THE shoes.

Wedding shoes are an integral part of the wedding day outfit–sure, the wedding dress is what people see first, but a peek under the hem of the skirt or a slight lift of the dress to walk down a few steps or get your groove on during the reception can be an opportunity to surprise guests with a glimpse of a very special pair of heels.  I know picking the shoes before you pick the dress seems a little backwards, but it didn’t take me long to decide what my tootsies would be donning on my wedding day.  But maybe I should back track a little bit, first, to give you an idea of what I’m talking about.

For as long as I can remember, I have always been obsessed with The Wizard of Oz.  From the age of two until about seven or eight I went through a phase of dressing up as Dorothy Gale.  I loved to go outside and pretend I was lost in the land of Oz, complete with a handmade gingham jumper my mom had sewn for me and glittery red Capezio flats I wore practically every day.  Its an obsession handed down to me from Papa Dillo, who would sit and watch the movie with me and entertain me by singing all the songs and mimicking the voice of the Cowardly Lion.

Oh, you want proof, do you?

All dressed up as Dorothy Gale for Halloween. I was probably three or four here.

I even wore those ruby slippers out to restaurants. My parents were cool like that. Notice, also, my innocent eyes somehow convinced them to buy me that extravagant monstrosity of a dessert. Pretty sure this is at a Luby’s.

So, while dreaming up wedding day looks for the big day, my natural inclination was to somehow pay homage to my childhood obsession without going crazy or over the top.  I didn’t want a Wizard of Oz themed affair, but I did want some aspect of that part of my life to be present.  I scoured the internet for hours and hours, trying to come up with a way to Oz-ify my wedding day without being campy or cheesy.  A pair of ruby slippers seemed to be the natural choice, but every pair I’d found either had four inch heels, were stilettos, or were covered in glitter.  I was in the market for something that looked as close as possible to the Judy Garland originals.  I was beginning to lose faith that I’d ever find a pair to match what I’d pictured in my mind.  And then I found them.

A website online (which shall remain nameless) sells handmade versions of the shoes.  They use leather 2 inch pumps and cover them with sequins, complete with a rhinestone bow on the top, JUST like the ones in the movies.  I was in love, but for the $100 price tag, I was a little nervous.  So, I did the only practical thing a girl of my mindset could think of–I asked for a pair for Christmas.

Unfortunately, Santa’s mail services were running slowly, so on Christmas morning I had an envelope with a picture of the shoes to open up, along with the promise that they were on their way.  Elated with excitement, I anxiously waited for the mail to come each day, hoping our mailman would have them for me.  After what seemed like an excrutiating period of time, the shoes were FINALLY delivered to my parents’ doorstep.  It took everything inside me to restrain myself from ripping open the box, but I managed to muster up some self control for the sake of the blogger in me.

Photo by Miss Armadillo.

I will admit I was impressed with the way they were packaged to avoid damage during the shipping process.

Photo by Miss Armadillo.

And here they are, the long awaited ruby slippers!

Photo by Miss Armadillo.

Photo by Miss Armadillo.

I was initially thrilled with the way they looked–maybe I was wrapped up in the sheer excitement that they were finally, finally here, the shoes I had dreamed about ever since I was a little girl.  After I’d put them on and admired them for a moment, I slid them off for a closer look.  That’s when the trouble started.

The first thing I noticed was that the shoes weren’t quite the same.  Can you tell from this picture?

Photo by Miss Armadillo.

If you look closely at the bows, you’ll see that the left shoe has three rhinestones on each side of the marquis shaped stone, while the right shoe has only two.  Problem number 1.

There were also some issues with the sequins, themselves.  For example, on the toe of this shoe, there appears to be a bald spot where a sequin has gone missing.

Photo by Miss Armadillo.

Some of the color on the sequins were also already rubbed off, revealing the silver underneath, like these, for example:

Photo by Miss Armadillo.

Photo by Miss Armadillo.

The heels of the shoes were also covered in unsightly, excess glue.

Photo by Miss Armadillo.

There was also stray glue all over the rhinestone bows on the front.

Photo by Miss Armadillo.

To top it all off, the website advertised they were selling LEATHER shoes, while the stamp on the inside of the pump clearly indicated otherwise:

Photo by Miss Armadillo.

I’m not sure what went wrong here.  The website reviews revealed nothing but happy clients, but I certainly am not happy, especially for the $100 price tag these slippers came with.  The website says they honor full refunds and exchanges within ten days of receiving the package.  Rather than exchanging them for another pair, I think I’d rather just return them.  I don’t want to bash the people who sold me these shoes for the mere fact that sometimes, handmade things just go wrong.  I’m not vindictive or mean, but for $100, this wasn’t what I was expecting, if anything because I was mailed shoes made out of synthetic material when the website claimed they were made of leather.  I can make shoes that look this good myself.  My parents have offered to give me the $100 for supplies to do exactly that.  It’s just another thing added to the already expanding DIY list, but I guess the old adage proves true:  If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

What do you think?  Am I being unreasonable about being dissatisfied with the quality of my purchase?  Am I going into bridezilla mode or do I have just cause for wanting to return these for a refund?  Have you ever been disappointed in the quality of an item you spent an exorbitant amount of money on?