Redhead at the Piggy Bank

A couple of posts ago, I was all about buying brown boots for this fall. They had to be brown because nothing says “autumn” like brown leather. Then I pulled out my black winter shoes, wore them a few times, and realized that the chunky heels were a mess. An uneven, hazard-to-walking, depressing mess. They were the replacement pair to my fave Nine West boots that bit the dust in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral within a few months of moving to NYC. That was two and a half years ago. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that they too were wearing out. Faced with the fact that I now have no decent winter shoes, brown or black, I made the decision to forgo lust-worthy brown boots in favor of the more practical black boot.

I headed to Macy’s. No, not the behemoth, panic-attack-inducing flagship in Herald Square that my mother would move into if she could. I went to the one in the Mall of America, in Bloomington, Minnesota, while on my annual fall pilgrimage to visit family in the Midwest. The Mall of America is also panic-attack-inducing (hundreds of stores, plus a full-sized, Nickelodeon-themed amusement park inside the mall), but at least the Macy’s there is a little more manageable than the flagship store. Mister Redhead is of no help when it comes to shopping, so I sent him on his way to a Twins game and enlisted the help of my mom and sister, master shoppers.

The great thing about shopping for black boots? They all look alike. I was trying on pairs on all points of the price range and couldn’t tell the difference between the $200 ones and the $50 ones. My only criteria was a chunky heel, since walking on New York sidewalks is hell on all my shoes. It didn’t take long to decide on these Karen Scott boots:

Karen Scott Lucca Boot, $79

One of my master shopper companions noticed a teensy-tiny scuff on one of the boots. The salesperson said they didn’t have any more in my size, so I asked for a discount because of the scuff. And got it! Ten percent off for a scuff that I can’t even find now. I wore my new boots three days in a row this week, and I love how comfy they are during my commute. Shopping success!

Have you given into any fall purchases yet? Have you ever asked for a discount on an item? Did it work?