Latest and Greatest

I can't believe it has been 2 months since I blogged last- dreadful! Our Shoe Club is so active, so there is always lots to write about, I just need to actually sit down and write it! Things have been really exciting for Smiling Stiletto during these last few months. Our Step into Spring fashion show at Copley Place on April 19 was wonderful.  Copley Place was a big help with the event and they were great to work with. This was my first time having such an active role in organizing a fashion show. It is a lot of work, but everything worked out well. We have a ton of great photos on our FB photo album page. Here is a link to more photos: Spring Show Album
Here is one of my favorites- our Smiling Stiletto members are modeling Bebe:

 

The fashion show tickets sold out two weeks before the event, which was a record. We raised almost $2k for Project Smile which was good too. Meredith Goldstein from the Boston Globe was our special guest and she did a great job.

We're working on some more exciting fashion shows. On October 4 will be our Fall into Fashion Show at Copley Place. This event takes place during Boston Fashion Week. Emily Reimer, news anchor/reporter on Channel 5 News, Boston will be hosting the event. We already have our liquor sponsors on board as well. Christine, one of our long time shoe club members, is working on organizing the show as well. She did a fabulous job organizing our fall show last year.

On Wednesday, August 22, we will be working with the Northshore Mall in Peabody for our Summer Soiree and Fashion Show. I already have 25 Smiling Stiletto members on board as models for the event. The event will be similar to our Copley Place fashion shows. The ticket will only be $10 and all of the proceeds will go to Project Smile.

On Friday, I met with Burlington Mall and we're going to be working with them on a September event for Fashion's Night Out and a fashion show in October. It is really exciting to expand and do more fashion shows. They have been popular events and our members really like them. I love them too. It is great that we're also able to raise funds for Project Smile with them too.
 We have been doing a lot more events too. Last Thursday, we had our annual party at Pandora in Legacy Place, Dedham. The store provided complimentary wine for the guests, pizza from Wicked Pizza, chocolate from Chocolate Therapy and they donated 10% of the sales to Project Smile- which was about $250. Every donation makes a difference and I'm happy that they are so supportive. They've been great about donating auction items for PS as well. We had about 40 ladies in attendance. We always get a bunch of members who have attended before and a bunch of new ones. Pandora did a prize drawing for a bracelet and they gave away a beautiful bracelet with a shoe charm for the winner of the Best-in-Shoe pink carpet competition. I was really happy that one of my friends who is a really cool girl, Victoria, won that prize. The local Sephora store also donated a gift pack as a shoe prize. The owner of Chocolate Therapy had an awesome chocolate shoe made with little chocolates inside it as a prize- it was so cool. Here is a photo of the prizes.

There were so many awesome shoes at the Pandora party- here is a photo-

The lady who was wearing the shoe on the right won the Chocolate Therapy prize. Her shoes were even more awesome in person!

Well, that's the latest for tonight. I promise to blog more often because there is so much to share! Until next time friends...

Ann Taylor Concept Store Opening Party

Greetings! Last week, I attended the opening party for the new Ann Taylor Concept store in the Prudential Mall in Boston. The party was held in a penthouse apartment at The Clarendon. It was a fantastic time! There were about 150 very glamorous ladies and guys in attendance. During the party, guests enjoyed complimentary champagne, Voli vodka cocktails (they are low calorie and so good) and delicious appetizers. The event was cosponsored by Boston magazine. The view from the penthouse was amazing- the John Hancock tower was directly across the street and you could see the Boston skyline from every direction- so beautiful!

I was really impressed with the new Ann Taylor fashions. There was a small fashion show during the party which featured regular professional women as models. I love it that because you get to see the clothes on a figure which is more realistic for the average women. One of my favorite dresses was a neon yellow dress with a skinny pink belt. One might usually think that neon yellow would be a hard color to pull off, but the dress was brilliant- it stood out, but still looked professional. There was a lot of color in their spring clothes and it looked amazing- it actually inspired me to wear a colorful dress the next day. I really liked the Ann Taylor looks because they are very versatile. They are great as work clothes, but they can also be dressed up for the evening or dressed down for a more casual look.

Neon colors are a hot trend right now and they are being done much more tastefully than they were in the early 90's! Of course, the shoes were great too. One of the models was wearing a pair of cream colored pumps with red trim and a red heel. I wish I snapped a photo of them, because they were so pretty.

I spoke to the manager of the new store and the regional manager. They were familiar with Smiling Stiletto from when it used to be Hello Stiletto. They told me that they were actually trying to reach out to us earlier, but couldn't remember the group's name. They are interested in having an event in the store, so that should be fun. Hopefully, I will be hearing from the soon.

This was such a fun event to attend- the drinks and appetizers were delicious, the views were unreal, the crowd was so friendly and the fashions were great! What else could a girl ask for on a Thursday night??
They even gave us Ann Taylor tote bags which included a gorgeous gold cuff bracelet with a black studded strap. It isn't something that I would have usually bought for myself, but I've worn it twice already and it looks great. I love it when you get something that makes you step outside of what you usually do- even something as small as a bracelet. It is so important to keep changing things up.

I brought one of my best friends with me who is a long time shoe club member and she had a blast too. She was inspired as well to get some of the new looks.I'm really looking forward to checking out the store and now I'm inspired to wear some really bright colors!

Miles in my Boots

Today, boots are on my mind- not cute, sexy boots that come in all sorts of fancy colors and styles- all meant to make the wearer look sophisticated, hot and ready to be taken to bed, but the tough, kick-ass, all weather, sturdy boots which will take you miles. These boots only come out of my closet when it snows- the other boots get significantly more air time. I have one pair of sturdy, water proof boots- a black pair of Timberlands that I bought in 2000. The funny thing is that although I barely wear them, I love my Timerberlands because I know that they will take me anywhere. I may look sexy in my high heel boots, but they won't take me very far and when I wear them, I calculate exactly how much time I will have to spend walking and standing before deciding to wear them. Of course, if it is raining- the pretty boots remain sheltered. The sturdy boots only come out when the weather is rough.

I bought my Timberlands when I was still in school at Hunter College. I had a pair of winter boots, but I had them for a while and my feet were getting soaked in them. I didn't have much money, but it was winter and I really needed a new pair of boots. I remember walking in Manhattan, thinking about getting boots, but not wanting to spend money. I think I was near Herald Square and I walked into what I remember was a Sports Authority- but it might have been Lady Foot Locker- either way, it was a store that sold more sneakers than boots. I stared at the boots and finally decided to try on a pair of black Timerblands. They were very comfortable and exactly what I needed given all the walking that I did in NYC and it was the winter. However, they were $70. When I was in college, I spent very little on clothes and shoes. The most that I had ever spent was $35 on New Balance sneakers when my old ones wore out. I was pretty much always in sneakers when I was in college. I stood in the store debating for what it seemed like forever about getting the shoes. The $70 felt like a fortune- I couldn't actually afford it. Finally, I decided to get them- I knew I was going to have them for ages and that they were good quality. I wore them that winter and when I moved back to MA they came with me. After I graduated and left New York, I stopped being a sneakers girl and I barely wore my Timberlands. They still only come out when it snows and I have to shovel or when the streets are so wet and slushy, those boots are the only choice. The boots are far from unattractive- they are not feminine, but they are decent looking ankle boots.

I wore them this morning when I was shoveling and later doing errands. When I put them on this morning, it dawned on me how empowered I feel when I wear my Timberlands. There is something to be said when you put on a pair of shoes and you know that they won't make your feet hurt, they will look after you- keeping your feet dry and protected and if you get into trouble, you can give someone a pretty mean kick with them. Every other pair of shoes that I own (besides sneakers), have a limit on them on how long they can be worn without pain, but with my Timberlands there is no limit.

So there you go my friends- an ode to my Timbies. Perhaps I should wear them more often, but it's also enough to know that they are there- sitting in my closet for when the travel gets rough.

Back Drop Debut

Well, our Smiling Stiletto back drop is no longer a dream, it is a reality! I picked it up a couple of weeks ago and we debuted it last week at our Red Shoe Soiree at Vlora, Boston. It looks awesome! Avni Fashion participated in the event- Avni is a Boston based designer who has gorgeous clothes based on a fusion of Indian, hand dyed fabrics with a western silhouette. Her clothes are very delicate looking and beautiful. Avni approached us in January about being involved in our events. We had ten Smiling Stiletto members modeling the fashions on the pink carpet and they did a trunk show as well. Avni paid a vendor fee which went directly to Project Smile, so it was also a small fundraiser. Here is a photo from the event of Avni and all the models in front of our back drop.

I can't begin to tell you how much I love the back drop! I wanted to combine both the Smiling Stiletto and Project Smile logos because Smiling Stiletto's official charity is Project Smile. Many of our events help raise funds and awareness for Project Smile. I worked with Staples to do the layout for the back drop, but I was having trouble with getting the look right- the logos are very different, so it can be hard to combine them on a page. Last month, in a dream, I was standing right next to my back drop- I could see exactly how it should look. I called Staples in the morning and that became our final design. It's pretty cool when you visualize something in a dream and then you get to see the finished product. The back drop is big- it's 8 x 8. One person can set it up, but it is a lot easier with two people.

Our Smiling Stiletto FB page has a lot more photos from last week's Red Shoe Soiree. We had 85 people at the event which is great. I promoted it on Yelp, MeetUp and Boston.Com as well. I just booked our March event which will be at the Lansdowne Pub- it will be the: Print and Pattern Party at the Pub. Members are encouraged to wear their favorite shoe with a fun print or pattern. The Pub is giving drink tickets so that every guest will receive a complimentary beverage and appetizers.

Well, that's all for tonight- I'm going to make a major effort to blog more frequently. Until then- happy heels everyone!

Spring Fashion Show Planning

Well, I have been so bad with my blog for shoe club- if you were looking at my blog, you would think that we haven't been doing any events. We've been doing a lot of fun things. We had a great event at Red Sky earlier this month to kick off the new year. The theme was sexy boots- members turned up in some very awesome boots. Shoebuy.Com donated a $50 gift certificate for the winner of the Best-in-Boots pink carpet walk-off. Guests also got to enjoy some complimentary Double Cross Vodka cocktails and appetizers. It was a lot of fun.

We are working on our Step into Spring Fashion Show at Copley Place which will be on Thursday, April 19, 6:30pm. It is going to be so much fun, I really can't wait! Copley Place coordinates all the stores that participate in the show and they handle all the event set-up and preparation. I sent out the email to the shoe club members this morning to recruit members who would like to model in the show. It was amazing the response that we got. We decided to expand the number of models- we will now have 30 models. We had 10 in our fall show. I had well over 50 emails from ladies wanting to model and I'm still getting more emails tonight. It is really great how many people want to be involved. It took a long time to go through all the emails earlier tonight, put their info into an excel list and write back to everyone- I still haven't gotten to respond to every email. I worked on a first come, first serve basis for the most part and I also tried to mix it up so that we got models that represented different sizes. One of my favorite things about our fashion shows is that they represent 'real' women- we have a variety of ages and sizes- just the way things are in real life. I know that's what other people like about our shows too.

We have some great food/drink sponsors on board as well. Bulldog Gin is our official hard liquor sponsor- they will be making special cocktails for our guests. We're also close to finalizing a beer sponsor and I'm working on a wine vendor as well. Michelle, who is on our Project Smile board, started a cupcake business- she has done cupcakes for a couple of our events now and they are delicious. She will be there along with Finale which is a restaurant known for its fabulous desserts. Popchips will also be giving out samples along with Saka Water. We're also working on obtaining other food sponsors. There is a new restaurant which will be opening soon in Copley Place- right next to where we do our show actually, so hopefully they will like to provide some appetizers for our guests as well.

There is so much more to write about- I can't wait two months to blog again. Shoe Club is such a fabulous part of my life- I want to keep sharing our stories. I will be blogging again very soon! Until then- keep spreading the shoe love!

Dashing in Heels

I haven't blogged since October- oh no! Things have been going great with Smiling Stiletto. Tomorrow night is the huge Shimmer and Shine Shoe Ball which benefits the Accelerated Cure Project for MS. It is an event that shoe club founder Melissa started years ago and it is a lovely event. The Accelerated Cure Project does all of the work for the event. We help promote it to Smiling Stiletto members. The event is at the Liberty Hotel and it is sold out, which is great. I'm going to be one of the shoe judges. That will be fun, but I know it will be very hard to choose. There are going to be so many pairs of gorgeous shoes!

So what's been happening lately? Well, we have had some great events going on. On November 3, we had a party at Vlora in Boston which was sponsored by Marshalls. Marshalls displayed a great collection of fall shoes and boots, along with accessories and a couple of outfits. They played a 'guess the price' game and they gave away 3 great prizes to the guests who guessed the closest Marshalls price to an outfit. They gave away a beautiful cashmere scarf, designer sunglasses and a Michael Kors purse. Every guest received a Marshalls gift card and they also got an additional gift card if they filled out a survey. Instead of the usual pink carpet shoe walk-off that we do, Marshalls brought their blue carpet for the walk off and they donated a gift card for the best shoe winner. Vlora donated appetizers as well. It was so much fun- I got a ton of great feedback. I would love to work with them again.

Last month, we also participated in a style swap where guests brought clothing, accessories and shoes and got to swap the items for other fun items. I'm actually wearing the Express zip-up hoodie that I got at the swap right now. I traded a top that was cute, but I hadn't worn it in years and I got this comfy zip up which I've been wearing around the house.

I've been planning our events next year- we are going to be a lot of fun stuff. Our spring and fall fashion shows at Copley are planned for April and September. Our annual Red Shoe Soiree will be near Valentine's Day at Vlora. We will be doing our annual ladies night event at California Closets in May- and that's just the beginning. It is so much fun to come up with new shoe club events.

We have some great photos on our Smiling Stiletto FB page, you can check them out at:
https://www.facebook.com/Smiling.Stiletto?sk=photos

Well friends, that's it for tonight. I promise to blog more frequently- there is so much to write about! Here is a great photo of some of the models from our Fall into Fashion Show, courtesy of Emily Wilson.

Fashion Show Success

I can't believe I haven't blogged since August! It has been busy times over here- we had our first Smiling Stiletto fashion show at Copley Place on September 22. It was a big success! One of our shoe club members Christine did most of the organizing, she did a great job. Copley Place hosted and they were very helpful in getting stores on board to showcase their fashions and setting up the stage and event area and organized really nice gift bags for all the guests. We had to cap the tickets at 125, we sold out the week before and had so many calls and emails from people who were looking for tickets. What a wonderful problem to have! Our event tied into Boston Fashion Week which helped increase attendance as well. We raised $1,800 for Project Smile and $500 for the Simon Youth Foundation which is the Copley Place charity of choice. I got Lisa Donovan from Kiss 108 to host the event. She did a great job and said so many nice things about Project Smile. The show had been going on for a few years with Hello Stiletto, this was our first time running it as a Smiling Stiletto event. I definitely want to do it again and the mall said they would like to have it again as well. We have some great photos on our Smiling Stiletto FB page and on our website. Paula Dias and Pino Domenico volunteered their time and photographed the event. I usually have to do all the event planning for Smiling Stiletto and Project Smile so it was great to have someone else who did the event planning. It is quite a bit of work to organize the fashion show. I was really happy that Christine did such a good job. Christine got Skinny Girl Margaritas on board to provide complimentary cocktails and Cameron Hughes wine. We also had Cabot Cheese, Legal Seafoods appetizers and Sweet M's Bake Shop cupcakes. I modeled in it as well- I wore Cache, Elie Tahari and BeBe. It is a lot of fun to model in the shows. We get to have our hair and make up done, then strut down the catwalk showing off our sexy clothes- what can be better than that?? In other personal shoe news- I need to get a comfy pair of attractive winter shoes that I can wear every day. I bought my very first pair of Clark's sandals this spring and I love them, but sandal weather is quickly coming to an end (I went to Niagara Falls over the weekend where sandal weather has long since disappeared). I have two pairs of shoes that I was planning on wearing as my every day winter shoes, but they are not very comfortable- I feel like I don't walk properly in them. I tried on some winter shoes at Clark's last month, but didn't find anything that felt right. I want to go back and have another look or find another comfy attractive pair of shoes which are reasonably priced. Let me know if you have suggestions please! I promise I won't take so long before blogging again. I enjoy my Smiling Stiletto blog and I'm going to write more frequently. Until next time friends..