My Zappos order arrived last night with the top three shoe contenders (see my original shoe search post here), and we have a clear winner:  the Bella-Vita Wren peep-toe pump in black.  Though I was a little skeptical when I first tried them on last night, I tried them again today, with the dress, and am completely happy.  They’re actually comfortable!  And they look great with the dress!  Hooray!  Admittedly, they cost an awful lot of money  [not so much anymore…turns out Amazon has this same shoe for only $42!], but considering that this is the first pair of dressy shoes that I’ve bought in a decade (I literally haven’t bought any dressy shoes – other than the shoes I wore for my wedding – since Jim’s and my third date, which was over ten years ago), considering that, I think the price is reasonable.

The other two pairs of shoes that I ordered, which, unfortunately, will be winging their way back to Zappo’s, were the David Tate Starlight (in black pleated fabric, because grey was sold out in my size), and the Gabriella Rocha Neve flat in grey suede; both gorgeous shoes, but neither one fit my poor feet.  Thanks to Alyson for those suggestions, especially since my ultimate shoe of choice popped up on the Zappo’s “You Might Also Like” sidebar when I was looking at the David Tate shoe.  And thanks to Lizzie and Jean for their awesome suggestions, too; the book pump from Clark’s is definitely way cool, just not the perfect option for this dress and this occasion.  And, of course, a big thank you to long-suffering Jim, who put up with quite the evening last night as I tried on shoes and complained bitterly about my feet the whole time.

Now all I need to do is to miraculously get back in shape in the next two weeks…hmmmm…time to go dust off those weights.