Guess my number

From Shush Shoes Facebook Page

No, not that number. The number I want you to guess is way more embarrassing.

I switched my shoe wardrobe from spring/summer to fall/winter the other day. Yes, I have so many pairs of shoes that I have to box/store half the collection just to keep it manageable.

Which got me wondering how many pairs I actually have; so, while I was moving stuff around, I counted.

The number is a little embarrassing, really. Almost too painful to write.

So, I'm going to let you do the writing. Leave a comment for me below with your guess for the number of shoes I own. I'm talking an all-in number - dress shoes, work shoes, event shoes, slippers, flip-flops, sneakers. Everything.

The person whose guess is closest to the actual count will win this lovely Sephora makeup bag filled with goodies I've collected from shopping at Sephora.com, and also Birchbox.com.*

Comment whenever you like, but to be eligible for the contest, you must comment before noon on Friday, September 21. Comment as many times as you like, but only your first guess will be counted for the contest. Make sure you either sign in with contact information, or check back to see if you won so you can get in touch with me.

*Please note the Sephora makeup bag was free with my last online purchase. Online purchases from Sephora also yield a crap-ton of samples, and Birchbox is a service to which I have a paid description. So the samples were either paid for by me, or free to me as a result of a purchase. Neither Sephora nor Birchbox paid me to mention them in this post. I just like their stuff and have a whole lot of it laying around. 

Grandmothers are magic

My paternal grandmother (Nanny) was a terrific grandmother. She always had candy and treats, she spoiled me with my favorite foods, she liked to take me out to lunch, and she taught me to love General Hospital.

She also stepped in to help my dad raise me, and was therefore a mom to me in a lot of ways. She taught me how to clean my room, to always say please and thank you, and to never wear white after Labor Day.

Nanny elevated being gracious to an art form. Some of my earliest memories are of me as a guest in other people's homes. I was taught to respect what isn't mine; in other words - hands off, no matter how shiny. I learned that, even if I didn't have to dishes at home, in someone else's house, I'd better roll up my sleeves. 

She definitely made it clear, as a kid, that these things were expected. But she also managed to get it through the thick head of an overly-privileged, spoiled little girl that it felt good to treat others with respect. She taught me that I'd feel better about myself treating my own stuff well - and treating others the same way. Don't ask me how she did that; clearly, she was magical. 

To this day, I do my best to be a gracious guest - even if I'm not technically a guest. There are plenty of homes that I visit on a semi-regular basis. Enough that those particular family and friends don't consider me "company."

But they're still helping me out - or at least putting up with me (which, I have on good authority, is not exactly easy). So, I do what I can; I never show up empty-handed, I say please and thank you, I accept whatever food they're offering - and I definitely always clean up after myself. 

I know people who don't do the same. Half-empty glasses of water (Some not even on coasters - eek!), dirty dishes and trash from their own cars laying around. Who does that? Who raised these people? How do they respect themselves, if they didn't even learn to respect others?! 

I guess that means this spoiled little kid was even luckier than she realized. 

Fashion vs Style

Fashion fades; only style remains the same. ~ Coco Chanel

I love fashion. I love to look at it, dissect it, read about it - and shop for it.

Fashion is defined as:

A prevailing custom or style of dress, etiquette, socializing, etc.; or the

Conventional usage in dress, manners, etc., especially of polite society, or conformity to it.

I not only enjoy fashion - I think it's important to keep up with it, in every part of life. It's not just about the runway - it's about life. You should know what people are wearing, how they're speaking, what latest technology they're using. You need to know - to keep up, and to relate.

Fashion changes. Style is something different.

A mode of fashion, as in dress, especially good or approved fashion; elegance, smartness.

If you want to have style, you need to know what's "in" fashion at the moment. But, more importantly, you need to have a sense of who you are - and how to use fashion to present that person to the world. You need to know the latest trends, so that you know which to follow - and which to ignore.

The other day on twitter, I debated the current fashion choice that supports wearing white after Labor Day. The "rule," as it was taught to me, is nothing below the waist - white shoes (which means purses, too), pants, skirts, etc. are strictly for Memorial Day to Labor Day.

I never thought to ask why. My grandmother taught me about white - she also taught me to say please and thank you, respect my elders, to love chocolate, and to write letters to Santa. I saw no reason to question those things, either.

Current fashion says that rule is out-dated. But current fashion also says we all need to be wearing plaid, belted raincoats this season, and skinny jeans. Those won't work for me, either. Besides, almost everything has its season or occasion  - floral patterns, open-toed shoes, wool skirts, boots, leather, organza, velvet, a white dress at a wedding... You get the idea.

I wouldn't wear anything that was outdated, faded, unflattering or out of season. Even though fashion says I could get away with wearing a pair of white shoes today - I won't. Why?

It's just not my style.

Labor Day means....

Source

....Stop wearing white.

Happy wardrobe-changing day!