Blog Entry - BrandHabit

Clementine Seattle, WA

G. Dubya still hasn’t sent me my $600 stimulus check. As more time elapses before I receive my check, the more things I add to my list that I “need” to buy with that money. Somehow $600 is equivalent to a new suit, new black purse, new sunglasses, new jeans, new running shoes, a facial, a massage, a. . pair of Manolos?

I hope my mom isn’t reading this. She knows my list of bills is longer than the runways at Bryant Park during Fashion Week. But 600 extra clams? A pair of Louboutins? A pair of Manolos? A pair of Jimmy Choos.

Why be practical in times of financial duress, I ask you. . .

Ok, ok, let’s say I wanted to be practical and wanted to INVEST in a great new pair of shoes with a label that wouldn’t make my mother fly over from the east coast and pistol whip me with her tennis racquet, where would I go?

A cozy, little boutique in West Seattle, naturally. Linda Walsh’s nook of shoes, Clementine, houses footwear that is practical in the financial sense and deliciously fantastical in the design sense.

The Brazilian brand Melissa is reminiscent of the uber-popular Croc brand slip-ons, except Melissa’s shoes are not only comfortable and eco-friendly (made of recycled materials), they are stylish. Who ever heard of red plastic wedges? Amazing and at a practical $88 I deserve to find a few other pairs!

Sticking with the wedge theme, Kaju has a pair that is only a hundred dollars more for a stacked wooden heel veiled with robin’s egg blue. They’re stunning and fabulous and I wish I had a pair to wear before summer’s end.

Modern Vintage, Repetto and Espace are among the other labels sold in the store. The stock is always changing but to keep up with it check out the frequently updated blog, http://clementinewestseattle.blogspot.com/, where Ms. Walsh posts about her boutique’s fresh arrivals. The latest post features a picture of the “Karen” purse by Chemical Wedding . All of Chemical Wedding’s designs use “recycled, post-industrial scrap, factory seconds, and new leathers” AND are one of a kind. Each design is a work of art worth investing in.

Ms. Walsh, who opened the boutique three years ago, was quoted in Seattle local paper saying, “Everyone has their freak out price point for shoes and [$400] is mine, after all you’re going to wear them in the street and in dirt.” With that practical advice I feel it my civic duty to spend my government check on a pair of Kaju wedges and a Chemical Wedding bag to stimulate the economy.

Mom, put the racquet down.