new shoes (lyn)

One of my birthday gifts was an exceptionally generous gift card to Saks.  I decide I want to use it on something frivolous.  Something that I would not buy otherwise.  Something I’ve always coveted.  Christian Louboutin shoes. 

I know that my body (in clothes) looks good, and I know my legs could look better.  I’ve been walking more, so that is helping.  And a pair of high heel shoes could help more.

Today I go to the shoe department at Saks, the one that is advertised as having its own zip code.  People are flocked around the Louboutin shoes.  The least expensive pair is $595.  The heels are measured in millimeters.  The very popular 120-mm patent leather pumps are gorgeous.  “Wow,” the sales guy says, “ you are in luck.  Someone just returned the last pair in your size.  These are flying off the shelves.”  I wonder how that’s even possible, in the middle of a recession.  The salesman brings them out and I try them on.  Another salesman enviously says to my salesman, “Where did you find those?  I thought we were sold out.  If your client doesn’t want them, let me know because I can sell them.”  I wonder if this is a ruse to get me to buy the shoes.

120 mm translates to a 4.72-inch heel (I actually look up the conversion).  I stand up.  My legs look good.  Much better than in the flats I’m wearing.  Amazing the difference almost five inches can create.  I feel tall and slim and sexy.  But I am afraid to walk.  I think I’ll topple over.  The shoes are not too uncomfortable.  I want them so badly.

Meanwhile, the seats around me are filling up with other women trying on Christian Louboutin shoes.  This one 20-something looks spectacular in a pair of 7-inch heels.  In awe, I watch her walk in them.  “Aren’t those uncomfortable?” I ask.  “I could play basketball in them,“ she replies. “They don’t bother my feet at all.  I think it’s my super power.  I can walk miles in very high shoes.”  I am so jealous.

I know if I give these shoes back they will be grabbed in a second.  The other sales guy is still hovering nearby.  I really really want these shoes, but honestly, how many times will I wear a pair of shoes that I can stand in but not have to walk in?  I think of the occasions that might qualify, and come up with only one: temple on the high holidays.  I have to pass.

But then I see another pair.  Not patent leather like I wanted, but quite beautiful and unlike any other shoes I own.   “And these are only 85 mm,” the clearly disappointed sales person tells me.  I think my inability to walk in 120mm heels has upset him.

I try these on and fall in love.  And at only 3.35 inches, I can even walk in them.