Slow-Fashion Sunday: Shoes That Last

I have had sluggish-fashion footwear on my head for about a month now — at any time because I took a lengthy-delayed excursion to Cobbler Concierge for some shoe repairs. I used to just take footwear in need of TLC to “the dude all-around the corner.” (There’s always a guy all-around the corner in New York Town.) But I’ve had generally unsatisfactory benefits from that in excess of the a long time, even with striving a variety of men on a amount of corners. Immediately after investing a whole lot of time perusing online critiques, I set out for Cobbler Concierge with four pairs of footwear, which include my mother’s off-white, studded boots from the 1980s. These boots have been a hot mess with a damaged heel, scuffed toes and normal staining.

Behold the improvement! By the way, the ahead of and after photographs have been equally delivered by Cobbler Concierge. (Observe: This is NOT a paid advertisement! I paid out them … to correct my sneakers.)

These boots have been in my possession considering the fact that at least 2007, when they made an visual appeal in my blog publish about the sexism underlying certain critiques of trend.

The heel has been missing for who-appreciates-how-prolonged, so I’m excited to be capable to have on them again.

And when it rains old homegrown-vintage sneakers, it pours homegrown-classic shoes. The Wall Street Journal magazine informed me final weekend that silver footwear are obtaining a second, so I scurried to get out a long time of silver footwear. I do not even have my full silver shoe collection in the image!

Clockwise from best still left: Vivienne Westwood animal sneakers from 2011 sequin sneakers from 2010 Prada patent silver wedges from pre-2007 and Plein Sud heels from 2001. I’ve pretty much relinquished those Plein Sud heels a couple of situations mainly because no one particular has been in a position to resolve the ripped-up toes, but now I’m happy I even now have them so Cobbler Concierge can get a shot at the repair.

I figure it is normal for a great-jewelry designer to be attracted to other metallic equipment, nevertheless my white metal of option for jewelry is platinum, not silver, and I truly favor doing the job in 18K gold. I continue to treasure a pair of gold Prada heels I received in 2011.

Just one pair of gold footwear that didn’t thrill me was a pair of Puma sneakers I received in 2016. I was originally intrigued by the significant-shine gold and chunky sole, but they failed to switch me into a sneaker enthusiast. No shock, since I have under no circumstances been a flat-shoe admirer, time period. (The only sneakers I received genuinely fired up about had been the wedge sneakers that arrived out 10 several years back.) It took the presidential election of 2016 to drive me to acquire a pair of Uggs. The Orange Monster gained and I was straight away like, “Oh, my worst nightmare is right here — American fascism” and trudged out to acquire a parka and boots ideal for extended protest marches. It felt like the opposite of retail therapy I observed myself bitterly contemplating Henry David Thoreau’s phrase, “Beware of all enterprises that call for new clothes.”

As longtime audience know, I haven’t stopped marching for democracy given that — and even in my unloved flat sneakers/sneakers, I’ve shed a few of toenails and after got a blister so significant it essential a telehealth consultation. But the gold Pumas by no means manufactured it into my protest-shoe rotation. I tried to promote them. I even tried to give them away. But they obstinately stayed in my possession, collecting dust until eventually I read through the WSJ’s silver-shoe article. The thought of silver led to thoughts of gold, which led to views of, “I’m resigned to donning sneakers now, so enable me consider these again.” My Instagram followers permitted …

… so I might just go for it.

All of this shoe small business — taking pairs to the cobbler, photographing other pairs, attempting the sneakers on — resulted in my reorganizing my closet. Reorganizing led to a peak sluggish-trend discovery connected to the white Celine boots witnessed in the image beneath, when they were being new in 2013.

It wasn’t the boots them selves that gave me the unexpected thrill, just because I’d never ever shed monitor of them or fallen out of love with them. In simple fact, I was so fond of them that I kept them in their primary box to attempt to safeguard them from damage. Right after my superior practical experience with Cobbler Concierge, I took them out to evaluate their situation, and that’s when I was noticed the first cost tag.

You can see a superior close-up on my Instagram feed — while it is nonetheless blurry since the tag was falling aside in my hands — but I did in fact get these boots from Bergdorf Goodman for $75 down from the original price of $1,250. Oh Em Gee! What a rating! I had entirely forgotten about that. So, not only did I “shop my closet” in current days, I shopped an remarkable sale and wound up smiling all working day. Pack rats for the acquire! People who really don’t continue to keep shoe containers for 9 many years have no plan what they’re missing, poor items.

Note: I experienced so a lot enjoyment crafting a manner article alternatively of a political submit, but I’m going to damage it by linking you to the weekly activism e-newsletter that I wrote before I did this. There is anything for all people in this article, regardless of where you are living and how a great deal spare time you have. If you need a two-moment action, I’ve bought a two-minute action for you!