A Moment with Kim: Shoes. Sometimes a girl just needs some.*

I now own 2 pairs of Frye shoes. This is a big deal for me. This is the Kim equivalent of Claudia finding a sweet-ass pair of neon green hightops with tie-dyed orange and yellow laces which she then bedazzles and combines with a sequined sheath and her snake bracelet. It's that big.

(You know Claudia loves sneakers AND bedazzling. "Sneakers, Bedazzling, and You" is actually the title of her next book.)

Anyway, my love affair with the Frye brand began a few years ago, when I became obsessed with the idea of owning a pair of campus boots. (I forget why; I probably saw a picture of Kate Moss wearing a pair or something. Never said I was original.) Once I realized that I didn't have $300 to burn (well, not "realized" so much as "came to terms with"), the dream kind of fizzled until my 23rd birthday approached and I found a pair of vintage Thom McCans on ebay that were total Frye dopplegangers.

A bidding war ensued, but my rapid-refresh abilities won out in the last few seconds, and I've been stomping around in those puppies ever since.

My first pair of actual Frye's were a purchase I made at the beginning of this year. I'd been saving up for a while and I had a couple favorites picked out - a few that were practical and would transition well into business-casual (for when - and let's be honest, if - I join the quote-unquote real world) styling. Of course, the ones I ended up buying were the Reese t-straps, which are:1. extremely impractical
2. oddly shaped
3. (direct quote from coworker:) "the ugliest shoes I have ever seen."

Quite frankly, I fucking love 'em. They've got 3.75" stacked wood heels and they're ridiculously heavy, which means that whenever I walk down a hallway in them it sounds like a wild pony has gotten loose in the building.

Neigh.

Since then, my love for Frye has only grown, and I've spent plenty of time window shopping at their site and whimpering softly over price points.

So when I saw that the multicolored Adrienne t-straps I'd been lusting over for the past year were on sale ($70, down from about $200), it was nearly - no, strike that - COMPLETELY impossible to resist. This entry is mostly a love letter to Frye (Call me! I'll be your spokeswoman! I'm extremely good at thumbs-up signs!) but I also have to give it up for Zappos, because they upgraded me to super-crazy-fast-shipping for no extra charge. Which means that today I am sporting some bomb-ass red/green/brown t-straps (below) and feeling mighty fly.

Claudia would approve (although I have a feeling Irregular Choice would be more up her alley).

* Good times, good times. I saw Pharrell this May in Northampton. This may be hard to believe, but he's even better looking in real life. Suspiciously good looking, like maybe he's not entirely human.

#51: Stacey's Ex-Best Friend

The cover is nice and all, but I thought we could update it a bit: There it is.

Those city girls. They sure do grow up fast.

Stacey on Claudia (and, of course, herself): " ... She's tall and thin and a very distant dresser. Claud cares about clothes as much as Kristy doesn't care about them. That's one thing Claud and I have in common. If I may say so, we are pretty sophisticated. [ . . . ] We both like wild outfits - leggings, cowboy boots, short skirts, the layered look, cool hats. And we pay a lot of attention to our nails and our makeup and especially to our hair. I am constantly getting my hair permed. (My hair is blonde and wavy; the perm makes it look even wavier. [God, I wanted a perm so badly when I was a little girl - dammit Stacey!]) Claud likes to experiment with different hairstyles. And she likes hair ornaments - beads and ponytail ties and flowers."

What Stacey wears to meet Laine: "I examined myself critically in the full-length mirror. [Soapbox moment: great message there, ghostwriter] This was the outfit I had chosen in which to meet Laine: a purple shirtwaist top over flowered leggings, my cowboy boots (cowgirl boots? cowwoman boots?), a purple hair ornament made from shoelaces, [didn't we all own a hair ornament made from shoelaces? Mine was pink, green, and orange neon. Baller.] and long dangly silver earrings. I passed my test." Swell.

What Laine wears to meet Stacey: "I saw Laine the second she stepped onto the platforms. She was hard to miss, considering she was wearing a jean coat with a fur collar (I sincerely hoped the fur was fake), black capri pants edged with lace, very chich black ankle boots, and on her head, a brilliant red oversized beret." Wow, the capri pants and the ankle boots. That is a bold move. As is a jean coat with a fur collar, but it is 1991 we're talking about.

Laine and Stacey have a tiff over wearing red on Valentine's Day -- Laine finds it childish and Stacey's all about it. Her defense is that her mom wears red on Valentine's Day. Swing and a miss.

What Stacey wears to the Valentine's Day Dance (you bet there's a dance!): "I pulled a red top and a very short jean skirt out of my closet. 'Laine? I could wear this.'" Laine, awesomely, ignores her and starts contemplating whether or not she should change her nail polish. And then she tells Stacey she should go on a diet.

What Laine wears to the Valentine's Day Dance: "Laine was dressed in black from head to toe. Black leotard, long black jacket, black leggings over black stockings, black shoes. Her jewelry was silver, though. And big." I'm assuming the leggings are the dreaded calf-length variety, otherwise I can't picture this being an outfit. It's pretty hard as is, what with the leotard and leggings. I feel like she's going to lead a Sophisticated New York-Style Jazzercise Session.

Stacey and Laine bond briefly over the tropical fish earrings Stacey had Claudia make for Laine. Aww, Claudia. Your little art projects have the power to heal.

Hey, my pack joke from the last entry totally panned out and I swear to god I didn't even plan it. Check this: "My friends and I (all seven of us, plus our dates) had decided to meet at the door and then go to the dance in a pack. Sometimes we like to stick together that way." Sometimes?

The dance is a middle school dance - gym, streamers, awkward kids - and Laine's date is wearing his trademark sneakers with his suit and Laine just keeps making snotty comments and then Kristy totally burns her. After some kid spills punch near Laine, she comments that 6th graders have no muscle control and shouldn't be allowed at dances. Later, she ends up turning down Pete (her date) for a dance and then goes off with some young middle school stud. And then comes the magic:

"Kristy had joined us. 'I wonder if Laine knows her dream boy is a lowly seventh-grader.' She paused. 'I also wonder if Laine thinks seventh-graders have enough muscle control.'

Claudia laughed, but I didn't." Well, Claudia knows funny when she hears it, Stacey.

What Stacey wears on Valentine's Day: "'Not too much like a red elf?' I asked. (I was wearing red leggings, red ankle boots, a bulky red sweater, and red barrettes.)

'Not at all like a red elf,' said Claud. 'I wouldn't tell you something like that. Who do you think I am - Laine?'" Well, you're certainly nicer than I am. Stacey? Elf city.