Shoe-Shopping My Way Through My Italian Honeymoon

When I love a purchase, I tend to want to wear it right away — regardless of whether or not there’s a need to do so. As I type this, I’m sat at my desk in a pair of crisp, white Swiss dot pajamas and a ponyhair block heel. Do I need to have heels on? Most certainly not! But I really wanted to wear them. To me, that’s a surefire sign of a good purchase!

It’s true that, for today, these heels won’t make it out of the house, but I have big plans to make great use of all the new shoes in my summer rotation, most of which were purchased during my Italian honeymoon.

I ended up tapping out at four new pairs (all of which, believe it or not, were premeditated purchases!) and documenting it all for you below.

Let me just flag that buying four new pairs of shoes on a vacation is not the norm. Definitely not my norm, anyway. But I was intent on purchasing styles and brands I couldn’t easily get anywhere but Italy, so I went in with most of these purchases mentally flagged as High Priority.

I even left some space in my suitcase in anticipation of my buys. That’s called manifesting.

• For The Plane: Aritzia x Nike LD-1000 ‘EDITION A’ Sneaker

• For Daytime: Boden Espadrille Flats (similar heeled style still available)

• For Night: Andre Assous Pamala Raffia Wedge, Arezzo Ava Wedge Sandals

• For The Beach: Madden Girl Sands Paillette-Embellished Thong Sandals

I often over-pack footwear for trips, but because I was manifesting so many new shoes, I kept things pretty light (for me!). One sneaker, one daytime shoe, two night-out wedges, and a flip flop. For me, this is nothing!

Our story starts on day one of our trip. I can’t recall exactly how I came across Kashura, but since discovering this Milan-based brand of hand-crocheted ballerina flats, I became fixated on getting a pair.

Unfortunately, finding the colors and size I needed online proved almost impossible — so, I vowed to go from stockist to stockist in Rome and Florence in hopes of finding a pair IRL on my trip.

After touching down in Rome, Pat and I grabbed a quick espresso at Sant' Eustachio Il Caffè and I stole a look at my Starred locations on Apple Maps. I determined that we were mere steps away from a shop that might have Kashura flats in stock. Naturally, we sprinted over.

I won’t lie — the name of this store really turned me off. I had little hope of finding the ultimate cool-girl ballerina flats in a shop called LOLRoma, but I was pleasantly surprised by the elevated atmosphere and thoughtful curation within the tiny boutique.

From outside, I spotted a pair of Kashura flats in the window, and I warned Pat of my impending First Purchase of the Trip. Inside, I was greeted by a display of colorful Kashuras and a kind salesperson, who helped me sort out sizing and color availability. Originally, I had hoped to snag a pink pair, but after some detective work, we could not source a single pair in Rome.

After some trial and error, I landed on the most beautiful blue style, with a pop of orange trim and triangles of eggplant and yellow. Without the above images, that might sound ugly, but I think they’re just fantastic. It also felt great that my first purchase of the trip wasn’t a random impulse-buy; it was a flat I’d been thinking about for months.

Inspired, we shopped on! After all, we were just down the street from Fendi.

Herein lies the only portion of shoe shopping that didn’t result in a purchase. We went to Fendi because I was hoping to purchase either this raffia Baby B bag or this blue hagfish Mamma Baguette, but both ultimately fell flat for me when I tried them on IRL.

Still, the sales associate took a liking to us, and he gave us a grand tour of the Rome flagship, including a look at the fur atelier upstairs, and an early peek at the special-edition Baguette® 26424 Re-Editions, each of which comes in a fancy custom crate.

I definitely didn’t see myself splurging on a bag I didn’t already have on my radar, but I did start romanticizing a life with some of the shoes adorning the walls. Fendi heels are so good right now, and while very few are monochrome or neutral, they all seem surprisingly wearable and versatile.

Given that this was Day One of my trip, I made myself refrain. But it’s very possible I end up with a new Fendi sandal before summer’s end.

(I know buying them in the U.S. after having been in Italy is a sin, but let’s focus less on that and more on how proud we are that I showed restraint in the first place.)

Done with our shopping for the day, Pat and I were headed back to our hotel when a flash of footwear caught my eye. It was the window at Calzature Campo Marzio, and I recognized it from images I’ve seen via Gabriela Proietti’s fabulous Substack, Local Style!

Gabriela was a completely random follow for me (the beauty of Substack!), and I really enjoy her newsletter. Coming across one of her top-recommended shops IRL felt like my Substack app had come to life.

I filled Pat in and we vowed to return before leaving Rome. [We also shopped Guincart and Schostal thanks to Local Style. Such great recs!]

A few days later, we trekked back to Campo Marzio. While I admired their in-house range of sandals, I had my sights set on buying custom leather sandals in Sorrento later on in the trip (foreshadowing), so I focused in on getting a pair of traditional Venetian slippers instead.

My only goal was to get an exciting color combination to pair back to white tees, jeans, and linen separates. I ended up with a juicy green velvet mary jane with hot pink trim. Fantastic!

At this point, I was on a shoe-induced high. There was only one other pair of flats on my Rome To-Buy list — might as well go for 3/3, right?

Also recommended to me via Local Style in a fabulous letter on friulane flats was Alla Giulia, and the shop was less than fifteen minutes away. After convincing Pat that these shoes were all as important to me as seeing the Colosseum was to him (don’t worry, we did that, too!) off we went.

You might think I wouldn’t need two pairs of friulane flats, but I had already done the mental gymnastics of compartmentalizing both my desired pairs into entirely different styling categories.

My watermelon Campo Marzio mary janes would be completely different than my Alla Giulia friulanes, as the brand is known for modernizing the classic silhouette. Think fringe, beads, patterned fabrics, etc.

This shop was small and efficient, with all available options on display and categorized by size. After finding my fit, I tried a few options and narrowed down from there. I thought I might leave with the leopard pair with black fringe, and was devastated that none of the leather beaded styles were available in my size, but found my footing (lol) with a deep pink velvet pair with chunky purple fringe.

Post-purchase, I let Pat know I was done shoe shopping until Sorrento. No matter what Florence had to offer me, I wouldn’t be swayed! And I kept this promise despite multiple shoe-related temptations.

You can’t lie to your spouse on your honeymoon, after all.

Three days and zero footwear purchases later, Pat and I arrived in Sorrento for the final leg of our trip. While I’d originally hoped to get a pair of leather sandals made during our time in Capri a la Jackie O, I knew a day-trip might not allow me to get a truly custom pair made in time, so I set my sights on the shops in Sorrento to find the right artisan for me.

Based on a TikTok recommendation, I thought for sure I’d end up getting my shoes from Balducelli, but the vibe didn’t really thrill me. I left empty-handed and passed a few more shoptions — Sandali Arte Artigiana being one I’d highly recommend for both men and women! — before Sandali Siniscalchi really spoke to me.

Outside the shop were displays of both classic leather styles and more intricate embellished sandals, and inside I found even more options to consider. I could’ve easily picked a pair right off the wall, but I was hopeful to customize a pair specifically for me, so I chatted with the salesperson about combining a few elements and how long that might take.

When she assured me she’d only need two days to produce a new shoe just for me, I began taking a more serious look at my options.

Hidden behind the try-on chair were a pair of sandals in a black spotted ponyhair with a wide strap on the foot and a tiny toe strap (the arch nemesis of someone like me, with particularly this-little-piggy chubby toes).

Of course, the ponyhair reminded me instantly of those Chanel flats, and I asked her if I could use this material to make a sandal in a different silhouette. She agreed, seeming surprised at my selection.

It makes sense that ponyhair wouldn’t be a super popular pick for summer sandals, but her implication that it wasn’t a hot seller made me even more excited about the opportunity to own something totally unique.

Once I found a more flattering sandal shape (two thick bands that covered most of my wide-ass feet — I wondered aloud whether it was possible to add a heel. It was!

A block heel would be just the thing to ensure my creation was not, in fact, an impulsively selected amalgamation of separate sandal elements. With the addition of the heel, everything clicked, and I could immediately imagine styling opportunities, occasions to wear, etc. I was sold!

Two days and a €30 deposit later, I returned to pick up my sandals. And they were totally and utterly perfect! I am wearing them now, at my desk, as I type this. And I wouldn’t change a damn thing.

I have absolutely zero regrets about buying four pairs of shoes on my honeymoon, although it’s safe to say I won’t be making quite so many purchases wherever I travel to next. This was a special trip, and I had my eye on all four styles before I’d even boarded the plane.

And there you have it! Pop in next week for some non-honeymoon related content. And until then, let me know: any shoes you’re eyeing for summer? I cannot be tempted, but that doesn’t mean I’m not curious!

x BGF