Highs and Lows of Shoe Shopping at Barneys

It really has been a jolt to learn that Barneys is going out of business. I remember earlier instances of financial difficulty, but Barneys always pulled through. It's easy to romanticize and say that's because the store is an icon, but there are plenty of other examples of fallen (and missed) icons--Henri Bendel, Charivari, for instance.

I wanted both to honor Barneys and freshen up my shoe collection, so I went online mid November to see what the sale was like. As Sapna Maheshwari for the New York Times noted, "it's a very Barneys" kind of sale," with early savings of 5%.

That wasn't going to work out, so I returned on "Cyber Monday" (I really do dislike the normalization of this term) to see whether sales had deepened. Some had progressed to 15%, even 25%, and some truly luxurious brands stayed the same--no deal.

So then I decided I'd explore rather than shop, and filtered the shoes from lowest price to highest, to see what minimum I could spend, and then highest to lowest, to see what I'd like if the sky were the limit.

And not surprisingly, the low price coordinated with a low heel; the high with a relatively high heel.

The green Barneys label flat sandal (reduced to $146) would complement everything I wear in the summer; this green is actually my hot-weather go-to color.

The brown Givenchy (not on sale, s'il vous plait) would be smart with fall dresses or just on its own, over the fireplace, such is its sleek beauty.

And it's these colors above and left I'll keep in mind, rather than the sad reality touted by the red/yellow notification below.