It’s finally summertime in Texas! And, as an added bonus, we still haven’t hit triple digits this year, so it’s not yet sticky and sweaty and hot hot hot.
After just shy of NINE inches of rain in June (not to mention the Memorial Day floods at the end of May), I’m ready for a little sunshine. And swimming. And summertime sandal shopping.
A few weeks ago, Fran posted a link to these Mtng sandals at Nordstrom. I was smitten. (What happens when you start following more fashion blogs? You start buying more clothes.)
But $70 felt a bit steep for an impulse buy.
Then I got tipped off from a friend that Target was selling blatantly obvious knockoffs, which were touted as extremely comfortable and cost $17 a pair. I ordered two!
But when the Target pairs arrived, I found them less-than-comfortable. Insert an overly dramatic sigh here. (Apparently I’m a weirdo because I keep seeing them everywhere and everyone raves about them.) I felt pretty ‘meh’ — and I already own way too many shoes to add two more to my closet that I don’t love. So I decided to test out the originals…but the cognac leather/black elastic combo I had been eyeing were sold out. Damn!
Undeterred but unable to decide between the nude leather/copper elastic and black leather/pewter elastic combo, I took advantage of Nordstrom’s free returns and ordered both.
(So, for those keeping count, I was now about $180 into this game, plus tax. Whoops.)
The visual similarities were…striking, shall we say? To the left, the Mossimo sandals from Target. To the right, the Mtng sandals from Nordstrom.
But here’s the thing…the Mtng sandals were love at first try-on. Like, hello, my name is Cinderella.
Actual leather, comfortable cork footbed, thick elastic that holds your foot in place without squeezing your foot flesh out at weird angles, made in Spain where they kinda specialize in walkable sandals. Zero break-in time—I actually ran through the grocery store in them a few days ago (because I am a space cadet and forgot the main ingredient for the dish I was making, which I realized once I was already in line…doh) and felt nothing but comfort. This is not something I say often, but in my book, they are worth the extra $53. I am in love.
I decided to go with the nude/copper combo and return the rest. But with the Anniversary Sale starting up at Nordstrom this week, inventory is being added in stores and online (and seems to be fluctuating every day)…so…ummm…I may end up springing for the tan/black combo after all.
How about you? Any fun summer shopping outings lately?

I’m four pairs of sandals deep already this summer. But then again, we spent a couple weeks in the triple digits, which justifies that shit. Though the sandals I still wear most often were $15 at Target last summer. I love them. When they wear out I’m going to find a cobbler to make me a new pair in real leather.
In conclusion, my advice is this: leave the gun, take the cannoli, buy the sandals.