We have a few months before we get to the truly tropical days of summer, but that isn't stopping us from outfitting our wardrobes now with beach-ready gear. How else do you expect us to be ready to jet off to Saint Tropez with a Sugar Daddy with but a moment's notice?!?!

Christian Louboutin's Ibiza Espadrille sends your tanned toned body up a good 4½" on a jute-covered wedge heel. With a 1½" platform in the front, walking along the pool (you don't think we'd actually go in the sand, do you?) will be easy, and the black and natural colored sandals stay on with ribbon to tie around the ankles. The sandals also feature the signature Christian Louboutin red sole.

Available from Bluefly for $264.

In sunny Southern California, we could probably get away with wearing espadrilles in January, but everywhere else, we save the woven-base sandals that tie around the ankles for summer time. Of course, if you happen to make January your resort season, then Kate Spade's Striped Espadrilles are perfectly fine. The open-toed shoes with a 4¾" heel feature a striped pattern on the fabric upper and a small coiled rope adornment on the vamp. Rather than the typical ribbon straps, Kate Spade's espadrilles use thin rope to tie around the ankles.

The espadrilles are available from Zappos.

Or at least, that's what I did.

Okay, so it's not quite a mid-life crisis yet for me -- perhaps a quarter-life crisis? -- but I definitely needed the retail therapy. I hopped into my car (at which point I told myself I should go to the Porsche dealer and buy myself a Boxster), drove toward the ocean (thinking I would go sit on the veranda of one of the swanky beach hotels and have an early afternoon cocktail), and ended up in a shoe store. I spent all of 45 minutes there, and bought a couple, nay, several, pairs of wholly unnecessary shoes. A pair of gold and bronze pumps to fill in the metallics whole in my Spring wardrobe, a pair of peep-toe espadrilles with a platform wedge heel, and two pairs of black leather pumps with "Wicked Witch of the West" toes and skyscraper heels. You know it's definitely madness managing the mind when you buy two pairs of shoes that look almost identical.

So what do you do when you're having a mid-life quarter-life any kind of crisis?

Ah, the espadrille. Nothing says summer to me like a pair of espadrilles, perhaps because I grew up on Cape Cod where Pappagallo espadrilles were an absolute requirement. These days the espadrille is a bit peppier than my old kelly green ones although they still maintain the braided fiber-wrapped sole and fabric topper that are the espadrille signature. They are updated with kicky fabrics, platforms, slingbacks and other stylish fillips that make them a bit less undyingly preppy.

Why two espadrilles? One of these shoes costs $310 and is a Christian Louboutin, he of those craveworthy red-soled shoes that have nearly supplanted the adored Manolos and Choos as the ultimate footwear status brand. The other is from the humble yet increasingly chic Payless and costs $22.99. As you can see, the soles are similar and both are a heavy dose of summer cute.

I'm all for paying more when the shoe is going to be a part of my life for a long time but for a neat little fashion fix, I'm all about the cheap. So my choice would be the Payless shoe (that would be the one on the top, the Louboutin is available at Barney's). Plus. I'm a sucker for all things red.