Bonanno's or Barefoot!

My friend Tricia, her adorable son, S and I took a little road trip to Stuart, FL today. Why, you are asking, would be trek over 3.5 hours to Stuart for in the middle of the week? To get fitted for our first pair of Stephen Bonanno's!



As you can see from the top of the picture, it was a beautiful and sunny day!



We visited their boutique/factory location in Stuart. Since Bonanno's are custom made to order, we did not want to "guess" our size, only to find ourselves with the wrong one! While on a girl's trip to Charleston in January, we decided we would make the trip to Stuart. We saved our pennies and off we went!

The store and factory are located in an industrial park-ish just off Interstate 95. The store is very tiny, but well organized with sample shoes lining numerous shelves. I meant to take a picture, but I was so excited that I forgot! :/ It was great to see the shoes in person. The colors and leather are best seen in person, rather than via computer screen! The leather is kidskin leather and so soft and amazing!

Melanie (Mel) helped us figure out orders. First she helped us with the bottom (sole) size. Then we moved onto the top sandal size. I have challenged (i.e. CHUBBY) feet, so I knew a standard 7.5 all the way around would not work for me. Ends up that I am a 7 on the bottom and a 9 on the top!

We then picked out what styles we wanted. Originally, I wanted to order Emma's. In the past few weeks, however, I thought about ordering the Palm Beach Classic sandals. I tried on both styles in the store and I'm sure glad I did. I did not like the way the Palm Beach Classics looked on my feet! The Emmas were still cute, but not quite right for me. I ended up falling in love with the Tatianas. Here is a stealth cell phone picture I took of the shoe:



We selected our colors next. Mel brought out leather samples as well as color combo samples (pairings such as white/navy, pink/green etc), so we could see how the colors coordinate. After much deliberation and discussion, I selected the platinum sandals with gold whipstitch and gold monogram. I will not spoil what Tricia ordered as she may want to blog about it! :)

Mel was extremely patient and friendly as we peppered her with questions about fit and color. She really wanted to make sure the fit was perfect! We did not feel rushed at all and she really took the time to take care of us! She even let us get a sneak peak at three sandals that Stephen Bonanno designed for the Palm Beach 100th Anniversary. Not wanting to spoil it, let's just say Swavorski crystals were involved on one of them!

As we were paying out, she called Stephen Bonanno (!!!) himself in introduce us! He was just wonderful and thanked us for coming down from Jacksonville. Mel and Stephen were both incredibly gracious and thanked us for thinking of their company!

It was really a special experience to visit Stephen Bonanno Sandals. The service they provide and the product is top notch! We will get our sandals in 4-6 weeks, just in time for summer! Can't wait to share them with you on here!