Shoes that Give, and Give

A couple of years ago I had decided to embark on a major cull of my wardrobe. I must have been feeling particularly ruthless that day, for at least seven pairs of shoes were cast aside, but not before I photographed them for posterity. Here are four of them.

In the front, a pair of kitten heel pony-hair mules in a lovely shade of deep green that were surprisingly uncomfortable because the edge of the vamp cut into the top of my foot. These shoes didn’t give! Consequently, I wore them very little, and they were still in very good condition when I gave them away. I bought these on sale from the shoe boutique Zomp, and I wonder if they were one of the last pairs, for probably I should have gone up a half size at least.

Second from the bottom is a pair of vintage 80s Alice-blue pumps that I bought on Etsy. (Here they are in action.) I quite liked these shoes, but they had three disadvantages: they were a tiny bit tight, the exterior leather was quite creased from my Cinderella’s sister feet squashing into them, and the inner soles were disintegrating. Out they went!

The green suede peep-toes I bought from the shoe store Mollini on sale for $50 about 10–15 years ago. The heel and platform sole were green snakeskin – see them here. They were every comfortable to wear, but they were old and I decided they’d had their day. Gone, but not forgotten.

At the back, a pair of natural snakeskin heels I bought also from Zomp around the same time as the peep-toes. I adored these shoes and wore them often (check ’em out here). Zomp have an amazing range of shoes from around the world; this makes them quite expensive, but usually worth it; these cost around $200 new.

… I was walking to work one day when one black plastic heel snapped in half.

Six months or so after I bought them, I was walking to work one day when one black plastic heel snapped in half. I took them back to the store (which happened to be very close by), and they agreed this should not have occurred. To my delighted surprise, they replaced them as they still happened to have some in stock in my size! I had no receipt, but they found the transaction in their records using my card number. I thought that was pretty darned good service. And those shoes did me good service too, for I continued to wear them for many years afterward.

All the shoes were donated to a charity store. I wonder if one or two of the pairs at least were considered great finds by someone? I hope so: as a dyed-in-the-wool thrift shopper, I believe firmly in receiving and giving!