Diane Breaks a Rule

Today I violated what I have long considered to be a cardinal rule: I bought cheap shoes. Boots, actually, which is even worse. Boots are an investment piece.

As long as I can remember, I have had this thing about shoes. I think it’s based on some Miss Diana Vreeland-based rule that one must wear expensive shoes and carry an expensive bag (it’s a cousin to the no white shoes after Labor Day rule).

Why Diana Vreeland’s opinion matters so much to me, I’m not certain. She was a strong, creative and outspoken woman – and I like that in a person. She wrote a classic autobiography and I like that, too. But I don’t live in Miss DV’s world. Anyway, I know that any of my “expensive” shoes would probably still seem cheap to her. It’s not like the shoes I buy are featured in Vogue (although in DV’s defense, she may have said to buy the most expensive shoes one could afford – but then she would also have been likely to be supportive of starving for fashion).

There’s definitely a part of me that understands starving for fashion’s sake. Then there’s the other part of me that gets excited about chickens and edible perennials. I think the chickens win out.

Methinks she is over-pondering the boots – but I’m thinking the cheap boots are a representation of a more mature lifestyle. Mature here means smart and responsible – not crow’s feet and a crepey neck. In the past I have justified these “investment pieces” by saying how long they will last me. For example, the last pair of boots I bought cost a few hundred dollars. But I bought them many years ago – maybe 10. I wore them a lot, they worked with pants and dresses, as work or casual-wear. They were very useful and I certainly got my money’s worth out of them. They are just too high-heeled for me these days. But what if I bought a pair of cheap – but well-made – boots and still wore them for 10 years! Then I could get even more of my money’s worth out of them. This is a revelation to me. And a few hundred dollars I can count towards saving 30 large.

Here I am, rocking my cheap – but well-made – boots:

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If you are very nice, maybe in 10 years I will let you see them from the side.

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