No More Clicking

There comes a time, in the life of every shoe, when it must be tossed aside like … an old shoe. When they’re scuffed and torn, and bits are falling off, it’s no time to be sentimental: into the trash they go.

The red bredges – I called them that because they were a charming mix of brogue and wedge – were so comfortable to wear, so jaunty with their little tasselled bows. They carried me through summers and winters, for more than two years. It is a shame to let them go, but I am ruthless.

I have composed a little ditty in their honour:

The ruby red bredges served me well,
but now they are old and worn,
their little tassel ties broken and torn,
never again trip lightly home to where I dwell
it’s long past time to bid them farewell.

I was going to end the last rhyme with ‘smell’, but that seemed a harsh reward for their service, especially since they didn’t! Poor little things – they look so forlorn. I’ll never click my heels in these little ruby slippers again, how sad.

Hmm … time to go shopping!

Boots: Ins and Outs

In: Isolabella. Out: Donna Velenia.

Years ago I found a pair of dark brown leather ankle boots in a charity store that looked barely worn. Perhaps that was due to their avant-garde, cutout, non-winter-proof design? Were they a mistake purchase? Or, (WARNING: DANGEROUS PUNS AHEAD), had the owner got cold feet? Whatever, someone’s dud purchase was my, “Dude!* Look at these cool boots for only twenty bucks!”

I wore them lots. Despite the pointy toes, they were quite comfortable. In fact, I wore them out so much I had to stop wearing them.

Then a few weeks ago I stumbled across a pair of calf-leather ankle boots on a sale website. I had always wanted a pair of lace-up granny boots. Admittedly they were a little more expensive at $60, but Italian calf-leather at that price is a bargain.

And then they arrived. They smelled delicious!** They were so soft, so supple! The first time I slipped them on they felt like a dream, and I wore them all day with nary a blister to show for wantonly courting danger like that. Bliss.

* I lie. I have never said the word dude. Taking a bit of punning license here.

** Stinky shoes are a horrible fashion penance, and you’d think I’d have learned after the first lapse in judgment, but no, I inflicted them on myself a second time!

My Booties are Cuties

When did the word ‘booties’ enter sartorial parlance? It’s a cutesy term, but I must say I prefer it to the ‘shoe-boots’ that I have also heard, which is clunky. And booties should be anything but. By contrast, ankle boots of course cover, or finish just above the ankle. But what are booties?

They are enclosed shoes that cover the entire instep (the top part of the foot), just like baby booties from which they probably take their name (they don’t rate a mention in the Wikipedia entry on booties). Basically, they look like boots that have had the top part shorn off.

Easy to wear with trousers, once upon a time they looked really weird worn with a skirt. Now that is practically de rigeur.

In the autumn I was looking for booties but, as I’ve probably mentioned before, Australian chain stores are very conservative. Shoes, and boots in particular, usually are single coloured, and for autumn/winter this means either tan, dark brown, black, and sometimes grey. On the extremely rare occasion one’s eye might be assaulted by a red shoe (not a boot, mind) – gasp! How daring!

However, the rarest and most exotic sighting is a shoe constructed in more than one colour and finish. This type of shoe is almost impossible to find. In fact I don’t think it has entered the horizon of some of these shoe designers.

So I shop online. I found these suede booties by Next on eBay, from a UK seller. They are made from not one, not two, but three colours! Extraordinary. And quite cute to boot.

The Polka-Dot Cure

After a very long week of hard work, horrible weather of incessant rain and wet feet, I feel it high time for an antidote. I’m calling in the big guns: something frivolous; something polka-dotted and pink; something bearing ruffles.

This darling silk chiffon scarf fluttering in the breeze here is double-layered and full of calories. The two layers are sewn down the middle to create the ruffle. When I saw it hanging in a boutique in Noosa a few months ago I nearly swooned. I had to have it for my own. It’s polka-dotted! How could I possibly resist such sweet temptation?

Let’s pretend summer is not months and months away*, and celebrate.

* And if you live in the northern hemisphere, you lucky sod, I don’t want to hear about it!

A Serendipitous Loss

I love the smooth opacity of stones such as turquoise, lapis lazuli, malachite, chalcedony – such magical names! – and have collected quite a few pieces over the years.

One of them was an amazing cabochon turquoise ring, set in sterling silver. It was extraordinary because of its size, and the fact that there were no inclusions to mar its clear robin’s egg blue surface. It was egg-shaped, and about an inch in length. Then alas, one evening the stone felt out of its setting while I was walking home. I mourned its loss for a suitable period, and set about looking for its replacement.

It took me three years, and I found it in a little jewellery boutique in a laneway in the Barri Gòtic in Barcelona. The jewellery was displayed in the open on white cubes, each ring attached to a steel cable, but one was still able to try them on. I eventually decided on my favourite: it forms a solid, curved oval, hollowed out off-centre, and is inset with sterling silver. It is a ring of substance, minimal yet striking with its vivid colour. In fact, I like it much more than the original ring I lost.