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"Who says you&amp;#x27;ve gotta be in New York, Paris, or Milan to write witty fashion coverage? Julie Wax is proving that the deep south has miles of style with her year-old blog, I &amp;amp;hearts; Heels, and we&amp;#x27;re falling head over ours for her celebrity interviews, trend reports, and cheap and chic finds. Get to know her, after the jump. STF: What made you decide to start a fashion blog? What do you think I &amp;amp;hearts; Heels offers that nobody else on the web does? Julie Wax: I&amp;#x27;ve actually always had an obsessive love for both writing and fashion, so I thought why not put those two together into my own blog? In 2002, I was an ASME intern at Seventeen and absolutely fell in love with the fashion and beauty closets; I wanted to make my new home amongst all those heels! After returning from a trip to L.A. last year, I became really inspired by all of the celebrity fashion and trends, and felt like I should write it all down. I don&amp;#x27;t focus only on celebrity trends, but I also feature in-depth interviews with both designers and celebrity stylists (the people behind the scenes) like Shoshanna, Robert Verdi, Monica Rose and Tara Swennen. I don&amp;#x27;t think anyone else does that at the moment. Plus, I live in the South - I don&amp;#x27;t live in NY, L.A. or a major fashion hub, yet I can still convey what and who is hot at the moment. My blog started as a hobby and a creative outlet (as I was working in the business world at the time) - sort of like a diary of all of my favorite things. I hope that my readers come to I Heart Heels daily to catch up on all of their favorite things, too, all in one spot. Whether it&amp;#x27;s Louboutins or lip gloss! STF: Tell us about the name &amp;quot;I Heart Heels&amp;quot;...are you a huge shoe person? Would you ever be caught in flats? JW: I think every fashionista loves a fab pair of heels, and so the name I Heart Heels encompasses the epitome of fashion. It all starts with the high heel. I am such a shoe person; I build my outfits around them and I constantly bump into friends in the shoe department. I am happiest in a pair of heels, no doubt. They instantly lift you up and make you feel so much taller, prouder and chicer. But, of course, there is also a time and place for cute flats. Ballet flats can look great with a pair of skinny jeans or a short, flirty dress - it just depends on what you&amp;#x27;re doing that day (and how far you&amp;#x27;re walking!). STF: So, fess up: how many pairs do you have? JW: I don&amp;#x27;t actually own hundreds of pairs of shoes, more like 50 or so. I like to think it&amp;#x27;s about quality and not quantity. A great pair of shoes can last a girl forever! STF: Who are your favorite designers right now? Shoe designers? JW: I&amp;#x27;m a huge fan of alice + olivia by Stacey Bendet. It&amp;#x27;s a city-girl chic look, and she&amp;#x27;s always coming up with a new twist on something as basic as black and white. I also love Tracy Reese, BCBG, Theory and Phillip Lim - classics who get it right every time. Oh, and ADAM by Adam Lippes - so chic. For more affordable wear, BB Dakota makes the cutest clothing; I have a classic trench coat from the line and it&amp;#x27;s made so well. Also, Tulle and J. Crew. My favorite shoe designers are Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin - the quintessential heels. But, Chinese Laundry makes the best boots in the world - that I can actually afford on a monthly basis! Plus, Marc Jacobs also makes great shoes, including ballet flats. STF: What was your biggest fashion splurge of all time? Your best cheap and chic find? JW: I don&amp;#x27;t necessarily splurge on fashion because I think you can find some great deals out there, and you don&amp;#x27;t have to spend a fortune to look good. I use expensive items as inspiration many times. I&amp;#x27;m a sucker for the Barneys Warehouse Sale and have found some of my favorite pieces there, including a silk Alexander Wang dress, a pair of Rag &amp;amp; Bone skinny jeans and a Phillip Lim 3.1 trapeze dress. My cheapest chic finds have been on eBay where I scored a Tracy Reese embroidered skirt (perfect for the holidays) for just $50 and a silk DKNY summer dress for $50. Sign up for Glamour.com&amp;amp;#8217;s Style Tips of the Week and Beauty Tip of the Day newsletters! STF: How would you describe your personal style? JW: I&amp;#x27;m very classic chic with a trendy edge. I like to start with a killer pair of patent peeptoes, and then add the basics (black is my friend!) because they last ages and always look good. Then maybe add a funky scarf and big hoop earrings to the mix. For me, it&amp;#x27;s all about starting with the shoes, and then building from there. STF: What&amp;#x27;s on your wish list right now? JW: I&amp;#x27;ve been lusting over infinity scarves, fingerless gloves, red tights and a great new pair of metallic pumps! (Is anyone reading?) STF: What blogs do you read regularly? JW: I read so many, it&amp;#x27;s exhausting. But, I love the Chic Report by Fashion Week Daily, Sea of Shoes (what great photography) and NY Magazine&amp;#x27;s The Cut, plus Nadine Jolie for beauty. Who What Wear is also a fabulous site for celebrity trends, and, of course, Slaves to Fashion! Check out I Heart Heels now and let us know what you think, dolls! And if you want to be our next Blogging Babe, email us and tell us why you deserve a moment in the STF spotlight! 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!"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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