If The Shoe Fits

Liesl, 7N

I saw something today that made me do a double take and therefore crash into a wall. A brisk paced walk and a double take do not a good idea make. So, after I crashed into the wall and went on my way I started to get a little peeved. Was I peeved to have "mall beige" paint chips in my hair? No. Was I peeved to have looked like an ass in public? No. I was peeved because I had seen a tween wearing brand new for spring Tory Burch ballet flats.

I am not an envious or even jealous person by nature. However, when I see a kid who can't possibly know the true value of fabulous shoes wearing shoes I can't afford, something just seems wrong in the world. The world is upside down, as it were. Yes, I know it isn't the tween who can afford them since we are in Dallas, not L.A., where many teens make more than their parents, but still! I was wearing my, albeit fabulous, black mules of the moment and I felt somehow less.

Am I saying that only those who can appreciate fabulous shoes should have them? Yes, yes I am. Would you hang a Pizarro in pool hall? OK, maybe you would, but I would not. There are too many things that harm art in pool halls, bad taste being one of them. Oh, was that out loud? Anyway, I think there might be a need for a test before being able to buy fabulous shoes. My test would have one question: how do the shoes make you feel? A true shoe lover will be able to give a dissertation on how the shoe makes them feel and will therefore deserve the shoes. I suspect if I had asked the tween why she liked the shoes she was wearing she would have told me, if she were honest, that they were in style. That is simply not good enough. After all, jellies are in style.

I am not advocating a class system for shoes. I, like many fine people, believe that art belongs to the masses. That does mean that we should sell off the Guggenheim's collection of Warhol at basement prices. We put these things in museums for a reason. While there is a shoe museum, it isn't practical to force us all to go to a museum to see shoes; after all, they are meant to be worn. I just think that the people who love shoes for the little pieces of fabulous that they are (me) should have them and everyone else should wait until they understand the true meaning of fabulous shoes. In other words, fabulous shoes always deserve appreciative feet.

Fabulous shoes should not be wasted on the young.

Today's favorite shoe:

Christian Louboutin