Trivial Pursuit

I had no idea how many national flags are in red, white and blue until I bought these shoes.  The polka dots and stripes bring up connotations of 'stars and stripes' but for some reason the colours raised my curiosity.  If I was ever to wear these shoes I needed to know.

By my count, there are at least 30 nations with flags in these colours.  For such a popular and well known combination of colours some of the nations adorned by them are less obvious, such as the Faroe Islands, Costa Rica, Samoa and Nepal.  Weird.

Random stream of consciousness taken to peculiar level, yes.  Useful for future games of trivial pursuit or for dazzling people at parties with your knowledge of useless information, yes yes.

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Pinocchio toe

I am taking a short hiatus as today I'm going snorkeling.  I couldn't come up with a pair of shoes out of my fabulous 77 that I'd be comfortable taking into the ocean.

So, these are my ocean "shoes" with an extra long toe.  I discovered scuba diving over Christmas in Cairns.  Once I had gotten over the initial terror of being underwater for a prolonged period I was hooked!

Yes, I realise that, taking into account Australia Day's thong diversion, this means I'll be two shoe days behind.  But, to be fair, my fins are pink.  A colour choice I'm still not sure of as, at the time of purchase, I was dazzled by the cute sales guy.

This takes the tally to 79.

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Double cross dressing

This afternoon I am dressing up as a man dressing up as a woman.  I am not sure what shoes go with a double cross dress but I do know that leather and buckles are compulsory. 

Mardi Gras season is nearly here and today one of my favourite people in the world is having a practice run of his drag make-up for one of the many parties about to hit Sydney.  I'm absolutely fascinated.  I want to play dress ups too! Apparently the make-up is extremely thick and can take upwards of 3 - 4 hours to apply.  I find this very intriguing as, being a woman, I do wear make-up but it never takes me any more than 10 minutes to apply it.  
 
I'll have to come up with a drag name.  Perhaps, Shoe-la-la Gabor or Shoe Shoe Fontana?  Can I even be a drag queen given I'm a woman?  I digress.  I'm going off track.  The allure of costume and lights is distracting me. 

These cream sweethearts are made of the softest leather imaginable.  It almost feels like I have decorated my feet and legs with a soft scarf or perpetually have a silky cat rubbing around my legs.  I figure if I'm going to be sitting around for 3 - 4 hours in leather and buckles having drag queen make-up applied by trowel to my face, the shoes I select may as well be comfortable.  
   
These summer boots may not necessarily scream drag queen but they tick the leather and buckle boxes, and I'll only be drag queen from the neck up.  Plus the cut out leather gives them a kind of gladiator look.  Now that I think about it, I suspect I'll end up looking more "dominatrix on her day off" than drag queen.  
 
Whatever happens, be assured that the outcome will be unique.
   
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Dear Flat Preachers

This is my kind of casual shoe.  We have before us a wedged mid height heel in polished wood, purple brushed leather with a peep toe.  Comfortable and yet they still still elongate the leg.

Oh dearest of Flat Preachers, I feel your scorn.  What's not casual and reasonable about these?  I have crossed over to flat wearing.  I even enjoy it sometimes, but aren't these a better compromise?  Why so extreme, Flat Preachers?   You demanded flat of me and I gave it to you.  Will you meet me half way and bless the mid heel?

I love the feminine twist to my day that a heel brings.  No matter how bad I might feel elsewhere, my feet feel like ladies.  I can bring myself to at least appreciate the argument for not wearing hIIIiiiigh high heels all day every day, but can you see my point that these are a nice half way house?

x

Lost orange

I feel like I'm poking around in someone else's treasure box.  I'd feel guilty about "forgetting" so many beautiful pairs of shoes if I wasn't currently feeling so much delight at finding these orange and gold t-bars.

WOW!  From their tiny peep toe to the golden backed heel, these are beyond lovely.  The leather is soft and comforting, the height perfectly high and every time I look down the colour beams back at me.

It's going to be a very happy day x

Oprah would approve

For those of you not "down-under", it's Australia Day today, which commemorates the arrival of the first British fleet at Sydney Cove in the late 1700s.  To most people the real significance is a day off work, sunshine, boats on the harbour, barbeques and picnics with friends, temporary tattoos of the Australian flag and loads of other icons absolutely everywhere.

I feel like we've already had our annual blast of icons with Oprah's visit.  Tourism Australia went nuts.  She held koalas, roamed around the outback and every inch of every place she visited was covered in cultural icons:  kangaroos, Sydney Opera House and harbour, Uluru, didgeridoos, funny hats with cork and, of course, thongs.

Today I'm sharing the iconic experience and going with thongs (also known as jandles).  It seems like the right thing to do.

Happy Australia Day x

The boring boyfriend shoe

I do this thing when I'm dating a guy who is not as tall as I would like him to be: I take steps to make myself shorter.  Ridiculous, I know.  I'm no giant but at 175cm I am taller than a surprising number of men.

If I hadn't been dating a shorty I would never have bought these shoes.  They are a wedge, round toed in black patent leather, fundamentally uninteresting and resemble modernised Nana shoes.  The patent is the only marginally redeeming quality.  All other attributes I rationalised away.  At the time, I was so focused on finding something that would keep me lower to the ground and I could rationalise as a "necessary work purchase".  That justification is pathetic and, in my world, the antithesis of any thinking that should go into shoe acquisition.  I have no reasonable explanation for my actions.  Bad shoe mama, bad.

At the time of purchase I was with my friend Claire simply browsing through a sea of colour, height and loveliness when I plucked out these plain janes.

Claire looked at me quizzically - imagine the expression you would make if you saw a person with two heads - and asked incredulously:  "when will you wear them?"  I hadn't mentioned short stuff at this time so she had no point of reference for my behaviour.  Her question was apt because, unlike most other shoes in my wardrobe, these say nothing.  They are mute.

I commenced with a diatribe of nonsense about how I sometimes walk a lot at work yadda yadda yadda.  She listened politely but couldn't wipe the confusion off her face.  Smart ass.

Now the guy is gone these are my lazy shoes.  I wear them for work.  I think of them as penance for my ridiculous behaviour.

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Nautical Monday

I gushed towards these naval themed puppies the second I saw them.  The sweetly rounded toe, crisp blue and white strips, and white piping made me tingle.

One little problem.  They are very hard to match.  This is partially because of the wooden heel.  It sort of breaks the flow by stopping at casual but being too busy to go with a lot of things.  I haven't worn them often but I have enjoyed each outing with my naval friends.

I pride myself on avoiding boring clothing in my work life.  This can be tricky as I work in an office and in a professional capacity.  There are expectations, generally involving black, grey and white, with the occasional string of pearls thrown in.  Right-o.

It'll be an aesthetically 'interesting' work day.

x

Indian slippers

I try not to wear these shoes too often.  They are a memento of a trip to India as much as they are a very functional shoe.   I like that the hand crafting is obvious.  The stitching is perfect.  They remind me of the fun that I had discovering India and the contrasts I found there.  They remind me that happiness and beauty can be found everywhere.

I was visiting a friend who was then living in Delhi.  We had travelled by train from Delhi for nearly 30 hours to Jaisalmer, which is in the North West of India in the state of Rajasthan.

I have three very strong memories from that train ride and my visit to Jaisalmer.  One.  For the first two hours leaving Delhi we were on a commuter train.  Women are not frequently seen in public places in India.  Let alone two white women, travelling alone.  If white women are seen alone, the assumption is that they are hookers.  For those first two hours we were surrounded by more than 30 men in a compartment that seated 9.  I felt like shark bait.

Two.  About 20 hours into the journey we stopped for a short time at a platform in the middle of the dessert. Katie and I were the only two left in our compartment at this stage and we hung our heads out the window to get some air while we were stopped.  A man carrying his little daughter was walking along the platform looking in the carriage windows, clearly waiting for someone.  The little girl would have been no more than three years old and had the widest most beautiful black eyes I have ever seen.  I was about to smile at her when those beautiful eyes widened even further and looked directly at me, clearly completely petrified.  She buried her head in her father's chest and, after some murmurings in Hindi, she turned back, giggled and smiled at me.

I have light green eyes.  Katie, who was learning Hindi, explained that the little girl was scared because she had never seen coloured eyes and, also, had probably not seen white skin.  Once her father calmed her down she thought I was hilarious, a circus freak perhaps.  Whatever the case may be, she was the cutest little thing and I am happy to have been her first friendly green eyed monster.

Third.  Katie bargaining for these shoes.  After our long trip we were exhausted but Jaisalmer, also known as the Golden City, was too tempting.  I had embarked on this journey with Katie less than 24 hours after landing in India, so I hadn't had any experience of shopping in India yet.  Usually serene, she suddenly became a rottweiler.  I couldn't care less about the price, which was embarrassingly low, I just wanted the shoes.  After a lengthy negotiation in Hindi, which involved us walking out several times and then being dragged back in, Katie settled a price and the purchase was complete.  She later explained that if she hadn't suddenly morphed into this aggressive bargaining machine that I would have had a following of salesmen, traipsing around the city with us at all times.  

It was the first of many important lessons in India.  I was only there a short time but I loved the country and can't wait to go back.  I'm going to wear these shoes more often to remind myself to hurry up and go back.

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Flat fear

It's Saturday morning.  I have been told many many times that this means "it's okay to wear flats".  My brain does a little twist when I hear this.  Two propositions, "okay to" and "wear flats", colliding that make no sense to me.  If my brain were a PC this is when it would crash.

I once had these beautiful tan leather Mary Jane's with red leather detailing.  They were, at the time, my highest of high heels.  I used to walk 8km in these shoes from my home to work.  I was delighted but my friends clearly thought I was nuts.  One of them staged an intervention and demanded I entertain the idea of flat shoes.

I am still baffled by flats.  They are like amputees to me.  Missing something.  Incomplete versions of the whole.  But I listened to her and slowly but surely some flats have snuck into my wardrobe.  I can't say I actively like wearing flats but I have grown to appreciate that they have some value, if only to shut my friends up.

Golden flat strappies it is.

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Training heels

I have a little online shopping addiction.  It started with eBay and has graduated to ShopBop, Net-A-Porter and ASOS.  The Australian Dollar is just so damned good right now.  When I saw these particular shoes online I immediately began to shine from the inside out.  I wanted them.  Badly.

Within a few clicks I had passed over my online funny money (if you can't see it, it isn't real) and was tracking my item, these shoes, from the United Kingdom to Australia.

I have my online purchases sent to work.  It's easier and safer.  The downside is I now know I have a real problem because every time another package arrives the front desk ladies and mail guy make jokes, not about me needing a bigger wardrobe, but about me needing a bigger home.  This particular arrival was no exception.  On receipt of my package I slunk quickly past the front desk and mail guy, smiled at their jokes and started to rationalise the truth away.  The addiction runs deep.

Once over my shame and safely in my office I slipped my feet in, fastened the buckles and stood up.  I felt something unfamiliar.  I felt wobbly.  Whatttttttttttttttttttttt!? I have always been the girl who walks to work in heels.  I have clambered over rocks, climbed mountains, traipsed through snow and run after cabs, all in very high heels.  Seriously, I have pictures to prove it.  But these shoes have defeated me.

They look so good on: sexy, flattering and best of all, an alluring sort of "screw you" cool.  They are beautifully made and of the highest quality but the base is inflexible.  Even though the platform makes the heel height a walk in the park, the angle of the heel cuts that walk short.  I can't believe it.  I'm the girl who scoffs at "those girls" who teeter along so clearly out of their depth in heels I would run in.  These are the only shoes I own for which I require training heels.  If it weren't for the wobble they would be my number one love.

Perhaps practice (I wince) makes perfect.  Today I'll find out.

Enjoy x

Cashing in early

These are my current favourite.  Especially to make bland work clothes more interesting.  They are a little beaten up (a demonstration of my love) but still lovely: an easy height, sweet peep toe, deconstructed fabric and solid heel without taking away from the overall elegance.

I bought these puppies early last year from a little shop on the island part of Florianopolis in Brazil.  It had started raining so instead of drinking ridiculous quantities of beer and caipirinhas on the beach all day my friends and I went shopping in the Centro district.

Brazilians make beautiful shoes, which was only one of the things I adored about Brazil.  My overall take on Brazil was pleasure is highly valued as is the nation's genuine love of women being deliciously feminine.  Simple, unpretentious delight in loveliness.  I thrived.

These shoes showed up very early in our day. I wasn't sure of the heel because it's chunkier than I would usually go for but I loved the colour and the fabric detailing.  I noted our position and gave it my "do I really want it test".  This test involves observing myself to see whether I am still thinking about the object of my then desire at a later time rather than just a transitory attraction.

I saw these shoes two more times throughout the day.  On the third sighting I knew I was delighted by them for more than just a moment because, by that stage, rather than just browsing I was actively looking for them each time I went into another shoe shop.  I immediately walked out of the shoe store, purchased an additional suitcase and then marched back to the shoe shop to pick them up.  The explanation for the additional suitcase will become apparent as we go on and more and more Brazilian shoes make an appearance.

I'm cashing in on a favourite early.  Day two and I've placed an embargo on a dear friend.  Serves me right for what I did to Lady Green.

Enjoy x

Number 1

There's a lot of pressure with shoe number one but I think I've found a "doozie".

As I was riffling through my wardrobe, feeling a mixture of glee and guilt, I came across this shoe that I did not recognize.  I was immediately captivated and perplexed.  I have no memory of purchase, dreaming of or wearing this shoe.  As I turned her over my guilt increased: no scuff marks.  A perfectly formed shoe, beautiful in every way that I have ignored.

It's kind of terrible.  As I've acquired more and more shoes, I've ignored the beauty I already own; a marketing person's dream consumer.  Embarrassing really.

Today, Lady Green is number one.  It only seemed fair.

Enjoy x

A blank canvas

These are my feet.  Together they are the blank canvas with 77 decorating options waiting in my wardrobe.

I feel sorry for my 77 shoes.  It was only today that I discovered I owned that many.  Like my feet (and my head) my shoes are not all perfect.  Among them are pristine and not so pristine heels, well worn and not so well worn flats and boots of all styles.  Some of them have been worn nearly to death.  Others have been ignored. They are not all treated equally and for this, I am sorry.  My hope is that this 77 day odyssey will make up for it.  Somehow.