A Pair and a Spare

You know how bloggers have been sending each other little care packages over the ocean, filled with goodies that express their creativity, like mindedness and camaraderie.

Well, Sal has come up with this great "next step" (pun intended), inspired by an act of kindness on the part of one of her great readers: Audi from Fashion for Nerds offered Sal a pair of boots having the exact description of boots Sal was desperately seeking (but hadn't yet been able to find in her price range). Right time, right place, right size. It's kismet. Then Sal, to express her friendship and gratitude, sent Audi a pair of shoes from her own wardrobe.

See, in her smartie fashion, Sal figured she could turn this moment of friendliness a deux into a fun shoe exchange for all. Here are the basic rules, but you should check out her site for more details:

1. Shoes, boots, and sandals are all fair game. No slippers, flip flops, or Crocs.

2. No crap. Meaning, no shoes from Target, Payless, or similar. Nothing that stinks incurably of your own feet. And nothing that is so beat to hell that the Salvation Army would chuck it. We're on the honor system here, so don't abuse it. Send a pair you can imagine someone being delighted to receive.

3. Send only shoes you are totally willing to part with. Don't buy anything new, just pick a pair from your existing stash that you know you'll never wear again.

4. You must be willing to accept what you get with no complaints. Since taste is highly personal, you might receive a pair you loathe. Since shoe sizing can get wonky, your pair might not fit quite right. Don't make a stink, just chalk it up to experimentation.

5. You must be willing to dig around on your partner's blog to get some sense of her style. If your partner doesn't blog, take the time to find out a little bit about her via e-mail. You may not have the perfect pair on-hand and ready to give away, but you'll have a sense of what she might consider a dud.

6. You must be willing to pay international postage. We're a worldwide empire here at Already Pretty and there's no WAY I'm excluding Hammie and Syke and K.Line and all my other lovely non-American readers, should they choose to participate. You can send your package to Lopi in Greece using the slowest, cheapest means available. Send it via carrier pigeon! Just be prepared to shell out whatever it takes to get your shoes to a far off land.

All floggies welcome. (Term Hammie has coined to denote Fashion Bloggers. Gotta love that woman.) You should do this.