Maybe I’ve been watching too much TV lately, but all those JC Penney commercials have me itching for some back-to-school basics. (Please keep in mind that I have not fallen into the JC Penney back-to-school marketing demographic for over 10 years.) Plus, a little fall shopping is good for the soul; it keeps you young and in tune with the trends. Because the Internet is so wide-open when it comes to online shopping, I’m going to focus on shoes at the moment because my summer Birkenstocks are about to disintegrate, and a good pair of fall shoes is something around which you can build an entire wardrobe if you choose carefully.
Now, first thing is first: I love Scarpa (shout out to Amy Gardner, whose store wins another Best Of blue ribbon this year!), but sometimes—just sometimes—fall shopping calls and you can’t leave your cubicle. These are the moments for Piperlime, an online shoe store with a nice variety of brands and styles, but not too much variety, as is the case with Zappos. The site gives you everything from ye olde Birkenstock to Marc Jacobs to Lily Pulitzer. Old, young, funky, conservative, classy, sassy, flashy—Piperlime has a shoe for your style without making you scroll through thousands and thousands of pairs of crap you don’t want. For example, with just three clicks, I came across the perfect pair of Frye boots for the fall. It would match my pants, my skirts, my shirts, my pajamas, and my underwear! Sigh. Now where’s that paycheck when I need it?