Fashion

THE SHOE THAT EVERY FASHIONISTA IS TALKING ABOUT

And that May had to, wanted to, and would

I have many theories that I strategically use to justify an expensive (well, expensive, what is expensive) purchase. One of them is the spend-a-lot-of-money-on-flats theory. Look, a shoe with a heel has it easy. It simply has the wind at its back. But if you are born a flat shoe, you have very little ammunition to spruce up your look a bit. It quickly becomes quite boring.

Voilà, my plea for the more expensive flat shoe that seduces you with its beauty to choose it over those sparkling Choo’s. That’s why I have two pairs of Chanel espadrilles. A particularly good purchase, because a simple beach look with cropped jeans and a T-shirt immediately gives them an upgrade that snooty fashion people shine at.

Or those Gucci sandals. At first, I thought: quite a lot of money for a sandal, but little did I know. They are made of the classic Gucci fabric (inspired by the girth under a horse saddle and that was not because Guccio Gucci had so much to do with horses, but because he knew his clientele found horses incredibly chic) and the classic horsebit is such a subtle chic maker that I walked around laughing in them all summer last year. It was also nice to move forward instead of upward and my love found it quite pleasant for a change that I wasn’t dangling from his arm as a result of the less than ideal combination of the Italian cobblestones and my killer heels that took their nickname very literally.

When I Lizzy van der Ligt saw me with her too cute Miu Miu ballerinas and I knew what I had to do. Buy. They cost a serious 550 euros (something I could hardly say out loud to my beloved), but they were flat and fashionable, so every euro was completely justified. Moreover, they screamed my name, because in the past I spent more hours at the barre than at the bar, so it was also a nice reference to what I (once) was.

The shoes were delivered (after a serious stressful situation that you here can read more about, had something to do with age) and I put them on immediately. The fashion girls at the office applauded and even my husband understood it. Then they had to endure the initiation of mothers on the schoolyard. Little applause. And one even approached me with the question ‘if I was aware that I was still wearing my ballet shoes’. I told the outcome of the reactions to fashion mother Harriet Calo and as always she spoke wise and redeeming words. “Fashion is about there always being someone who doesn’t quite get it.”

See, still a good purchase.