These days, it's pretty hard to get your money's worth out of any product.  You can spend $30 on a lipstick, but will you have the opportunity to use the full tube before it expires?  Do you feel that by the time you have used a gallon of gas it was worth the $3?  There's an entire psychology built around the perception of cost & worth, so there's no point in me adding my 2 cents.

What I can tell you about are shoes - that love you.  I'm not talking the romantic, red roses & candles, remembers your birthday kind of love.  I'm referring to the type of love that provides arch support, is vegan friendly, recycleable and provides a 2 year warranty.  If that doesn't get your attention, maybe the price will.  You receive all the above (not the roses & candles, silly) for $35.  No joke.

OKA B makes smart, comfortable sandals at affordable price points.  They come embelleshed with fun flowers, rhinestones or bows and a whole rainbow of colors. If all these reasons weren't good enough, they are produced large enough to fit my size 12 feet.

Have you ever work OKA b shoes? If not, show me a pair you like the in the comments below!

Bravo's golden child and winner of Project Runway, Christian Siriano, has inked a deal with Payless for an exclusive line of shoes.  Set to debut in February at New York Fashion Week and hit stores for Fall 2009, Siriano joins the likes of Lela Rose, Abaete, and Patricia Field - quite a coup for the young designer.

I appreciated his innovative and avant garde spirit when he was on the show, so it will be very interesting to see how he transforms that innovation into footwear.  Furthermore, I'm looking forward to seeing how his attention to detail translates to a Payless price point - you'd be surprised at the details exchanged for price points - a lesson I learned well while sitting through a Wal-Mart "big picture" meeting.  Fortunately Payless' price points have more wiggle room with their designer collections, set to retail between $25 - $45.

What would you like to see in Christina Siriano footwear?

I was recently encouraged to check out Marshall's new in store Shoe MegaShop.  As someone with very large feet (size 12 if you must know, but they do perfectly compliment my 6'2" frame) shoe shopping often leaves me disheartened unless I can count on the retailer to carry size 12 shoes regularly.  In fact, there are very few shoe stores I can count on - Target & Payless immediately come to mind.  

While in San Francisco on a business trip, I managed to sneak a few moments for myself Saturday morning before my flight back to JFK to check out a conveniently located Marshall's store.  Honestly I tried as hard as I realistically could to enter the experience with an open mind.  Once I saw the store's style-by-style merchandising, I knew that I only stood a 1% chance of finding a shoe in my size.  The downside of style-by-style merchandising, while appealing to those average sized gals, is the tantalizing styles get my hopes up. I browsed the aisles, casually falling in love and repeatedly looking for anything over a size 10.  If you have average sized feet (ie, sizes 6-10) you'll love the new Marshall's Shoe Megashop.  For more details on Marshall's new merchandising efforts, check out what Girl-Woman-Beauty-Brains has to say.

I had a similar experience when I popped into a Union Square Payless location one day while casually shopping.  The retailer is also experimenting with style-by-style merchandising instead of the traditional sorting by size method.  The store looked lovely, the shoes were beautifully displayed, but the entire experience left me feeling like I'd gambled and lost.  

Even though the Shoe Megashop experience wasn't meant for me, I'm still a very big advocate of Marshalls/TJ Maxx, especially after having worked there for a stint during college.  If you're an ultimate bargain hunter like me, check out Marshalls and TJ Maxx's new sites, What's In, where you can share your great finds with other users.  After signing up find me, under username styleitonline, and show me your latest finds.  I'm planning a TJ Maxx shopping trip this weekend for the 3 p's - pots, pans and purses!