Last month, I was headed out of town one weekend just for a couple of days. So, I packed light. I wore a pair of ballerina flats and didn’t even bother to pack a second pair of shoes. Big mistake. Very, big mistake.

I simply cannot walk for two days straight in flat shoes. My feet need a little heel and some arch support. Very flat shoes (or very high ones) just don’t make my feet very content, shall we say. They need a happy medium…heel.

So there I was, out of town with one pair of shoes. I happened to be in a Tarjay (Target) store when my heels started burning. I simply couldn’t bear to walk after a while and was leaning on my shopping cart for support and walking on my tippy toes. It was bad. Really, really bad.

It was suggested that I should check out the shoe aisles. Though skeptical, since I’d never bought much more than flip-flops and a pair of Birkenstock Gizeh knock-offs in Tarjay’s shoe department, I eased my way over there.

After looking over the selection, I picked out the Merona “Aubrey” wedge:

Medium height heel? Check.
Looks comfortable? Check.
Decent style? Check.
Passes 3SI*? Check.

Espadrilles are a long-time favorite of mine. And these shoes were stylish and looked mid-priced, but at $22.99 were a steal! But,–how–would–they–FEEL? I sooo needed these shoes to be comfortable! And….(drumroll, please) they WERE! Surprised?

Girlfriend, so was I.

The canvas did not rub my skin. The heel height was fab. And the shoes (get this) looked GREAT with my jeans. I even got compliments!

My feet walked out of Tarjay that day very happy campers. In the days to follow, I had no regrets about my purchase: the more I wore the Espadrilles, the more comfortable they felt. Once back in NYC, these became one of my “go-to” pairs for those days when I needed to do lots of walking and didn’t want to resort to my Nike Air Rifts.

If you need some comfortable–yet cute–walking shoes, I say give these babies a try.

And yeah, you’ll find that the shoes come in three other colors (or “combinations thereof”, shall we say). But, honey, stick with the black. Just trust me on this one, stick with the black.

• Target‘s Merona “Aubrey” Wedges in black (US$22.99 reg.) are a clever purchase for sophisticated shoppers that need a comfortable walking shoe, but still want to remain stylish and trendy (Espadrilles are hot this season!)
  • Note: The shoes run a little wide. If your shoe size is between two half sizes, you should choose the larger size. (E.g., if you wear size 7 1/2 and size 8 shoes, get the size 8.)
  • Update (7/8/08): The shoes are now on clearance for $16.09!
    Get them here: www.target.com

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*The 3-Second Impression (3SI): Ignoring the price, look at the item for no more than 3 seconds. What is your first impression? Does the item look “costly”, “mid-priced”, “low-priced” or “simply cheap”?