Cheryl Shops

Confession: I am on a bit of a spending sabbatical at the moment. I kind of overdid it last month, and, well, I have a wedding to pay for this year, so I'm trying to get my finances in order. Old habits are hard to break, however, and I've been finding myself responding like Pavlov's dogs to every sale email and alert I get. It's self-torture, basically, but a part of me loves building a virtual shopping list of things I'd buy if I got a huge raise at work...or I won the lottery...or a distant relative left me a multimillion-dollar inheritance. One of the items on my running shopping list is this pair of Proenza Schouler boots. I've actually had my eye on them since late 2009--I believe they're a rehash of last year's style (which, hey, is fine with me--repeating styles works for YSL). Whatever impracticality the suede might cause, the boots make up for with a sturdy cone heel, a slip-proof lug sole, and a thick 1.25-inch platform, which makes the four-inch heel much more manageable. The green color makes them a little unexpected (I've long chronicled my black-boot-abundance problem on this blog), and the buckle, snap, and zipper details are just on the interesting side of tasteful. Considering they originally retailed for $1,055, their current $478 price tag seems like a veritable bargain. Still, that puts them in the major-raise-at-work, if not the unexpected-inheritance-from-distant-relative league.

Which is why, for the first time ever in this series, I'm offering a more wallet-friendly alternative. Not a knockoff, mind you, but something similar...and yet different. I've also had my eye on these Sam Edelman Vancouver Boots. Like the Proenza Schoulers, they're forest green suede with a high heel, thick platform, and lug sole. What's different is the front lacing and the ankle strap. Oh, and the $159.99 sale price. (It should also be noted that they have an enthusiastic 5-star rating from customers on Piperlime.) They might not have walked the New York runway, but the fact that they won't drain your wallet definitely counts for something.