A Dress A Day

A dress.
Mostly every day.

September 14, 2007

Friday Shoeblogging

jack purcells

Those new to the blog are probably unaware of my devotion to the One Perfect Sneaker, the Converse Jack Purcell. (I still wish I'd bought these.)

I bought the above pair a couple weeks ago on eBay, but when they arrived, they turned out to be the wrong size! (The box was mislabeled. Oh noes!) Luckily the seller (DesignerAthletic) was able to exchange them for me, and my right-sized pair arrived yesterday.

Are they, or are they not, the perfect autumn sneaker? They're teal-frackin'-velvet, people! I am going to wear them with an orange corduroy skirt and a fuzzy brown sweater over a teal t-shirt and be blissfully happy scuffling through the falling leaves.*

*For those readers in Australia, I suggest buying a pair now and waiting to wear them until your autumn.

Labels:

posted by Erin @ 8:04 AM  

35 Comments:

  • At Sep 14, 2007 10:23:00 AM, Anonymous sara jane said…

    Oh damn you, Erin! VELVET Jack Purcells??!! Like I haven't spent enough time trolling ebay for vintage patterns, now you get me hooked on shoes like this? Please God, don't tell me they come in green velvet....

    (I'm a hard core skirt and sneak wearer).

     

  • At Sep 14, 2007 10:28:00 AM, Blogger Julie said…

    I'm a Chuck Taylor groupie, but I agree that these are lovely!

     

  • At Sep 14, 2007 10:44:00 AM, Blogger TransplantedOkie said…

    So now I am sucked into this vortex as well.

    Sigh.

    I do, indeed, go willingly.

     

  • At Sep 14, 2007 11:37:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Are these men's shoes? What size would I wear if I am wearing 8 1/2-9 in womens?

    Linda

     

  • At Sep 14, 2007 11:52:00 AM, Blogger Deirdre said…

    I bought sneaks similar to these several years ago -- grey velvet beauties. I loved loved loved them, but when I put them on, they were like boats. They were like heavy, ponderous stumps at the ends of my legs.

    Not the look I was going for.

    I gave them away, sadly, as I did love the idea of the sneaker. Just not the execution.

     

  • At Sep 14, 2007 12:07:00 PM, Anonymous flea said…

    Erin must wear a smallish size - my women's 10 (see shoe conversion charts for US sizes here: http://www.i18nguy.com/l10n/shoes.html) Jack Purcells are like boats. I agree they're heavy, too. I like them, in theory, but in practice they're my gardening shoes.

     

  • At Sep 14, 2007 12:33:00 PM, Blogger ellenbrenna said…

    Personally I like these:

    http://www.asicsamerica.com/onitsukatiger/products/shoes/shoes_detail.asp?gender=womens&productid=240007883

    I wear sneaks with skirts all the time.

     

  • At Sep 14, 2007 12:36:00 PM, Blogger Erin said…

    I wear a women's 8.5, but the Purcells run a bit big, I think. So I usually get a men's 6.

    And yes, they are boatlike, but for me that's part of the appeal. Kind of an "I am Woman, Feel Me Stomp" thing.

     

  • At Sep 14, 2007 2:14:00 PM, Blogger lsaspacey said…

    Those are the Moss Blue/Mink ones, right?

     

  • At Sep 14, 2007 2:36:00 PM, Blogger Waimauku said…

    Hey, you have readers in New Zealand too! :-D

     

  • At Sep 14, 2007 3:12:00 PM, Blogger Summerset said…

    Mmmm . . I love velvet and CT's. I do have to admit a fondness for the red/orange/yellow/black flame printed ones I'm wearing right now!

     

  • At Sep 14, 2007 3:43:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    At the Converse web site, you can design your own Jack Purcells. As an experiment, I just designed up a pair in all black with my nick-name embroidered in red on the heel strip - quoted price: $60 US, delivered in 3 to 4 weeks. (Granted, you can get some better deals on eBay.)

    http://www.converse.com

    Warning: This is a web site with "way cool" navigation (AKA "mystery meat navigation") that drives me nuts. Search for 100679 to see a pair of patchwork Jack Purcells. You can pick the Design Your Own option right from the shopping cart navigation "thingee" .

    Happy Designing,
    CMC

     

  • At Sep 14, 2007 4:28:00 PM, Anonymous mickey said…

    I am in the rehearsal phase of the production "Nunsense", where Sister Robert Anne traditionally wears red Chuck's. Not one to be conventional, I chose a pastel plaid high-top Chuck, which delighted my director and me, since I get to keep 'em after the show. What was even better was they were only 24 buck at Overstock.com. ;)
    Love the velvet-

     

  • At Sep 14, 2007 4:47:00 PM, Blogger Hoardmeister said…

    Do they come in 11WW? Love 'em!

     

  • At Sep 14, 2007 5:32:00 PM, Blogger Karen said…

    I'd like to see some pictures of dresses and skirts with sneakers. I can never pull that off, and I always end up favoring the sneakers and putting on jeans.

    The new (to me at least) ballet flat style shoes has become my answer. Old Navy has a ton that are sooo adorable and cheap enough to buy a pair for every dress. :)

     

  • At Sep 14, 2007 5:52:00 PM, Anonymous lucitebox said…

    What size do you wear? Email me. I have a pair in mustard in a size 9.

     

  • At Sep 14, 2007 10:41:00 PM, Blogger Rina Pri =) said…

    Hi! I found your blog a couple weeks ago, and I'm lovin' it! If you didn't have any, now you have at least one brazilian fan :)
    I found this link today, don't know if you have seen it yet, 'people's magazine ten best dresses of 2007'. Hope you like it!
    ( http://www.people.com/people/package/gallery/0,,20055119_20056265,00.html )

     

  • At Sep 15, 2007 12:08:00 AM, Anonymous Lizza said…

    Oh I don't know about waiting until Autumn, it's 10-19C in Perth today... pretty good sneaker weather.

     

  • At Sep 15, 2007 6:13:00 AM, Blogger Ellen said…

    Thank you for the flashback to my youth. I used to burn through four or five pair of Jack Purcells a year playing tennis. I didn't realize that they still made these.

     

  • At Sep 15, 2007 3:34:00 PM, Anonymous Ari said…

    Converse, any Converse, is great, although I'm more of a Chuck Taylor person myself. Oddly enough, I wear Converse because I have very narrow (and small, men's 4) feet. Perhaps Chuck Taylors tend to be narrower that Jack Purcells...

    Anyway, hooray for sneakers!

     

  • At Sep 15, 2007 5:55:00 PM, Blogger Pencils said…

    I DID buy the Liberty Jack Purcells. (I'm a Liberty fan.) And...they're slightly too small. Grrrr! I wore them for a day before I figured it out, also, so I couldn't return them. The kill my feet after an hour or so, but they're so beautiful. Because of all the rubber, you can't stretch them like you would leather shoes. Anyone know a way to make them a little bigger?

    BTW, I love those teal velvet ones, but I've learned my lesson.

     

  • At Sep 15, 2007 6:22:00 PM, Anonymous theresa said…

    This has nothing to do with sneakers BUT if you go to the Vogue PAttern site - you can get a free pattern JUST for visiting. You have to click on a pattern and put it in your cart. If it's free it will tell you. You just pay shipping. I found V2858 - only $3 for shipping! Free PATTERN!

     

  • At Sep 15, 2007 7:05:00 PM, Blogger Marjie said…

    I love ballerina flats. And now they come in so many fun colors and patterns! Never been a sneaker girl myself. The swingy corduroy skirt for fall? Love it.

     

  • At Sep 15, 2007 9:22:00 PM, Blogger Pencils said…

    Speaking of ballerina flats, have you seen the new Purcell "dance" flats? They look like ballerina flats, but are Jack Purcells...sort of. They're on the Converse site, in the Purcell area, check them out. Wonder if they're comfy? Recently Converse came out with Chuck Taylors cut out to look like espadrilles, with long laces to tie around. I liked them, but never could find any in my size.

     

  • At Sep 16, 2007 12:23:00 AM, Anonymous ambika said…

    I went through two pair of these between the ages of 15 and 19. I loved them and was very sad when I couldn't find a non-platform pair in college. Going to add these to my favorite ebay searches now...

     

  • At Sep 16, 2007 7:13:00 AM, Blogger Michelle said…

    We had frost yesterday morning in Canberra, so I think the sneaks are still OK to wear here. Plus I have some leaves I haven't picked up from autumn yet. Lots of kicking still to do!

     

  • At Sep 16, 2007 9:14:00 AM, Blogger Jen ~ MOMSPatterns said…

    We were at a concert the other night (Crowded House.. woo!!) and Neil Finn was wearing black leather Converse shoes.. I thought those were pretty hot til I saw these blue ones. GROOVY!

     

  • At Sep 16, 2007 11:45:00 PM, Anonymous graycat said…

    Those are lovely shoes. Alas, I'm a Chuck Taylor gal myself (Jack Purcells just don't fit me well). My favorite Chucks ever are black velvet, bought in 1995. They are unwearable now (too many holes) but I still hang on to them and hope that Converse will produce identical ones someday. As for skirts and sneakers--I've been wearing the slip on chucks with casual skirts and it looks alright. I wear the little socks that barely peek over the top of the shoe.

     

  • At Sep 17, 2007 7:10:00 AM, Blogger Amber Catch said…

    Waimauku, I came to leave the exact same comment! & Jen just turned it into a Kiwifest :)

    But yeah, I totally want some of that velvet action!

     

  • At Sep 17, 2007 8:40:00 AM, Blogger Wendy said…

    Whomever mentioned the free patterns at VoguePatterns, thanks. I've got V8232 on the way now! :)

    And Erin: those shoes just exude Fall Joy. My personal favorite scampering shoes (that can still go with dresses!) are the Skechers Step Up! mary-janes with a sneaker sole and a double-top strap. They're much more delicate in real life than most sporty mary-janes. See here:
    http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7256818/c/325.html

     

  • At Sep 17, 2007 9:57:00 AM, Anonymous knitgirl said…

    Wendy, I have those Skechers and I love them! I have issues with my feet and these are the most comfortable shoes ever! Just wish they made them in mossy green too.

     

  • At Sep 17, 2007 3:44:00 PM, Blogger Deirdre said…

    Check these Chucks out:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/jere7my/345070681/

     

  • At Sep 17, 2007 4:27:00 PM, Anonymous Melissa said…

    I too wish I would have purchased those limited edition shoes.

     

  • At Sep 19, 2007 8:48:00 AM, Anonymous ndesimon said…

    I have the Liberty JPs (bought them for just about everyone in my family) and I am stopped on the street almost every time I wear them.

    Best sneaker purchase EVER.

     

  • At Sep 19, 2007 9:01:00 AM, Anonymous ndesimon said…

    Followin up to my own post - I just checked with Converse, and the Liberty-print JPs are *still* available, I just ordered a backup pair (I normally wear an 8.5, wear sz 7 JPs).

    Here's a link that I saved pointing to the non-flash page.

    http://www.converse.com/zproductdetails.asp?zcatid=5&zsubcatid=&zgenid=&leftnavid=4&leftnavsubid=20&sku=1U251&bhfv=8&bhfx=8,0,0,0&bhbb=0&bhqs=1

     

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