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"Reader Mary Alice says, &amp;quot;I&amp;#x27;ve recently graduated from law school and I feel like it&amp;#x27;s time for me to get rid of my little girl wardrobe and buy some shoes that will last me a while. Do you have any suggestions for classic shoes that won&amp;#x27;t go out of style? I need both dressy and casual, and I don&amp;#x27;t mind spending a bit ($150 per pair).&amp;quot; Considering we just discovered that women are as attached to their shoes as they are to their dudes, your question couldn&amp;#x27;t have come at a better time! Great question, Mary Alice! Smart Slaves to Fashion know that a woman will always be well-dressed if she spends her money on great shoes and handbags and supplements the rest of her wardrobe with easy-to-wear (and inexpensive) separates, so you&amp;#x27;re already thinking in the right direction. I&amp;#x27;d say if you&amp;#x27;re going for completely classic, these are the five shoes you absolutely must have: THE BLACK PATENT PUMP: This will easily be the most versatile, reliable, classic pair of shoes in your entire wardrobe. You can wear them with a pantsuit to the office, with your favorite LBD for special occasions, and with jeans and a sexy top for weekends. Avoid buying anything trendy here--embellishments, insane heel heights, and avant-garde shapes will all feel dated really quickly--and instead go for a classic round toe and stacked heel. If you&amp;#x27;re totally bored by that thought, opt for one timeless detail, like a peep toe or a slingback. THE FLAT RIDING BOOT: You don&amp;#x27;t need to be an equestrian to appreciate how practical a pair of riding boots are. I know it&amp;#x27;s tempting to buy boots with heels to get a few extra inches, but trust me, you want to go for comfort with a shoe as versatile as this one. I&amp;#x27;d buy a pair in the caramel color family, so you can wear &amp;#x27;em with both black and brown clothes, and go for something that hits right at the knee so you can keep warm while wearing skirts and dresses all winter. Want more style advice, sent straight to your inbox? Click here! THE WHITE TENNIS SHOE: I&amp;#x27;ve always been partial to Keds, but really there are so many great classic white tennis shoes out there (if your style is a bit more urban, the adidas Stan Smith isn&amp;#x27;t going anywhere anytime soon, and if you fancy yourself a preppie, you can&amp;#x27;t go wrong with Tretorns). They&amp;#x27;re your go-to shoe for casual outfits you don&amp;#x27;t know what else to wear with. Just make sure to keep &amp;#x27;em looking clean (the washer and dryer can help with that!). THE COMFORTABLE FLAT: There&amp;#x27;s a little more room for flexibility in this category, depending on your personal style, but you need a flat shoe that&amp;#x27;s not a boot and will work for weekends and casual Fridays. The ballet flat will definitely be around for awhile, but lace-up oxfords or driving moccasins are also great alternatives. THE SEXY STILETTO: They may not be the most pragmatic shoes in your closet, but they&amp;#x27;re definitely the most fun. Your evening shoes should have a nice size heel (three inches minimum, four if you can stand it!), an open toe (yes, even in the winter they work with black opaque tights), and a neutral tone (I find metallics give you the most bang for your buck). There you have it, Mary Alice! Good luck with your shoe shopping...how many of these classic pairs do you ladies own? Which shoes do you find you get the most use out of? What are your go-tos? Discuss! Don&amp;#x27;t forget...we&amp;#x27;re here to solve your style problems! Leave your query here or upload it to the STF contact form and we&amp;#x27;ll have you looking chic in no time! And psst...if you&amp;#x27;ve got an extra minute, take this poll to tell us about your T-shirt habits! The results will be in the April issue of Glamour... More Ways to Get Glamour You could win $50,000 just for registering or logging in to Glamour.com! Add Glamour to your iGoogle homepage Follow Slaves to Fashion on Twitter! Photo: Lord &amp;amp; Taylor"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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