Wednesday, October 03, 2007

SHOESday: double feature

I opened up a bit of a can of worms for myself last week asking for theme ideas - not because I didn't like the suggestions, but because they opened an internal dialogue about my reasons for starting SHOESday and ultimately my reasons for loving shoes. I mean, there are the obvious things - for me, shoes are a thing of beauty and, unlike many beautiful items of clothing, I can buy whatever shoes I want in my size - so while I can't buy designer (or designer-inspired) clothes, I can buy designer, or designer-inspired, shoes - and so I do!

It is often said that fabulous shoes can make an ordinary outfit look extraordinary, and I believe that. I'm also heavily inspired by the writings of the Manolo (not that Manolo!), who regularly advocates that no matter your income or occupation, you can, and should, always aspire to the superfantastic shoes. In his world, superfantastic almost always equates to (relatively) expensive, but he has shown you can find the very reasonably priced superfantastic shoe if that is what you are after.

I believe that the shoes you wear say a lot about you - although message interpretation is partly due to your choices (what you wear your shoes with, where you wear them etc) and partly in the eye of the beholder. With SHOESday, I am sharing a glimpse of me - but I'm in control of the message to a fair extent - so if you base your image of me just on my shoes, you probably think I never wear "comfortable" shoes, or "plain" shoes, or "practical" shoes. And of course I wear all of those shoes, I just don't choose to show them here - although that isn't to say that I won't, and just to prove it, and to fit into a couple of theme requests from last week, here are my most comfortable, plain, practical, black winter boots:
I bought these on sale last year ($60!) from David Jones, with the purpose of wearing them in New York in January this year - while I like to fit in to a city I'm visiting, rather than looking like a tourist, I didn't fancy trekking the length of 5th Avenue or wandering around the Met or the Statue of Liberty in my heels!! They are not the height of fashion but they did a great job in keeping my feet comfortable and warm.

So I can and do do ordinary shoes. In the end, I think you (and I) can see ordinary shoes all the time, on your (my) own feet, and on the feet of those around you. What I prefer to show are the shoes I consider to be superfantastic, for as long as I have superfantastic shoes. I work, so I have somewhere to wear these shoes. That won't always be the case (I do plan on retiring some day!) and I'm sure my shoe buying preferences will change somewhat as my life evolves (as it already has). But I hope I will always aspire to superfantastic shoes.

And I think these are my most superfantastic shoes of all (and they also fit into a theme request or two from last week):
I don't wear animal print as a rule but for these shoes I made an exception. They were ridiculously expensive but totally worth it. I can take on anything in these shoes (as long as I don't have to walk very far...heh!) and I love them.
I love the style, the cut, the elegant angle of the upper across the toes, the finely balanced heel, and the soft red shoe sleeping bag I snuggle them in before putting them back in their box after each wear.
And of course, the red sole. Everything.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

amazing post! about 99.5% of the time i wear something like your boots but i have to say your superfantastic shoes are superfantastic. and they look great on you.

Bells said...

oh my goodness. What a breathtakingly wonderful post!

I read it once quickly, then again to absorb.

It's kinda what I hinted at but didn't really explore in my purple shoes post. My purple shoes opened up a new world to me and you've explored why just perfectly in this post. Well done.

And those animal print shoes are just stunning.

Anonymous said...

Everything indeed! Those heels are phenomenal!

Shazmina Bendi said...

Nigella would be proud. Superfantastique!

TinkingBell said...

Okay - I give in - you ARE me (or vice versa) If we wear the same size - I would step into your shoes any time (but I'm not sure I could walk a mile in the Superfantiastic - and you're right - they're defnitely the shoes we discussed - I bet you SWAAAAAYYYYYY when you wear them) - And I love the comfy boots!

Em said...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with owning practical, plain shoes. But, well... They're boring! For my work, I have to wear black, flat, shineable shoes. Not exactly exciting, and I do so love pretty shoes. It's always a joy to see your superfantastic shoes, and goodness, this week's are amazing! I'm normally not much for animal print, but I could maybe make an exception for those babies...

amy said...

Ok, I'll be the party pooper. My feet hurt just LOOKING at those shoes. I guess I'm not superfantastic when it comes to footwear. I'm practical. I go barefoot whenever I can get away with it, and I hate winter not least because it's too cold for me to wear Birkenstocks. If I had $100+ to spend on shoes, I'd buy another pair of Doc Martens, because I wore mine out and spend so much money keeping the boys in good, quality shoes (for fear of wrecking their feet; I won't skimp on their shoes) that I cringe at the thought of spending $100 on my own shoes when MY feet don't grow every three months. I'm still wearing Lands' End all-weather mocs that I got on sale two or three years ago for $11, and I was so excited I did. Those are my winter shoes, along with a pair of cloggy things and some snow boots. I have a pair of shoes that lace when I'm feeling fancy.

I feel utterly like the stereotypical suburban mom (well, except that I wake up to the sound of a mooing cow most mornings).

Linda said...

That was a nice post! You are right about seeing the ordinary shoes by looking at what we wear daily, so bring out all your gorgeous ones!
I just couldn't wear shoes like that and stand up in those but I like to see what you have!!

Tournesol said...

Oh, oh love the shoes! I could never wear them with that heel, I needed to be carried -hmm not such a bad idea :-)maybe I should give it a try...

Knitty Bug said...

Hey RR,
Your shoes are superfantastic, ooo and I just lurve the animal print heels, they're gorgeous!

~Jody said...

Shoes (for me) are the one thing that I can shop for without it doing a number on my self esteem. Shoes never make me look fat - always have a flattering fit - and the styles that look good on the "skinny" people usually work well for me too! Mostly I'm a comfy flats girl but there are a couple of pairs in my closet for the days I need a little ego boost. Great shoes always make me feel fantastic! I love shoesday!

MadMad said...

Oh, those are fabulous! But why do you feel you have to justify yourself? Shoesday is an awesome idea!

Anonymous said...

OMG, must have those animal print shoes! What are those, LaBoutin?? Gorgeous!!!

Donna Lee said...

I'm with Amy. They make my feet hurt just looking at them. But they are pretty and I would enjoy seeing them on someone else. I always look at people's shoes when I am on the train platform. Unfortunately, lots of women in stylish clothes are wearing sneakers. So uninspiring.

Anonymous said...

Oh my GOD!!! Superfantastic is not the word, try superfantasticalicious [or something]!

And I won't believe those boots belong to you until I see them ON YOUR FEET! :)
[For the record, I own a similar pair.]

Michelle said...

Gorgeous shoes! Usually I am a wearer of more practical footwear (walking everywhere isn't so great in high heels) but I do adore a good pair of superfantasic shoes.

Snoozen said...

meow meow, purr purr... gorgeous shoes, love both the 'plain' and the superfantastic.

Andy said...

LOVE these! Louboutains make me week at the knees.