WHEN DO YOU ADMIT THAT SOMETHING IS A BAD PURCHASE?

That question has been on my mind for a while now. With a lot of fanfare and love, you once brought a certain piece of clothing into your life, you solemnly promise to wear and love it every day, and the first few times you wear it are indeed just like those first months of a new romance: pure joy. But then. Then the excitement fades. You notice more and more that you reach for another pair and that those once dearly loved boots are gathering dust.

That's a bit of the process I'm in right now. Do you remember that at the beginning of this year, with a lot of shouting and fuss, I brought home a beautiful pair of Valentino boots? I saw them in the webshop, fell in love at first sight, but due to various technical issues and fuss, I just couldn't order them. That resulted in two articles, and for the understanding of this story, you should read those. This is the first and this is the second. Well, now that you know how much blood, sweat, and tears went into it, you understand that I find it incredibly difficult to admit that it seems like those boots, my great loves, might actually be – dare I say it – a bad purchase.

God, it feels good to have said it out loud this time. Look, the thing is: I still find them incredibly beautiful, but somehow I just can't seem to incorporate them into an outfit. It's not the boots' fault; it's mine. I bought them in January, it's now early November, and I've literally worn them no more than five times. But those five times were very special moments, namely during Fashion Week. The boots were photographed by Cosmopolitan, by the Australian Vogue, and even by Bill Cunningham for The New York Times. Do you understand that I find it hard to admit that they are a bad purchase and that maybe I should just sell them?

Because selling, that's what I'm thinking about a bit now. They are quite expensive items, and letting them gather dust in the closet is a shame, especially now that December and January are coming up and I like to lie on a warm tropical beach during those months. So what to do?

If there are stylists reading along, would you like to come by sometime to work together on a solution for the boots? Otherwise, I'm afraid they will go up for sale, with a heavy heart. But the boots need to shine and deserve more than the dark shoebox where they have been sitting for almost a year now. First world problems, no one said it would be fun.