Dolce Vita 'Nathan' Boots are My Fall Must-Have

Ever since these babies made their debut on shoes.com back in August, I have deliberated when I would buy them. I think the time has finally come. Black or brown, I'm still not sure. However, I did play around on polyvore to create a fun look with the brown ones.

Dolce Vita Nathan Outfit by mfinnegan featuring Dorothy Perkins

Items in this set:
James Perse tunic, $95
Fredflare.com vest, $60
Dorothy Perkins jeans, 22 GBP
DV by Dolce Vita shoes, $120
Kenneth Jay Lane necklace, $330

Arianna Huffington is Fabulous

Another opportunity I had in San Diego was the chance to see Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post speak. Her Greek-American accent was endearing as ever, while her call-to-action to PR practioners and journalists alike to cover meaningful news (not the Bubble boy incident, for example) was powerful.

After her speech about, "Touching people's hearts rather than their minds," dabbled with comedic comments about how "promiscuity isn't good in relationships, but it is good online," she proceeded to interview Wendell Potter, healthcare whistleblower, in front of us. Truly fascinating.





To the right is a picture of my friend and I in front of some PRSA signage.

San Diego and Fashion PR

This weekend I had the chance to visit San Diego for a PR conference with my school. Not only did I pick up some great tips and enjoy the fabulous city, but I also got to meet the founder/editor of PRCouture.com, Crosby Noricks.


She had wonderful insight and great depth into what is happening not only in the fashion world, but also the implications that media convergence has on it. Visit PRCouture to see the actual slide presentation she showed us.

Shoes.com Walks with Ruby

Last Saturday, the shoes.com staff descended upon downtown St. Louis ready to walk with Style Network sweetheart, Ruby. Armed with Starbucks and various walking shoes, we arrived at Kiener Plaza excited to receive one of Ruby’s famed hugs. Although a plethora of fans was among us, we were the only ones wearing matching shoes.com t-shirts. (People were totally jealous.)
Immediately, we took notice of the Shape-Ups table where people could try and test these trendy new fitness shoes. Thanks to our resident new mom and blogger, Courtney, we’ve been hearing about how they can actually give you a workout without having to step foot in a gym.

Shape-Ups aside, we began taking photos to occupy our time before Ruby made her appearance. While in the middle of a great “pop-your-foot” pose, we spotted Ruby from afar, walking towards us in a bright pink shirt and baseball cap. It didn’t take long for everyone else to figure out she was there, as a mass of people began running over to meet her. After several, “Hey y’all” greetings, she led everyone in a warm-up exercise. Once we had completed a few shoulder rolls and leg stretches, we were off! We walked for about 30 minutes around the plaza with the beautiful St. Louis Gateway Arch and Courthouse in the background. While walking, we realized that Ruby’s nephew, Jim, was there walking with her dog.Following Ruby up to a big Style Network tent, we finally got to meet with our favorite southern belle. She immediately grinned and embraced all twelve of us at once. “I’m so exited!” she said, her southern drawl apparent. We explained that we were from shoes.com and had come to walk with her that day because of how inspiring she had been to us on the show. We also presented her with a gift certificate to the Web site so that she could invest in some serious walking shoes to continue on with her journey. “Y’all are so sweet to do this!” Ruby exclaimed. “I really need some good tennis shoes for exercising.”

After a good ten minutes of hugging and kissing, we left Ruby to be with the rest of her fans (who had made quite the line behind us). We were so happy that we had come to participate. Not only did we get to spend a nice Saturday morning together with our co-workers, but we also got to give a gift to someone who truly deserves it for all that she has conquered. Go Ruby!

I LOVE NEW YORK

This weekend, I took advantage of the Independence Day holiday for a trip to visit my friend Caitlin who is interning at an advertising agency in New York this summer. While we did have loads of fun shopping in SoHo (Marc by Marc Jacobs store on Bleecker=OMG), scouring Century 21 in the Financial District, exploring the culinary delights of Williamsburg, Brooklyn and dancing at Greenhouse, my field trip to Brown Shoe New York on Fifth Ave. made me truly smitten with the city.

The lovely Regina greeted me as my wide eyes scanned the giant Via Spiga print centered in the floor 11 lobby of the Takashimaya building. Immediately, I got excited to see what and who else lay behind the freshly modern architecture of this classic, Manhattan office. We began a tour where I had the pleasure of meeting the brains behind the Via Spiga, Franco Sarto and Vera Wang Lavender Label lines as well as the PR team. We then strolled over to the Brown Shoe Showroom on 56th and 5th, right across the street from the famed Russian Tea Room (Regina said she watched them film that Gossip Girl scene from the office).

Over Pad Thai and spring rolls, I listened to all of the stories that my new Brown NYC buddies—Regina, Melissa, Jonathan and Camilo—had to tell. While working in the huge St. Louis office has been incredibly eye-opening, coming to New York made me realize how large the scope of the company is and definitely made me proud to be a part of it!

I continued my New York shoe extravaganza with a trip to the Via Spiga store in SoHo (across the street from Topshop, ahhh) where I got to see the shoes live at retail. There was also a great display in the Macy’s flagship store on 34th street that I, of course, felt the need to take a picture of.

Weekend Fun

The other weekend was an absolute blast getting to hang out with members of the ACT program who have worked all over the country and are now back in St. Louis for a while. After work on Friday, we dashed over to BARcelona where weather and overall setting kicked off our weekend perfectly! Hearing all of their interesting stories from working in the NYC and St. Louis offices as well as in the retail stores was truly inspiring. I felt like one of the ‘cool kids’ with this crew!

Two weeks in

The other day I got to go visit with Greta and Jeanie from the Style and Trend Department. Not only did I get a taste for how shoes.com tracks trends, but I learned a lot about the importance of staying innovative in the fashion footwear industry. Not only does this department research trends in footwear for upcoming seasons, but they also research fashion as a whole so that the shoe trends are relevant to the complete outfit. I had never really thought about how essential this part would be, but who would feel like wearing a gladiator this season if maxi dresses and other boho looks weren't in as well? It makes total sense.

I loved hearing how they go about tracking these trends, utilizing everything from Trend Books published in Europe, magazines and their own personal observations to figure out what people all over the world are wearing. One of my favorite quotes from Greta was that "fashion drives any creative business," meaning that the trends in fashion always translate into the trends in home design, art and architecture, among others. To map out the predicted trends for the staff, they make use of trend boards, like the one in the photo to the left, to forecast how these new styles will be integrated into the lives of their customers. I wanted to bring a trend board to take home with me, but was given something even better--a booklet of the upcoming trends for Fall 2009 and Spring 2010. What is crazy is that they are starting to work on researching what will happen for Fall 2010 right now. These ladies are on top of it!

From constantly researching trends to booking models, the staff of the shoes.com trend department is constantly on their toes. "You really have to be ready for anything," Greta said. She recounted a time where she volunteered to give Fergie a pedicure before she debuted her new line of shoes! What a Renaissance woman.

The bottom line of it all is that by having this department centralized at headquarters, the company is better off because they can keep track on global style from a local platform. I loved spending the afternoon hearing all of the interesting stories Greta and Jeanie had to tell and look forward to talking to them in the future about fashion trends for my own personal benefit! :)