girly girl: my new fav shoe store

Confession. I have neglected my shoe collection. I know, I know. How can someone who claims to be girly, have a shortage of shoes? Well, I have a few good reasons in regards to this mystery.

1) I hate shoe shopping in Saudi. It's not that there aren't any shoe stores. Believe me, there are too many. But unless you're shopping on the women's floor at Kingdom Mall, you will only find male sales associates. And while I have no problem with male associates helping me, I do have a problem with sales associates that bug me and follow me around. I like to look around for myself. When and if I need some help, I will certainly ask. Then there's always the language thing. I prefer to speak English, rather than Arabic when shopping. Most of the sales associates know English. But this can open a whole conversation that I don't want to get into while shopping. Besides, engaging in personal conversation with a male stranger is not a good idea in Saudi (not that it is in any culture). A female shopper and a male sales associate should keep things business related only.

2. Because of reason #1, I tend to do most of my shoe shopping during my trips to America. While I find great deals there, I face issues with packing and shipping. So I'm limited. I'm also there in the summer which means I tend to miss out on the bulk of fall/winter and spring collections.

3. I used to buy a lot of "cheap" shoes whereas now I like to buy shoes for their quality which unfortunately equals to higher price tags.

4. Time. I'm sure so many busy girls can relate to this one. During the school year I become super busy. I prefer NOT to go out during the week. In fact I'm a homebody on the weekdays. So that only leaves weekends for things like shopping. With busy weekends filled with grocery trips, weekly gatherings with the in-laws, as well as other things that come up, I often feel my weekends just rush right past me. Often times the last thing I want to do is go shoe shopping. I tell myself it can wait. Which in most cases it can, until I'm in need for a pair of black dress shoes to go along with a weekend outfit.

5. Style is a bit different here. Saudi women tend to dress more formal than the casual American style I'm used to. An American gal can go out in jeans, a cute little tee, and some Converse and look rather cute. Here, only young teenagers tend to dress like that. It's kind of interesting actually, because I notice that once a girl gets married her, her wardrobe suddenly changes into more formal attire. Lots of dresses, skirts, dress pants, and blouses. And lots of dress shoes. I don't mind dressing up from time to time, it can be fun. But I also enjoy wearing a cute pair of Converse now and then too. I have kind of come up with my own style here. I like to mix my two worlds. Things like jeans paired with dress shoes. :)

6. My final reason. I've experienced some foot and leg problems in the last few years and these are greatly affected by the shoes I wear. I can not wear super high heels and I prefer good support. Not always easy to find fashion and comfort in a pair of shoes. Well, until...

I was recently out shopping for Eid(the Islamic holiday after Ramadan is complete). We buy new clothes and dress up the way that people might do for Christmas, New Year's, or Easter. And I decided to go into a shoe store that I've been interested in for some time but never had the chance to really check out...Naturalizer. I found a pair of shoes similar to these (except mine have low heels and an adorable flower on each shoe):

I'm telling you, these are so super comfy! You know how some shoes can be comfy, but only after breaking them in? These did not need to be "broken in". They just fit, so well. So I decided that I will be returning to this store (lucky for me, we have many locations here in Riyadh), and will be doing much of my shoe shopping there. After going to their website I realized why this brand works so well for me. Naturalizer uses "rich leather, soft suede, and unique details" to offer women style and comfort. You can check out their story here.

So without further ado, here are some styles I'm eyeing up. ;)