Shoes

Can I wear socks with Mary Janes?

You see, I have this dilemma. I'm a bit of a clothes freak. I am very good with colours, and my house is decorated nicely. My children wear matching outfits - until they hit 5 and get a mind of their own, then I let them be the boss of their appearance. I do art, so I'm not a total goober in the matchy matchy department. But, I have this problem with shoes. I like 'em comfy...I like 'em slip on...I like 'em low maintenance.

Who cares about socks with Mary Janes? You see, this year I had a bigger "I'm getting old crisis" than normal and I decided that now that my youngest is 4, I can get some semblance of a life back. What does that mean? First, I need to look the part, you know walk the walk, not just talk the talk. So, what do I walk now...prepare yourself....I wear jeans in dark colours (but only 'cause the blue one's wore out finally and I didn't have a choice), blacks and browns. I have 12, count 'em, 12 fleece sweaters and 8 t-shirts in varying colours, mostly dark ones. My "winter" drawer contains 7 turtlenecks in varying shades of white, cream, black and brown. I have 1 pair of running shoes for summer and 1 pair of slip-on shoes with thinsulate for winter. I did go way out of my comfort zone this spring and bought a pair of rubber boots and I own a requisite pair of Sorel's for winter days. That is my uniform. It kills my mother...she raised me better. LOL! No really, I've heard her say that about my clothes! No kiddin'!

So, back to the walk....I'm thinking I need to take it up a notch. Now, don't go getting all excited 'cause I'm talking about Mary Jane's, that was just a question. I've been contemplating my shopping trip for almost 6 weeks now (now you see why I don't have many new clothes). I have compiled a basic list of what I need to buy to create a new "business casual" me. It includes:

2 pairs of Khaki coloured and type pants - normally found at a place like Northern Reflections or Marks Work Wearhouse - I'm thinking 2 different shades of Khaki, does that sound stupid?
1 pair of Brown Corduroy pants, with the small cord, not that big chunky kind like we wore as kids...although it was soft, but I read somewhere a long time ago that the big chunky cord makes you look heavy and I don't need any help in that department. Except for the making you look chunky part, I like Cords...and I had a really nice chocolate brown pair a while back that I obviously miss.
1 pair of Black pants - not jeans but real pants. I know, I already said I have dark "jeans" but black goes with everything and I figure I can lighten it up on top a bit.
3 turtlenecks, I had to add this 'cause I already bought them. I have one in pink, one in periwinkle and a clean new white one. I have discarded 4 old turtlenecks to make room for the new one's
1 Brown zip up sweater...a real sweater not a fleece. It goes with all my turtlenecks and I already purchased it.

I checked the "too small clothing bag" while I was composing this message and discovered that I have 4 really nice sweaters that fit now that I've shed a few pounds and they are in periwinkles and pinks and purples. Score one for my pocketbook! So, if I add everything together I'm not doing too bad, it just pants and my worst fear....SHOES!

So, back to my original question, can I wear socks with Mary Janes?

I almost bought a pair, you know the kind that look like runners on the bottom but then they have a pattern on the shoe part. I was with my mom and she made some comment about how I couldn't wear socks with them. What the Heck? Bare feet? I'd freeze, plus I hate that "toe cleavage" everyone is showing lately...gawd, put it away already! If you hadn't already picked up from my post that my blood runs a little cold, then let me tell you about it. Today, it was 23 degrees Celsius outside. My office was running a comfy 27 degrees ( I keep one of those desktop temperature guages so I can turn the heat up in the winter time and justify it!). I didn't even open the window...I was good. In fact, it was chilly when I got to work this morning so I had a mug of hot chocolate. I was wearing a t-shirt with a light fleece jacket over top. I should have been melting, but I was comfy...see why I need all those turtlenecks! LOL!

My big problem with shopping is that I buy the pants, but then I don't buy the shoes 'cause I don't know where to start. I have never been a shoe shopper per say, but it has gotten worse since I had kids. I wear my runners with everything including the skort I bought this summer and wore once when the temperature went over 30 degrees. No sandals to speak of in my closet, no flip flops, although I do have a pair of Crocs, but goodness those things are hideous...I wouldn't wear them in public! Gasp! The horror! Did I mention they are powder blue? LOL!

So, back to my post...I buy these great pants but no shoes. So, I feel silly and I don't wear the pants, and it becomes a nasty cycle...no shoes, can't wear pants, wear pants with runners, feel silly, don't wear new pants, put jeans back in the closet. What is a girl to do? Perhaps I need to find a personal shopper to take me shoe shopping...and I don't mean my mother.

Do you know the answer to my question? Can I wear socks with Mary Janes?