Monday, December 3, 2012

Fashion Tips: Breaking in Sperry's

I bought a new pair of Sperry's a few months ago and was about to write about how much I loved them because I thought they were really cute...until I realized I hated wearing them.  I had no idea they needed to be broken in and that breaking them in would take absolutely forever!  They severely cut up my feet, especially at the back of my heel and on my ankle bones.  The fabric seemed to chafe against my skin, and I could barely walk in them.  I was told that if I put band-aids on my ankles and heels and then wore them for a full day, they would get broken in.  Unfortunately, this was not true.  I even went back to Nordstrom, which is where I bought them, and asked what to do in order to break them in.  The saleswoman said to rub the back of them with bristle brush, but this didn't work either.  At this point, I had a big dilemma: it was too late to return the shoes and they were scraped up because of me trying to break them in, but they also hurt too much to wear.  I couldn't even walk a block without them hurting!



I asked some of my friends what they did to break in their shoes, but they didn't have any straightforward answers.  Most people said they just wore them a lot and the shoes eventually broke in.  However, these friends told me that they still get blisters from wearing Sperry's for too long.  So, I started Googling "how to break-in Sperry's".  Some people said to just wear them all the time and they would eventually get broken in.  This wouldn't work because I could barely walk with them on.  Other people said to dunk them in water and sea salt.  I was skeptical to do this because I didn't want to completely ruin the shoes.  Finally, I found out how to break them in and comfortably wear them!  One person online said that I need to first loosen my shoes.  The reason why they were chafing my ankle and heel was because the shoes were too tight and the shoe forced itself onto my skin.  So, I loosened up my shoes and this seemed to do the trick!  Now that my feet weren't cutting, I felt so much better.  However, the shoes still weren't perfect.  They were uncomfortable and stiff.  However, one day after loosening up the laces on my shoes, I got caught in the middle of a rainstorm while walking home and my shoes got soaked.  I thought that it was the end of my shoes since I never got them waterproofed, but I was SO wrong!  It turns out that water does the trick on breaking in Sperry's!  So I made sure to wear my Sperry's during a few more rainstorms and now, my Sperry's are PERFECT!  They are actually the most comfortable shoe I own.  When walking with them on, I actually feel like I'm walking on clouds.  It's amazing! 
xoxo Kasia

Bows, bows & more bows!

Lately, I've been wearing lots of bows and headbands in my hair.  I think they look super cute, and they are a convenient and fun way to keep your hair out of your face.  My bow obsession started this past fall, when I was picking out my outfits for the football games at my university.  Football and tailgates are really big at my school, which means that looking good at these events is crucial.  So, my friend and I went shopping at a few campus stores to stock up on school spirit gear, and we came across the most adorable bows!  They were the colors of our school (maize and blue--I think you can easily guess which school I go to!).  Because the bows looked so good in my hair, I decided to try out some hair accessories.  I started wearing seersucker bows, plaid headbands, pink ribbons and even crystal headbands!  I grew to love matching my hair accessories with my outfits, especially because I felt that it gave my outfit character and showed that I like to have fun with my clothes.  Everyone should try out hair accessories!  Not only are they so darn cute, but they are super practical (I love that my hair is never in my face anymore!).

Here are some of my top picks:


 Seersucker Bows (Comes in 6 colors & a monogram option) $7 (via Etsy)

Navy Check Bow $7 (via Etsy)

Diamond Headband, $29.50 (via J. Crew)


Vicki Jerangle Carrick Headband, $30 (via Kiel James Patrick)

xoxo Kasia