The Christian Louboutin Leather
Platform Pump $795
My Talbot's Platform Heels: $38 in the Talbot's Clearance Outlet Store
It's Monday! That means it's time for "Conversations from My Closet"...
I have a thing for fashion. Duh. I like to read "In Style" magazine to see what all the rich and famous are wearing. About 2 years ago, I came across an article on Eva Longoria. What caught my eye was a photo of her in her shoe closet. My oh my. She had ceiling to floor shelves filled with Christian Louboutin heels in all shapes, colors, seasons, fabrics; you name it, she had it. She was wearing a pair of the platform pumps pictured above and I absolutely fell in love with them. They are gorgeous, impractical and very stylish. I have not one place to wear them, but I wanted them, none the less. Forget that they retail for $795, they were the "it"shoe of 2009.
A year or so later, I was flipping through my latest Talbot's' catalogue. I was impressed to see a very clear knockoff of my beloved Louboutins. The years' fashion catalogues were full of platform knockoffs in the "nude" shade, but this was just about an exact match to the "cuoio" shade (i.e. an expensive way to say tan in Louboutin language) that were available in the C.L.'s. The price tag was still a bit out of range for a woman who had nowhere to wear them, as they were $148. I thought about it though. In the end, practicality won out and I didn't buy them.
I shop online quite frequently and I check out the clearance selection on the Talbot's site often. After Christmas, these pumps were offered at half price. I went to order them, but they only had a size 11. I have a big appetite for shoes, but, hey, I'm not a drag queen. Once again, I was not meant to own these.
In March, I went on a weekend shopping trip for my sister's 40th birthday. No trip south of Portsmouth is complete without a stop in the Talbots' Clearance Outlet in Woburn, Mass. As I was looking through the shoe racks, I heard the "Hallelujah Chorus!" The shoes I have been coveting since 2009 (or the exact replica) were there in my size for $38!! I tried them on and pranced around the store for about 10 minutes admiring my totally impractical choice. Then the work I have been doing on myself kicked in. "Do you really need these?" "You have no where to wear them." "It's silly to spend money on them when there are so many other things that you actually need to buy." I put them back on the rack and began to patiently wait for my sister. Then my real voice kicked in. "ARE YOU CRAZY?!?" "Go back there and pick those back up before someone else grabs them!" WHO CARES if you have no where to wear them. Buy them NOW!!" Who can argue with that? I bought them.
I have worn these twice since. I wore them out to dinner with a group of friends for my 43rd birthday celebration. I could barely walk in them and I certainly had a great deal more difficulty walking in them when the dinner party over. I didn't care! These shoes say,"You are fabulous, in a current, sexy sort of way!" That's what the shoes say, but I don't know if that's what the whole package is saying when I am tottering around, barely keeping my balance.
I also wore them to my one and only court appearance in the last 8 years. I was helping someone with a ticket and I was dressed to be the killer lawyer. It turns out it was totally unnecessary, as the officer who issued the ticket dismissed it before I was able to dazzle him (and/or the prosecuting attorney) with my high fashion lawyer look. It was a waste of effort. I happily stopped at the grocery store and stumbled around the produce section feeling very satisfied with myself. Too bad there was no one there I knew to impress.
The shoes are back on a shelf in my closet. I will wait patiently for another occasion to wear them. Hopefully, when I do have people to impress, I won't fall flat on my ass wearing them. Do you think Eva Longoria ever feels that way during her photos shoots? I doubt it, but it makes me feel better imagining that she does.
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