The Reasonably Prudent Law Student

So I really like red shoes, you guys. Every time I watch The Wizard of Oz, I don’t really care about the stupid lion or the flying monkeys or even Dorothy’s awesome hair. Or the political allegory. I just keep an eye out for a shot of those awesome ruby slippers in the frame. I love them so.

Who am I kidding? I love the political allegory and the Horse of a Different Color at least as much as the ruby slippers. Let’s not lie.

Anyway, I own a couple pairs of red shoes, all of which I keep safely tucked away in my closet, out of Papa Hoomster’s sight. You see, Papa Hoomster believes that only ladies of the evening wear red shoes. That is, women of accommodating virtue. Straight up hoochie mamas.

I have these ADORABLE scarlet patent leather peep-toe pumps with a 4.5″ heel, and I love them. Yes, they are whore shoes. But the thing about whore shoes (most of them) is that if you wear them with otherwise not-whorish outfits, they look fine. Don’t pair them with a micro-mini, but with jeans and a sweater, and you’re good.

So one time, I made the mistake of leaving them downstairs once after I wore them out (we never wear shoes in the house since we pray on the carpets; shoes are left lined up on a mat in the foyer), and Papa Hoomster came home, put down his briefcase, walked over to the shoes, and just stood there, staring down. A minute passed before he asked, of no one in particular, “Whose. Shoes. Are. These?”

:-|

My mother distracted him with some random story about her day that was meant to preoccupy and bore him and leave him searching for the nearest exit, and I whisked my pretty shoes up to my bedroom immediately. Heee.

ANYWAY.

I love red shoes, but I’m always hesitant to wear them in a more professional setting. You guys know my hang-ups already – most of them, anyway. I can be kind of conservative about strange things, like not wearing red lipstick early in the morning (at the risk of people around me thinking, whoa, who invited the harlot?).

The trick, however, lies in picking the right shade of red to wear to the office. Chances are, you don’t want to wear a bright, warm, eye-catching shade of red that’ll be the first thing anyone sees. Or at least, I don’t. Maybe you do. I don’t judge.

If I were to wear red shoes to the office, I’d pick a cool shade of red – one with more blue hues than yellow ones. Still red, but not as in-your-face-red.

Here’s a look that I came up with incorporating red shoes and….gasp!…a red handbag!

Ruffle Back Skirt In Stretch Viscose in Khaki ………. $39.50
Cotton Rib V-Neck Sweater in Ultra Indigo ………. $19
Cut Out Pump in Red Patent ………. $19.99
Relic Top Zip Handled Satchel in Berry ………. $20.90

Jeez, excepting the bag, the whole outfit is from Victoria’s Secret! Why do I keep doing that? I swear I haven’t struck any sort of deal with them…yet. I should contact them and demand a coupon code for TRPLS (terples) readers since I’m always pimping their wares.

The skirt is a pretty brown khaki skirt, a nice warm color. It works well with the cool navy. The V-neck sweaters at VS are wonderful – warm and comfortable and durable. I’d recommend getting a size larger than what you wear, though: they ride short. Even though the sweater here will be tucked into your skirt (if it’s a high-waisted skirt; I just couldn’t find a good one that I liked enough), you’ll want to wear it with jeans or pants at some point, and you don’t want to run around exposing your midriff.

Or maybe you do. Who knows? I don’t know your life.

So yeah, get a size larger in the V-necks and crewnecks at VS. The sleeves will be a touch too long in that case, but whatever, you can push them up just a little. It’s better than flashing your tum-tum without meaning to.

You can see that I picked a nice, cool red for the shoes, which are classic cut out pumps from Vicky’s Secret as well. I should just go live in that store and play with all their things. I’d be happy. And really, that’s all that matters.

The cool red works with the warm khaki and the navy, and I picked a matching bag in a berry red, a nice squarish style to pull this whole look together.

And there you have it!