The Painful Love Affair
Getting ready time: 188,868 minutes and 15 seconds. Time spent actually getting dressed: 15 minutes and 15 seconds. Minutes spent contemplating whether I should actually wear satin shoes outside and not just keep them on my dresser (in a glass box, with an alarm system attached to it): 188,853.
It was the beginning of the 90s, Ukraine. My mother, who to this day is my style icon, brought home the most fantastic pair of shoes: clear plastic sandals with a small block heel and bright red cherries on top. It was love at first sight.
I used to come to her room just to look at these shoes. I would try them on, stroke the red plastic cherries, play dress up and imagine being all grown up. Back then it seemed that being able to wear heels, was the only positive aspect of being a grown up[1]. The one thing I was looking forward to.
Well, they do say that your first love stays with you forever. Mine certainly did. Boys, while being great and all, just never really measured up to heels. Not to mention, that having more then one is not exactly socially acceptable. But shoes… No need to have just one pair, no need to worry about picking just the right one. Also unlike boys, when it comes to shoes- the madder, the better. More fun. Sky-high platforms? Glitter? Latex? Count me in. Miu Miu, Prada, Saint Laurant, Gucci, Dior, Dolce Gabbana, Charlotte Olympia… A girl can love you all at ones!
Naturally, nowadays my collection of shoes is rather large. And while it does include a pair of simple black boots (Gianvito Rossi with an 8cm heel and a pointed toe. They make me feel stylish, yet simple), it’s the crazy impractical ones that truly make me happy. A great pair of shoes can take your simple outfit to a new height, it can make you stand taller and feel more confident, it can lift your mood and your butt… But it can also betray you.
I am sure you have heard, that, unlike your clothes your shoes won’t betray you, no matter how much you eat. Well, let me tell you now- it’s a lie. Big, fat, ugly lie. Your feet, just like your waist can expand, and these beautiful shoes you were relying on, just won’t fit your feet. Naturally, it will happen at the most unfortunate moment, just when you needed them the most. Traitors. And unlike with your dress, where usually you only have cake yourself to blame, when it come to shoes… sometimes it’s not your fault. It’s not you. It’s them. At least that’s what I was telling myself, as I was getting ready for dinner and tried to fit my swollen feet into my new beautiful pair of Miu Miu pumps. It did not work. My entire outfit was based on these sugary beauties and my stupid feet could not fit into them. I felt like one of Cinderella’s ugly sisters and I had do change my entire outfit. Which made me half an hour late to dinner. Again. The only word that comes to mind is ‘treason‘.
But I guess, a love story without drama or pain wouldn’t be any good, would it?
[1] That and school. But school turned out to be such a massive disappointment.
Photographer: Kit Lee
I’m wearing: shoes by Miu Miu, jumper by Miss Selfridge, jeans by J Brand, shearling clutch by Hush (sold out, but you can find a similar style in velvet on Asos here or a mock crocodile pouch by Victoria Beckham here), earrings by Chanel Vintage (similar heart-shaped ones here and vinyl inspired pair here), sunglasses by Louis Vuitton (similar by Illesteva here).
A few more unforgettable pairs from this season: ‘grandma’s carpet’ by Miu Miu, pearl platforms by Nicholas Kirkwood, zebra by Gucci, extreme platforms by Rochas, Marie Antoinette’s house slippers Marco De Vincenzo and chandalier heel by Dolce & Gabbana.
