Discover the Best Shoes and Shirts for Spring

This blog post WILL be about beauty & innovative women & some great things for all of us to enjoy this Spring. But as I write about these lovely things, there is indeed some mayhem going on.... The house is practically shaking because the County has decided to repave my street - & yes, my car is blocked in so couldn’t get to the gym if I tried!:)

My bed is full of clothes from my soon to be 17-year old’s closet — remind me again how it happened that my teenage daughters have enough clothes to fill a store or two?? (granted some of the items are the size of my pinky so they don’t take up that much room….but STILL!).

So against this crazy backdrop, it is a welcome distraction and relief to talk to you about some great fashion items for Spring, brought to us by two amazing women entrepreneurs! I needed an escape & some inspiration today and these ladies do not disappoint.

The first brand is Marais USA - do you know them yet?

(photo courtesy of Haley Boyd/instagram)

Created by Haley Boyd - pictured here - a NYC transplant in LA (with enough time spent in Paris along the way to give her the name & point of view for her brand), Marais USA has cornered the market on wearable, stylish shoes.

Vogue summed up the brand perfectly: “The unicorn of shoes - a pair that is chic, of quality, comfortable, and dare I say, affordable."

I find slides and mules the easiest shoes in the world to wear and these ones are perfectly tailored (not too clunky & not too dainty).

I’m obsessed with the black slides, which unfortunately for me, are only avail in a size 6 right now - if that’s you, you’re in luck!

Otherwise you can join hundreds of fans who ping Marais USA with requests for another production run — the brand has quite a cult-like following it seems.

I’m torn between which of these two I like better….

You can order Marais USA products online or in a handful of boutiques.

The second brand I adore is the Tapered Collection. Founded by Astrid Glass, a Harvard Business School grad and mom of 3 in Brookline MA, this brand has the softest, most wearable cotton T-s & long sleeves you can find (& at a great price point).

I stocked up on these shirts as soon as the brand debuted last year & the shirts have been my mainstays. They hold up well in the wash & are polished enough that you can easily dress them up or down.

One thing I love about the way Astrid designed them is that they are purposely longer in the midriff than your typical T-shirt — so they’re super flattering & comfortable. She obviously knows what she’s doing, having worked in PR and marketing for Prada and Escada before developing this line.

You can order Tapered tee’s here.

Thanks again to everyone for giving me ideas about other women-led brands that are helping women 35+ lead better, more beautiful lives. Keep the suggestions coming, I love it!! Just email me at Lee@ElegantMayhem.com. It gives me great joy & satisfaction to support these women’s companies, both as a consumer myself and as a catalyst for others to hear about their brand.

Shoe 1 - Shoe 2 - Shoe 3