So here I am, head in my closet, with a problem.

My pedicure is in seriously sad shape, between several over-long chipped toenails and polish that’s losing its sparkle.

Right now I don’t have time for a pedi, and I have no close-toed spring-summer shoes. What to do? Can’t very well wear the winter shoes, and apparently there are no close-toed summer shoes that carry with them the message, “Hi, I’m under eighty.”

Because this is the year of the peep-toe.

Never mind the flips from last year or the strappy, foot-exposing wedges you might have worn — this is the year that you wear the flat, cute, teeny-tiny toe-peeping sweet thing.

Nearby, Dame Lola, Tiki Lounge, Sonja, and Redline Style all have shoes to peruse, and none of them have totally closed toes, except for the skimmers at Sonja — you know, the sneaker-ish dudes ever so slightly reminiscent of Keds, but with style. I could go to Commencement Bay Birkenstock or make a trip to Dante’s in Olympia to look for “comfort” shoes, but I’m not sure that’s what I want. 

I want, cute, sexy, hot, fun. I want this-year stylish, yet classic. I want a work-horse of a shoe that will be comfortable enough for a long day of walking, yet cute enough that people don’t cringe when they see me coming.

And I want to cover my toes.

Now if I were wearing a sweeping, Grecian-inspired gown, I could go flip-floppy fun-happy bead-encrusted thong things, or even the Reef Butter flops of last summer, provided the long dress was a bit casual.

But it’s my regular clothes that prove shoe-problematic. Like the separates I like so much: the swingy skirts, the Capri-length trousers, and the twill gaucho-esque long shorts. Sure, I could pair them with flats, skimmers, fun faux-athletic styles, and even (gah!) flat-wedged athletic skimmers, and all may be well. Note the “may.”

I have Eastern European calves, not dainty little Anglo things. Flats give my big-ole lower legs the appearance of tree stumps, and in dresses, that’s kind of a weird and disproportionate silhouette.

And totally not pretty.

So then we have the cork-soled, espadrille and artistically stacked shoes that are all-so, oh-so haute couture. Not haute to the extent of “Oh, my, I can’t wear these,” but more haute to the extent of, “Wow, these are so uncomfortable that I think I want to scream and curse and rip the shoes off my feet.”

Granted, wedges are to high heels what air is to Jordans — it helps, it makes it all better; but who are we kidding: walk on tiptoe for a couple of hours. At a certain point, your foot will hurt. And, oh yeah, there’s that pedi problem — many of the aforementioned styles only come in peep-toe styles this year.

And then there’s my other little problem: I have wide feet with a high instep. This means that, with a peep-toe, I have to be super-selective and look for a wider shoe, or go with a bigger size.  The latter, you can’t really get away with in peep-toes or heels. The former means shopping is more involved than a quick point and click or dash-in, pick-up, dash-out style shopping trip.

And so we’re left with that hole in my closet, where the perfect shoes should live.  While I suspect I’m going to solve the problem by getting a pedicure very soon, and just wearing the old faithful Dansko sandals in my closet, know that I’m at large, stalking the perfect closed-toe summer shoe.



[Dame Lola, 711 St Helens, Tacoma, 253.272.4140]

[Tiki Lounge, 17 N. Tacoma Ave., Tacoma, 253.593.5300]

[Sonja, 2701 N. 21st St., Tacoma, 253.272.1565]

[Redline, 2503 Sixth Ave., Tacoma,  25.627.9910]

[Commencement Bay Birkenstock, 2501 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.572.8908]

[Dante’s, 101 N. Capitol Way, Olympia, 360.357.8319]