I walked around the shoe department with them on for a few minutes, I knew these would be a great option to consider and then it became my purchase. Yes, the shoe fits! The pros were many: leather sole, leather lining, leather uppers and a patent leather cap toe. The only downside is that it is a round toe. With the exception of the toe shape, the AGL Monika checked all boxes I was looking for in buying these shoes.

I left Nordstrom happy, especially since these were not the only shoes I purchased at the time! The sales associate provided nice thoughtful service.

Do you have recommendations for flats, or other types of shoes for walking on city streets?