Spring sandals

After seeing a picture of Clemence Poesy at the Acne show during Paris Fashion week, I can't get the image out of my head of her shoes. A black monk-strap oxford, all beat up.  Clemence, for those who don't know, is one of those effortlessly-chic French girls who also happens to be an actress and was in a Harry Potter movie among other things. Her whole look is filled with style inspiration from the floppy hat, to the big, camel pashmina scarf, the fuzzy angora sweater, the white snakeskin clutch to even her basic black cropped pants -- but it's the shoes that have been keeping me up at night.

Loeffler Randall Skye Gladiator Plank Sandals

And like many other shopaholics right now, I have been shopping for summer sandals. I keep being drawn to these lace-up gladiator Loeffler Randall sandals that unfortunately for me are sold out in black (in my size,  although Bird has a couple sizes left but not many). And then while checking Loeffler Randall's website on the off-chance they might suddenly be available -- you can still get them in nude or cheetah-print -- I spotted the asymmetrical Selma sandals that have two different color leather straps in different thickness that wrap around and each buckle at the ankle, with two different size buckles.

Loeffler Randall Selma asymmetrical sandals

And it's the buckles that really remind me of Clemence and her monk-strap oxfords. The thing about her look is how prominent the buckles are on her shoes. I have searched the internet far and wide for a similar monk-strap oxford, but as is the case very often, I believe they are vintage - a relic of the monk-strap heavy '90s (Remember when monk-strap shoes were all over the J.Crew catalog?). And even more so, they are very fall and I am keen on summer - despite the fact I live in Portland and have at least 3 more months of soggy weather. Furthermore, I know this is a trend that is coming and as very often happens with me, I can't find the thing I'm looking for until it is actually a trend. So, we will leave them until later...and revisit again in the fall.

Back to the sandals, so the double mismatched buckles is what draws me to them and makes them different from most of the other sandals on the market these days. I like the black and the tan together although the tan/silver is a nice combination as well. And I think both color-combinations would work equally well at being worn with a dress or casual with jeans or shorts.