In Pursuit of my Wedding Louboutins

Oh the lengths a girl will go to for a good pair of shoes!

And how I did, in pursuit of my wedding Louboutins….

Now, I’ve outlined my adoration for this French shoe designer in a post about ‘My First Pair of Louboutins’ on another blog of mine (which I’ve neglected for far too long now)….and in it I discuss how Louboutin is renowned for his signature red-soled heels that have, as GQ’s Matthew Sebra explains, “become the female footwear equivalent of a Rolex; which is to say they’re exceptionally crafted, expensive, and immediately recognizable.”

And so I will admit – part of the reason I coveted this particular pair of shoes was simply for the immediate recognition of that red sole. And I envision wedding shoot pictures of my diamond ring and band hanging ever so seductively on the back of that beautiful red heel… mmmm

But I have more reasons, too! My dress colour combination: dull gold and red. These shoes? Dull gold and red. If that is not logic; I don’t know what is!

And if that’s not enough, just look at them:

Gorgeous, I know! They are elegant with a nod to “exotic” with those seductive swirls (perfect for my Pakistani wedding). I had to have them. I told my fiance, “when I laid my eyes on these pair of shoes, I had the same feeling that I had when I first met you: that they were the ones.” (“Lovely,” he replied).

And so the mission began.

This pair, I found out, was not available in Canada, or even the US. This pair was only available in Europe, and CL does not ship internationally – you have to have a European credit card that matches a European address. So, like any committed shopper does, I emailed CL customer service. The reps their were great and responsive (yes, I told them how these had to be my wedding shoes) and they offered to try to source them at local boutiques in Europe, and then it would be up to the boutique to send them to me, if they had them in my size.

Ah, the size. That was another issue. In my simple black CL pumps- I’m a size 39. (I’m normally a size 8 (38), but CL shoes always fit small). So, when the Christian Louboutin Zurich boutique emailed me and let me know that they had them in size 39, I was thrilled! Until, they told me that this pair of shoes fit particularly small. Nowww what to do? Should I get them in the 39 and risk it? Or should I get them one size up in a 40? Was there no way to try them on?

Well, eventually there was. I called David‘s in Toronto (the only other retailer of Louboutin, besides Holt Renfrew in Canada – sigh, our small luxury market) and the girl on the phone told me that they had these shoes -but in a different model, not the gold – in a size 40, but they were on hold for someone. So, I decided to run up the street to David’s on my lunch break just to try on the 40 for sizing purposes. When I got to the store, a man there told me that he had sold the 40 on the weekend, and that the system must have shown that the shoes were still there: they weren’t. Oh the disappointment! So, I walked over to Holts to just check to see if they had them (I had called earlier, and the girl said they didn’t) and when I went in the girl there said they had one pair of them in a size 9 (again, in a different model). And so, she brought those out for me to try…they were incredibly small. Trying the 8’s on made me think I definitely needed a 10!

And so, I emailed CL Customer Service back, asking them to find me a pair in the size 10. Soon thereafter, I received an email from their boutique in Madrid. They had them in a size 40. But I didn’t feel comfortable just sending them 561 Euros ($770 dollars – which in Louboutin world, is kinda amazing for this pair of shoes) without knowing my proper size.

So, I decided to call David’s again. And it just so happened that someone had returned the similar model in a size 9. (Why would you return these shoes, I don’t know). If that’s not fate, what is people?! It just so happened that my fiance was downtown, and he picked me up and we went to Davids to try on the shoes, together. (Photo below!)

Trying on the shoes, confirmed my hunch: they were perfect! I imagined the beautiful shoe as the perfect accessory to house my henna adorned feet on my wedding day! And while, as you can see, the size 39 fit, and the men at Davids were intent on slingbacks fitting just they way they did, I felt like a half size of up would be absolutely right. This was confirmed by my cousin, blogger behind the Currently Obsessed, who, if you read her blog would know that she was incredibly encouraging of my mission, lol, “Doesn’t the hunt make this more fun?!?” (It does, by the way.)

And so, back to CL customer service I went asking them if they had a 39.5 (I had totally forgot they did half sizes). But this time CL Europe customer service was not so quick to respond! (I was thinking they were probably sick of me, this persistent bride-to-be by now!) And so I followed up….two or three times, until they got back to me and let me know that they have no 39.5 of the Au Hameau in gold in any of their European boutiques, but I could independently contact their other botuiques around the world to source them. At which point I said, enough is enough, the size 39 in the gold are on hold for me at Christian Louboutin Madrid, and they did fit, and they probably will stretch, so I’m going to do it and just get them. And so two days ago, I did! Went to the bank, sent a wire transfer to the Loboutin Madrid Boutique, and today I got the confirmation that they have mailed my wedding shoes!

So that was my mission behind my bridal Louboutins – I think it will be well worth the chase 🙂

~Safa