Even More Cool Shoes On One Of My Other Blogs

Just a quick note to say I decided to use one of my other blogs, Sitting There Like A Bump On A Blog as my I Love Cool Shoes blog Pt. 2. So, if you want to check out even more cool shoes and even more recent cool shoe pictures, go to http://sitting-there-like-a-bump-on-a-blog.blogspot.com and you will find even more cool shoes and more recent posts. Enjoy. :-)

A new post trying to generate income with my blogs

Men love to play with kitchen utensils. This is entirely true, but not entirely sure how it applies to I Love Cool Shoes. But, it's a random sentence generated for me by PayPerPost because I'm trying to get my blogs to start earning some money. I'm hoping to generate a couple additional revenue streams...although at the rates this site pays...streams might be a little strong. Trickle, maybe. But every little bit helps.

If a picture's worth a thousand words...?

There's an old joke based on that old saying, that ends something like this "they say a picture is worth a thousand words...here's two." In this case...seems like 30 pictures should be worth at least 30,000 words, right? ;-) (For those of you playing along at home, there are 31 pictures on this page...but I discovered I used the same Nine West picture twice and I can't just go back to the post with the repeated shoe and delete it so I can have room for a different one. Drat.)

Anyway...so I've been reviewing this blog since adding all these new pictures...and, as much as it pains me, I have to admit that, nice as all these new pictures look, at this point they really make the old pictures...look kinda crappy by comparison. Admittedly, I did what I could when I started this blog but the new pictures really make me want to go back and fix all the old pictures. Especially the fuzzy, out-of-focus ones. Definitely not my favorite anymore.

I know. I should probably just leave well enough alone. And I will...for a moment. But, the thing is, Blogger is offering an opportunity to turn the blog into a book. Which, believe it or not, I've actually been thinking about doing almost since I started the blog anyway.

See, I have been planning to turn this blog into a website. Actually, the truth is, I originally conceived of this blog as a full-blown website in the first place but then decided until I can figure out a way to actually make it make money, it would have to start out as a free blog. Thing is...at this point, I feel like I've gathered so many pictures, this one little blog may not be big enough anymore. In fact...I'm already considering converting or co-opting a couple of my other five blogs into I Love Cool Shoes sub-sites or extra sites. Or at least maybe just additional places for all the pictures.

But, with the possibility of making this blog into a book...that would be the ultimate cool. I've actually already imagined/envisioned turning it into a hard cover glossy page coffee table book. A real conversation starter, full of nothing but pages upon pages of pictures of cool shoes. Well, and maybe a little accompanying commentary from me.

Thing is, I feel like I've only just barely scratched the surface of this cool shoe thing. Just seen merely the tip of the iceberg. I've been to a few stores recently, Nordstrom Rack and TJ Maxx among them, and have seen lots of cool shoes I still would love to get pictures of. There is a store in La Habra called L.A. Imports that is basically only cool shoes (and most of them are really well-priced, too).

I'm starting small with this blog...but ultimately what I would like to see happen is that people will want to start sending me pictures of their cool shoes and then, from that, maybe dare I say it or even dream it...maybe shoe designers will one day seek my blog out to spotlight their cool shoes and maybe some up and coming shoe designers will want to launch their cool shoe lines from this blog (or my website) and will even request to showcase their shoes on the pages of my I Love Cool Shoes book.

Hey. I say: If you're gonna dream? Dream big. (And this may be more than a thousand words at this point.)

a few more cool shoes from zappos.com

just a few cool shoes from zappos.com

more cool shoes from piperlime.com

all these new shoe pictures are from piperlime.com

continuing just pictures of cool shoes for now

the pictures speak for themselves

So Many Cool Shoes Could Mean Fewer Editorial Comments

So, as I indicated in my last post, I've been on a massive cool shoe collecting binge of late, for lack of a better way to say it. As of now, I've got close to 1200 pictures just on my cell phone, most of which are cool shoes. *shrugs* I admit I'm getting completely carried away. I've also been compiling a folder of cool shoes on this computer using a screen capture program called SnagIt, which works pretty well. Took me awhile to get the hang of it. Anyway.

The upshot of all this cool shoe picture collecting is that I have so many, I probably won't be able to include editorial comments with all the pictures. Which might not be such a bad thing.

So...just to see how this goes, I'm going to make my next few posts commentary free. I'll just post pictures of cool shoes and leave the comments to you.

Many new shoe pictures not enough time to add them

I've been collecting pictures of cool shoes and at this point I have probably more than 800 or so. Maybe not that many but it's a lot. Enough that I haven't had time to update my blog to include them all. So...if you've been following or reading, sorry it's taking so long to get the new pictures up. I'll get them here soon.

I have made pilgrimages to many cool shoes websites and I did want to update one of my earliest postings. Great as Christian Louboutin is, after spending much time at Jimmy Choo's website, I believe Jimmy is the true King of Cool Shoes and Christian is the Crown Prince. They're both awesome, don't get me wrong. But...I kinda liked Jimmy's a little better.

Anyway. I've also spent lots of time at Steve Madden's website and he's got a lot of cool shoes, too. But, the last few days I've spent at Zappos.com have been amazing. If you want to find just about all the coolest shoes you could possibly imagine and then some and all at one place, Zappos.com has to be it. Every cool shoe from Jessica Simpson, Fergie, Steve Madden, Jean Paul Gaultier (hope that's spelled right), Nine West and so many others I can't even remember them all. And at prices to satisfy the most budget-savvy and the biggest spenders.

So Many Pictures Of Pictures of Cool Shoes

Here again are pictures of pictures of cool shoes taken as a computer screenshot with my cell phone camera. I have become a little obsessive about taking pictures of pictures of shoes. I found a bunch online and I've found quite a few in some of the magazines that show up in my break room at work. If you would be interested in submitting pictures of your own cool shoes for inclusion here on my blog, that would be very cool. Up to you if you want to just take a picture or pictures of the shoes themselves or if you want to model them for the picture/pictures. I leave that decision to you. If you're interested in submitting pictures, e-mail them to me at tvandell@aol.com directly or through this blog if you prefer. Also up to you if you want your picture credited or anonymous. I'd love to know who designed the shoes, too, if you have that information. Or whose line it is.

Even More Cool Shoes New Pictures To Add

Okay...I can admit this is not the greatest picture of a shoe but it's a kick-ass shoe nonetheless. It's kinda hazy because I took a picture of the computer screen to get this picture and I took the picture without much ambient light so the screenshot looks kinda shadowy. Anyway. For the record, and because I'm not sure if this picture is copyrighted, I believe it's a picture of one of many cool shoes offered at www.cathyjeanshoes.com. I have a bunch of pictures of pictures from that website, as well as from www.dsw.com (designer shoes warehouse) and I might even try to put up some of the pictures I took from Christian Louboutin's website, www.christianlouboutin.com. I still need/want pictures from Jimmy Choo's shoes, but anyway.

This time, all the cool shoes in one post

So these are the last three cool shoes I found at Venus.com and I decided to put them all in one post. Little did I realize what a pain in the butt it would be trying to get them all in one post and have them look good too. And this time, it seems to have worked.

Yep...more cool shoes from Venus.com

Open toe booties. Definitely cool, whatever you call them.

Even More Cool Shoes From Venus.com

Round toe strappy ankle patent pumps. Or something like that. Also found these in the clearance section at Venus.com. Even "simple" pumps can be cool.

More From Venus.com

Well...okay. You get the idea. Like I said before...sometimes the cool shoes just speak for themselves.

Yet More Cool Shoes From Venus.com

They call these snake skin wrap pumps. Whatever. I just call them cool.

Another Pair of Cool Shoes From Venus.com

These are called strappy wrap sandals. Seems fitting. Looks like they have a zipper back, too. All in all just flat out badass. After that, they pretty much speak for themselves. So...I'll let them.

Still More Cool Shoes From Venus.com

So, just to show I like all kinds of cool shoes and boots, here's a cool pair of ankle buckle strap booties from the Venus.com catalog.

More Cool Shoes From Venus.Com

I may have mentioned in my first post the day I launched this blog last month that I have a real soft spot for cool boots. If I didn't mention it, I do. In fact, boots are kinda my thing. Does that mean I like them "better" than other cool shoes? No. Not really. Just saying I like them alot. Anyway. Here's an over the knee boot from the Venus online catalog. Enjoy.

Found Some More Cool Shoes (with more reasonable prices)

So as you can see, I found even more really cool shoes and all of them are very reasonably priced. Discovered these at http://www.venus.com/. All the shoes there retail for under $100 and in many cases fall below $50 and still manage to look this cool. I have a bunch of pictures from the Venus online catalog, including a nice selection from the shoe clearance pages. Worth checking out...if you like cool shoes. ;-)

Christian Louboutin -- King of Cool Shoes

So I made a brief pilgrimage to Christian Louboutin's website. As expected, there are many very cool shoes on display there. I was able to capture this picture to post just one example of why I feel he is truly the King of Cool Shoes. The red sole is his trademark; as is the hefty price tag. But when you design shoes this cool...

Even More Pictures of Cool Shoes

Okay...yet another picture of a picture of a cool shoe. Anyway. Just trying to show some examples of shoes I think are cool. I have to find some better pictures than these, though, I know. But it is what it is and I did what I could. And what I had to do. So there that is. Sorry it's not super well focused, either. But you can at least tell it's a pretty cool shoe.

More Pictures of Cool Shoes

So...here's another pair of really cool shoes I found in a magazine. Actually resorted to using my camera on my BlackBerry to take a picture of the picture. *shrugs* Had to get the picture somehow. I took two or three pictures of this picture and this is probably the picture that's most in focus. Hey, ya do what ya can. Kinda gives an idea of what I think makes for a cool shoe. Like I said...I'm always looking for pictures of cool shoes so if you know a good place to look (the Victoria's Secret website might be one place to start...).

Posting Pictures of Cool Shoes

Thought maybe I should finally post some pictures of shoes I think are cool. I am always on the lookout for new pictures, too. If you know where I could find some more pictures, I'd love to have you leave a message with the info.

So this one is pretty cool. I have more pictures of it from different angles but this seems like a good start for now.

Finally Launched My Own Blog

So, I finally did it: I launched my own blog. Also happens to be my first blog, so there that is. I used to have a web site some years ago but due to budget constraints and other things I had to take the site down. Since I usually try to stay current on the tech front, a blog seems an appropriate next step. I have a FaceBook account already and am considering a Twitter account as well. It being 2010 and all of that.

(I've actually been contemplating relaunching my web site again but decided I'd do a blog first and let the web site follow, once I can figure out how to do it with minimum cost.)

Why a blog called I Love Cool Shoes? I guess because I do love cool shoes and I just want to share that with others. (Plus, I'm also kind of hoping writing the blog helps get my writing chops back up and maybe that will further inspire me to write more.) I love cool shoes for women and men, but primarily my current interest is in cool women's shoes.

I probably should clarify: I love cool shoes to admire on someone else, not to wear them myself. That would be kinky and not what I'm about. The exceptions being men's shoes, since I'm a guy and I actually do like cool shoes for men, too. The problem with most cool men's shoes I've found? The really cool ones rarely, if ever, come in my size. I wear size 11 1/2 5E or 6E. Even shoe stores that specialize in wide width shoes have few if any cool men's shoes in my size. Extra Fred Flintstone size, basically. Oh...and when and if I find cool men's shoes in my size, they're nearly always prohibitively expensive.

But, fortunately, admiring cool shoes is not expensive. So far, it's been free. I love cool ladies' shoes with high heels and prefer pointed toes. I have a very deep love of cool boots, especially. The higher they go up the leg, the better; that said, I love cool ankle boots, too. Depends on the designer.

Current favorite designers or people who have their own shoe lines: probably the reigning king of cool shoes right now is Christian Louboutin. If the name doesn't ring a bell, you may have seen his shoes on many famous lady celebrities. His trademark is a red sole on all his shoes. On the current cover of O the Oprah Magazine, Oprah Winfrey is wearing a pair of Louboutins. Singer/Actor/Model Jennifer Lopez has a song dedicated to the shoes and their shoemaker called "Puttin' On My Louboutins."

Awesome as those shoes are, unless you're already a star or just that wealthy Louboutons are a bit expensive for mere mortals. To give you an idea? Picture of Hayden Panitierre in a recent edition of OK! Magazine wearing her favorite Louboutin pumps with a super short mini dress. The pair of Louboutins she's wearing? Over $800. Like I said...bit pricey for us mere mortals. But, badass shoes all the same.

I also like shoes by the designer Balenciaga (I hope I spelled that correctly). I base that almost solely (pun not completely intentional) on a picture in a magazine I saw that featured the actor Reese Witherspoon. She was wearing a pair of Balenciaga's with this cute mini dress. I'd never really considered Reese particularly "hot" ... until I saw that picture. And those cool shoes. Anyway.

Current stars with cool shoe lines I like include, but aren't limited to, singer/actor Jessica Simpson and Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas. Both of their shoe lines seem a little more reasonably priced but are still really cool. Designer Steve Madden also has a line of very cool shoes that also seem reasonably priced. I also like shoes by Jimmy Choo, a line called Delicious, and Candies, which Britney Spears is modeling for again.

I'm in the process of collecting pictures of some of my favorite cool shoes that I hope to add to my Blog soon. Probably not surprisingly, launching this blog has indeed opened another creative outlet valve and I'm working on ideas for additional blogs on any number of topics (including possibly doing an I Hate Ugly-Ass Shoes Blog, too).

So, come back from time to time and see what's cooking.