Steve Madden Croquet Flat

So, I had been watching the Steve Madden Croquet shoes in the leopard print FOREVER! Seriously, at least like two or three months. Anyway, my roommate came home with a Nordstroms bag with the word “SALE” on it and the little wheels in my head began to churn. Now, I have NEVER bought anything in that store and the half a dozen times I've even been in the store was only because of their cafe - which serves a MEAN lobster bisque! Anyway, I figured, they must carry Steve Madden shoes and if they’re having a sale… So I go online and, sure enough, I see that Nordstroms has the leopard version – but still at full price instead of on sale. Boo! So I make up my mind to ditch leopard and to get a pair in one of the funky spring colors that are on sale. I decided to go into the store last weekend and that frickin whack ass store doesn’t have a SINGLE Croquet shoe in the store – not in leopard or any other of the five shades it comes in.

I ditch Nordstroms and head to the Steve Madden store inside of the same mall, which ends up being like a hop and skip away from Nordstroms. But, of course, the store is all out of every single color EXCEPT leopard, which I have already decided not to get. The girl in the store tells me that she can order the shoe in the system and have it shipped to me and I think, great!

I go back and forth between purple and magenta and finally pick purple – only to find out that the purple is not available in my size. Magenta it is. The girl tells me the total and, much to my dismay, I find out that I am being charged almost ten dollars just for shipping. Lame! Especially when there are stores like DSW that waive shipping fees when you place an order from the store.

Anyway, I rush home Thursday night because I know my shoes will be there waiting for me (I am obsessed with tracking!; I think it's interesting following packages all over the country! Lol) and I waltz right up to the front desk to claim my package. When the guy at the front desk hands it to me, I die a little inside. What the &%$@ is this?!

“Whoa,” says the random white guy who gets in the elevator with me. “And I don’t even think all that happened during the shipping. They packaged it like that.” He shakes his head and I do, too, because I know he’s right. Here’s what the package looked like…

 

I was pretty sure I was going to return the shoe – without having even seen it – because the package was just that horrific and also because I figured the shoes inside had probably been previously returned and were now being pawned off on some poor sucka – me! (My friend Ren pointed this out to me, too.) But curiosity got the best of me and I opened the horrific package to find this inside…

I'm in love! I haven’t worn them yet but I’m pretty sure I’m keeping them! And, who knows? Maybe I’ll save up and splurge on the leopard print for fall! :-D Steve Madden Croquet Flat