LIESBETH AND THE SEARCH FOR THE PERFECT BOOTS

The search for The Perfect Boots is almost as impossible as the search for the perfect jeans, the white T-shirt, and the white blouse. The search process is endless, the disappointments numerous, but if, if it finally works out, the joy is unmatched. Over two years ago, I found them, the perfect boots. They were the Janette Boots by Isabel Marant and to this day, they still regularly accompany me outside. But however perfect they are, they are a little worn out and the suede has faded a bit. So, for the past few months, I have been back on the hunt. I fell for the Shark Lock Wedge Boots by Givenchy, then on the Cartel Boots by Jimmy Choo, but both were actually too expensive and they were nowhere to be found in my size. And then this week, I found the To Be Cool boots by Valentino. Still exactly in my size, so we lived happily ever after. At least, I thought so, because it went desperately wrong.

As mentioned, there was exactly one pair left. And with a nice discount and so it was somewhat acceptable in terms of price. “Should I?” I asked Josselin. “Yes Lies, of course you should do it!” she said. And intern Maud also said: “You know, you can return them for free, so if you don’t find them that nice, you can send them back and get your money back.” Look, that’s logic I can work with. And off I went, into the shopping cart, proceed to checkout, iDeal, ABN AMRO and then, then it went wrong. The payment window didn’t pop up, but I did receive an order confirmation in my email. Did I now have free boots? Or was the order not successful? Calling the webshop. “Yes, no ma’am, we have problems with iDEAL and something went wrong with the payment, so your order has not been approved. You can try again in five minutes.”

Ten minutes of refreshing the page later, they indeed came back in the webshop. Minor detail: in Rio, my wallet was taken from me, so I have no more credit cards. Only a very old one from Visa whose code I no longer remember. Taking the safe route, I used that one anyway, but after going through the whole process again, it went wrong AGAIN. I had to fill in some password that I don’t have. And then, yes, again that order confirmation, again calling, again a failed order.

At this point, I want those boots more than ever. I must and will. I refresh again for ten minutes, but this time it just says ‘sold out’. Panic. How can this be?! Calling the webshop again. “Ah yes ma’am, no, those were sold a few minutes ago to someone else, I see here.”

WHAT?!

I’ve been damn well trying to get those things for who knows how long and now someone else just snatches them away from me so quickly?! Seriously. Furious. Or well, mostly disappointed. Of course, I immediately went online to see if I could find them somewhere else, but no, those things are completely sold out everywhere. I put them on my wishlist so that if someone returns them, I get an email that they are available again, but I’m not holding my breath.

And then this morning at 07:00, I woke up and saw that I had an email from the webshop at 05:34. The boots were available again! But by the time I looked, that cursed ‘sold out’ was back. I have officially given up. Maybe it’s better this way, the universe doesn’t want these perfect Valentinos and me to be together.

Or... or maybe it does? To be continued...