THEY FINALLY CAME IN, 6 MONTHS LATER!! - Deandri: Gerti Shoe Review

Now.. if you can still remember..

6 months ago, around February, I won a contest on Instagram with Deandri where they gave 2 people FREE SHOES!

I was super, extremely ecstatic and I even wrote a blog post about how super, extremely ecstatic I was.

THEY PROMISED ME THEY'D COME IN 1 MONTH AFTER I WON THE CONTEST.

Well.. it's about 6 months later and they arrived at my door yesterday.

I won't be grouch about it though because THEY'RE FREE and they're $120 originally so.. 

THANKS, DEANDRI!! 

Here are some pictures for you guys.

(All pictures are taken by me, myself and I and are taken with a Canon Rebel T2i)

..Were you drooling? I know I was. I practically slept with these bad boys.

So just an FYI, Deandri is a shoe company that's based in California where they specialize in handmade shoes.  The wooden heel and platform is pretty much their trademark.  When you first hold these shoes, you can immediately tell of the effort and craftsmanship that was put into them - they are incredibly handmade.

Kudos, Deandri.

So I did order the GERTIS in BLACK.

I believe you can purchase these in either black, white or nude, I'm not too sure about any other colours.  I do know that Deandri sell SOME shoes in pink, maybe even just one type of shoe, but I'm not 100% on this so don't quote me on that.

I've already worn them around my house a few times, as you do, and they're ABSOLUTELY LUSH to walk in.  The heel is no more than 4 inches long PLUS it has a thick ol' platform so essentially, your foot is almost flat.  The only "uncomfortable" factor is that if you're not used or too keen on chunky, clunky shoes, these can get pretty heavy for you so you may have to walk around in them more often to get used to them and to break them in better.

Other than that - THEY'RE SOOOOOOOO COMFY!!!

They're made of real leather - super soft and not shiny whatsoever, yay.  The whole bottom part (the heel + platform) are real wood and, as I mentioned before, very well made but can get very heavy so if you have delicate feet, just wear these around the house to break them in before wearing them out.  They came with white laces and I can pretty much think of about 5 outfits off the top of my head that I would wear these with.  They're insanely versatile.

I did order these in a size 6 (I'm normally a 5.5) but since Deandri doesn't sell shoes smaller than a 6, I had to order their smallest size and honestly - they're absolutely fine, they fit my feet great.  I do have some wiggle room but I like that because in the case the my elfish feet decide to grow into normal human size, I can still wear these and get my "money's worth" out of them!

They are a bit pricey as well, they're originally $120 so if you're looking to splurge or just want to invest in some really good shoes, I do suggest looking into these.  They are quite casual due to the size of the heel and the colour, they're super comfortable to walk in and they step up that shoe game, you know? 

I will have a shoe-unboxing video up on my video channel so I'll link that in another blog post when I have that edited!

Thank you so, so, so much, Deandri for giving me the opportunity to own such amazing shoes for free!  I'm super grateful! 

You can check out Deandri online here. 

 (***NOTE, MY PACKAGE CAME WITH EXTRA LACES ((4 NEON ONES)) AND SOME DEANDRI TEMPORARY TATTOOS ((4)).  I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE IF THEY DO THAT WITH EVERY PACKAGE THEY SEND OUT OR IF THEY JUST GAVE ME SOME EXTRA GOODIES FOR WINNING A CONTEST)

Stay tuned for my next post!  Since it's summer break, I'll posting a lot more on here.

Ciao,

Sty xo

This blog post is not sponsored by Deandri.  They do include a free pair of shoes which I won in their Instagram contest.  Other than the items mentioned, I was not given anything else for free nor are they sponsoring me.

Snow Day! + Beyonce Appreciation Post

Now I live in Canada, Southern Ontario (the Greater Toronto Area region) and right now, we are said to be experiencing the heaviest snow storm we have ever experienced in years.

25cm-50cm of snow!

Hence, NO SCHOOL! WOOHOO!

What a good day for a snow day considering how badly neglected my Math homework and Kinesiology homework was last night. 

Yay for 3-day weekends.

Anyway, on this day of being snowed in, I've done pretty much nothing else but watch fashion videos and watched countless videos of this fierce goddess right here:

Photo link: http://www.gq.com/women/photos/201301/beyonce-cover-story-photos-gq-february-2013#slide=1

I have been a HUGE Bey fan from Destiny's Child, I'm A Survivor days to just a few days ago when she ROCKED the Superbowl 2013 half-time show.  There are just 1 too many reasons on why I really love this woman.

I'm not really a die-hard/hardcore B fan but I am a BIG, BIG fan and I'm super bummed out that I can't see her perform here at the ACC this summer. *Tear.

To be quite frank, nothing says, "FEMALE EMPOWERMENT" like Beyonce.  She has truly taught women of all ages all around the world to embrace womanhood and be confident in our own skin; I see her as the spokesperson for all of us "fierce women" out there (WHICH WE ALL ARE).

She's just amazing.  She's an amazing performer, a loving wife, a beautiful mother and just an all-around GREAT person, you know? 

Now I recently watched an old Ellen DeGeneres interview with Beyonce and they talked about her I Am Sasha Fierce album and about her "other persona." 

Beyonce said that yes, while she enjoys her upbest/up-tempo, "va-va-voom" music (ie; Diva, Single Ladies, Ego, Who Run The World, etc.), she really just enjoys singing her more vulnerable, emotional, honest ballads even more (ie; 1+1, Halo, If I Were A Boy, Smash Into You, etc.).

She said that these types of songs were a more HONEST interpretation of who she really is as BEYONCE and it's more true to her character which I personally think is just BEAUUUUUUTIFUL.

You go, Bey!

Despite her amounting success, she continues to remain so humble and so down-to-earth.  She's just so REAL and so..... HUMAN (which is very hard to say in many celebrities in Hollywood).  

I think it all comes down to her genuinely GOOD music, her humbling/down-to-earth personality and her ability to stay FIERCE without being "in your face" about it is why I truly love this woman.

Beyonce gets 11/10 stars in my book. 

Anyway.............. it's still snowing QUITE heavily outside and my dad & grandpa are trying to shovel their way out of the snow but really, I don't see any point in shovelling right now when the snow is just coming down harder than ever.

Oh, Canada. Our home and native land.

I'm probably going to spend my day off doing homework, working out, eating, cooking, watching fashion videos, reading fashion blogs, watching movies, talking to my guy, what have you.

Have a good one.

Sty xo