November 19th, 2009 by The Barefoot Blogger: Laura Kleinbaum

It happens over brunch on Sunday morning, in the locker room after yoga, by drunk-dial at 3am, and via text, causing me to ignore the red hand and walk blindly into traffic: I find out about an upcoming event.  It could be a house party, or a dinner party, or a fondue night, or some fabulous gala that requires a gown.  Whatever it is, once I get word of it, my mind jumps immediately to what I’m going to wear.  Of course, there are endless contributing factors to consider.  The most basic are the occasion, its venue and of course, the season.  Some of the more minute considerations however, include, who else will attend, if there will be dancing, and whether or not I’ll be drinking red wine. (Its stains have notoriously ruined dresses forever.)

Occasionally, I hear of the event and an outfit that I own and have been meaning to wear pops into my head straightaway.  It’s perfect and I’m golden, despite the fact that I’ve almost been hit by a taxi.   More often though, I have to spend a good half hour-who am I kidding? An hour and a half-trying on clothes and shoes and scarves and bracelets to construct the perfect look for the party.  Once in a great while, I hear of the event and the perfect outfit simply appears.  I know what it looks like and how to accessorize.  It will be flattering and flawless.  The only problem is that I’ve invented this outfit-it’s merely a product of my imagination.  I might own a few pieces of the look, but I certainly don’t own the majority of it.

At this point I should say, “Well, that would be nice.  Too bad it doesn’t exist.”  Instead, I start taking a mental inventory of all the stores in the area, who carries and what, and hours of operation. The quest begins: building the nonexistent look.  If it’s made of separates, the task is easier, but the journey is long.  If I’ve designed a dress in my head, the mission is in serious risk of ending in failure, through no fault of my own.  I’ll take a second to brag here.  If it exists, I will find it.  E-mail me!

I find that when I’m going crazy to build a look, the thing I am most thankful for is my shoe wardrobe.  A shoe wardrobe full of staples will never let you down.  Here are some I think every girl should own so when she’s built the perfect outfit, she can rush home from the stores, just in time to get ready in a hurry, and the shoes will be waiting in her closet to complete the ensemble.

The Black Patent Flat (All Black for Barefoot Tess ‘Banded Flat’)

The Riding Boot (Corso Como ‘Rachel II’)

The Accent Flat (Barefoot Tess ‘Edie’)

The Metallic Party Shoe (Gwyneth ‘Princess’ Heel)

Speak up! What are your favorite staples?

And speaking of dreaming up styles, are there any that you’d like BFT to carry?  Tell me what’s missing!