Saturday, January 21, 2006

Shoes

The first shoes I can really recall were black patent leather Mary Janes. I was about three and wore them for church with little white socks, rolled down, with lace around the cuffs. I never heard that patent leather was somehow even because it reflected up your dress. We weren’t Catholic, so it wasn’t an issue. I always got new Sunday shoes for Easter.

For school, I wore brown leather shoes, sometimes with straps and sometimes with laces. I got a new pair each September and that involved a trip to the department store. We used to go to Goldstein and Cohen in Ensley, Alabama. Mr. Cohen was in Rotary with my Dad. At the store they had one of those foot x-ray machines. That way you could really see how well your shoes fit. Of course, they were banned eventually. I know if I ever get “toe cancer” to blame those machines.

Tennis shoes, or sneakers, were for play or Saturday. Mine were usually blue and made by Keds. They had that little Keds patch on the back end of each shoe. Some kids had PF Flyers, but for some reason I always had Keds. They felt so good on my foot – great for running and playing.

I remember in about sixth grade I had my first pair of heels. They were bright red patent leather and I wore them to a birthday party at my friend's house. All the other little girls wore heels to that party as well (I think our mothers planned it). Of course, it wasn’t just as simple as wearing the high heel shoes, it also involved wearing hose and a garter belt. This was pre-pantyhose and something had to hold your stockings up. What a contraption! We must have been sight, all of us wobbling in our brand new high heel shoes and struggling with the garter belts. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to grow up after that evening.

In junior high, we had rah-rah shoes. They were a bit like saddle oxfords, but had band that was swept back at the top of the saddle on each side and ran to the back of the shoe. They came in colors too – not just traditional black. We wore them with our white cotton socks pulled straight up and thought we were cool.

Then in high school, there was only ONE kind of shoe that was socially acceptable and this was non-negotiable. We had to wear Bass Weejuns in brown in the penny loafer style, but without the penny (we were too cool for pennies). The shoes had to be special ordered in June to have them for September and cost a whopping $35 in 1962 dollars. No wonder my mother really wanted to go to Penny’s and buy cheap imitations. But, I prevailed, convincing her that I would have no social life whatsoever if I had to wear the imitations. It was bad enough that I couldn’t buy my socks at the expensive store in Mountain Brook. I think I had to contribute babysitting money, but I got the Weejuns.

In college, we were still wearing Weejuns. When I was a Girl Scout camp counselor, we took our worn out Weejuns and cut patterns in them with razor blades. Imagine! But this was 1968 and this was about as Hippie as we could muster in the woods of southern Georgia at a Girl Scout camp where we were required to wear green shorts, white blouses with ties, and knee socks with flashes (you know those garters in different colors that go at the top of your knee socks – it was a Girl Scout thing).

Of course, in college there were times when Weejuns were not appropriate. School regulations required that one wore heels to football games and on Sundays – even if you didn’t go to church. Auburn University played the role of “in loco parentis” very well in those days – at least for the girls. The boys, on the other hand, could do whatever they pleased.

When I got married in 1969, I had white linen shoes that had lace sewn on to match my dress. I think I still have them. They were what you called “Cuban” heels – very low and almost comfortable.

In the early days of my marriage, I used to feel that if my husband wore a necktie I had to wear high heels. That was one of life’s more basic rules and he was mystified by it. In those days he wore a necktie more often than he does today. I can recall walking for what seemed like miles and miles in New York City, Paris and Frankfurt wearing high heels JUST because he was wearing a necktie.

But as the years went by, all of this started to change. I have a few pair of heels that are Easy Spirits and reasonably comfortable. I don’t wear them very often, but probably more often than my husband now wears a necktie.

Most days I wear low heeled shoes to work, usually with slacks and trouser socks. If I wear heels, I am too exhausted to move by the end of the day. I especially like my black Weejuns with tassels. They make me feel young. I also like my black shoes that are made out of microfiber. They are great for wearing the snow.

Sure, I have some black high-heeled boots, but I NEVER wear them. I should give them away. I can’t imagine wearing something what would tempt fate on ice. Falling is no joke anymore. In fact, I have a hiking stick that has a screw off tip that reveals a nail to grasp the ice. Do I care that with my microfiber shoes and my walking stick that I look really old? No way…there are worse things than looking old… like falling and breaking a hip.

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