Lilly Pulitizer McKim
Sandals -
How much do I love these classic and timeless
sandals? I currently own them in navy, gold and green and plan to collect many more (the lady at the local
Lilly Pulitzer told me they introduce a couple new colors every season so I’m hoping for black, brown or red next)!
For reference, when they measure me on the shoe ruler at the shoe store, I come off as a straight 8-C, but depending upon the shoe I can wear anywhere from a 7 ½ to a 9 so it’s always a crap-shoot for me to order shoes online.
For this reason, I decided to make a trip to the aforementioned local LP store to try these
sandals on in-person, and then go
home and order them from Zappos…Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out that way, because once I saw these shoes on my feet, I couldn’t give them up and walked out with them in navy and gold. *sheepish grin*
Those two pair were a size 8 ½, which fit me very comfortably, but later when I saw that Zappos had the green version marked down for less than a hundred-bucks, all they had left that was anywhere near my size was an 8, so I kept my fingers crossed that the smaller size would still be okay and clicked “Add to Shopping Cart� button.
When they arrived, I immediately tried them on and found that they *did* fit, but my toes were right up to the edge, not quite hanging over but it was a very close thing! I decided to keep them, but be assured that if Zappos had had them in 8 1/2s, I’d have sent the 8’s back and gotten the half-size larger. I own these
sandals in both sizes, I’d have to say that they run maybe a ¼-size smaller than marked (i.e.: size-8 is actually a 7 ¾ and the 8 1/2s are actually 8 ¼), if that makes any sense.
The leather on these
sandals is buttery soft and has a lot of give. At first, I was concerned that the gold-look metal ring that rests on top of the foot would be bothersome or “cut� into the top of my foot, but it only took about 15 minutes of wear for me to break them in completely so that I no longer even noticed the ring and the shoes didn’t rub or irritate any other areas of my foot.
Although there is absolutely no
arch support, these
sandals are surprisingly comfortable -- even when walking long distances or standing on one’s feet all-day. And they make my cute but pudgy feet look sleek and stream-lined! One thing, though: you’ll definitely want to have a fresh pedicure to show off your hooves to their fullest advantage in these stunners…
Regarding the colors currently available: the “Bright Navy� color is true to it’s name, while the “Palm Beach Green� is a vivid kelly green, rather than a lime or kiwi shade -- which I actually would have preferred, but then I‘m a sucker for any shade of green…
The “Gold Metal� is a pale, muted “icy gold� shade, rather than something garish that will compete with your 18K gold
jewelry (speaking of which, these
sandals set off a delicate little ankle bracelet JUST so!). These are also available in two pink shades: “Parade Pink� is a bright, hot pink while “Shell Pink� is a soft, palest “baby� pink.
And ending out the available color-palette: the silver is a soft, “icy white� shade (note: the metal ring for these is silver-toned, all other colors have the gold-toned metal ring), and the “Orange Sun� is a warm-toned papaya shade (a lot more wearable than one would initially think!), and the white is, well, white!
Anyway, these are THE quintessential flat, summer
sandals that can be dressed up with a
floaty summer
dress, or dressed down with
denim shorts and a t-shirt, but which ALWAYS look classic, elegant and effortlessly chic. If you like to spend your
sandal-season padding around in
thongs, but wished they looked a little more stylish and distinguished, then THIS is the
sandal you’re looking for.
Yeah, they’re hella pricey for nothing more than a glorified
flip-flop, but they’re very well-constructed and look like they’ll last -- with even minimal care -- through many seasons. Even when I got caught in an unexpected summer cloud-burst (before I had the chance or thought to “water-proof� them with leather sealer), they looked none-the-less for wear and dried within minutes without suffering any permanent damage!
I’m eyeballing the silver and/or orange pairs next, unless Lilly introduces the aforementioned black, red or brown this fall…all-in-all, this is one
impulse purchase I haven‘t regretted for a second! Just look upon them as an investment in your fashion-future and it won’t hurt as much when you receive that credit-card statement. *wink* I just thank God that
sandal season lasts pretty much all year in my neck of the woods so I can wear this nearly year-round!
Now, if I could only get the Lilly “Shelly� thong
sandals (with the little gold metal shells along the thong strap) out of my mind...