little bitty girl

My mother likes to tell me that when I was about 2 years old, I was presented with a choice of shoes. One pair was a cheapie that was about $10 and the other was $50. According to her, they looked identical but when asked, I naturally gravitated to the more expensive pair. It's a pretty good start to the story of my life when it comes to shopping. It usually is when I don't know the label and I just love something because I do. Then I look at the price and I wonder how many good meals I can get out of it. I will take a good meal over mediocre shoes any day.

So, back to my shoe fetish. My penchant for expensive shoes only lasted for maybe two years. By the time I was five, I stopped caring. As long as I was shod, I was fine. You would think I would regain my fetish back in the teenage years but my parents (they're so smart, Mama and Papa Kang) actually made me get a part time job when I complained about the clothes they were buying me. The Asian in me just loathed to waste any of my hard earned cash; so that was when I discovered the joys of vintage.

Then as I ended my teens and started working in the fashion industry, I grappled with the idea of "investing" in pricier footwear. I would go to shops and of course the footwear I always liked was beyond anything I wanted to spend. "I can buy two cows with that much money! Think of all the leather I could get from them," I would exclaim after leaving. Then the thought of skinning and curing the skins, and even more cringe worthy, killing the light in those big brown eyes, I knew the buying of cows would not help my cause.

Three years ago, I fell hopelessly in love with a pair of Cesare Paciotti boots. I would walk by the store every week or so and say hi to them. "Hi Shoe!" I would exclaim through the window. They were perfect, mid calf, pointy toe and only a 2.5 inch heel. I waited and waited for them to go on sale. When they finally did (I still cried over how much they cost) I had to snap them up and then I was off to NY the very next day. Since I only liked to travel with a carry on, they were the only shoes I could fit in. I prayed that I wouldn't get blisters and have to buy new shoes once I got there.

And so I walked every day for four days from Soho to Midtown, one day even to the Upper West Side and halfway back. I finally understood why expensive shoes are worth every penny. I never got a single blister the entire trip and those boots were dubbed the "NY boots" ever since. Sadly, NY Boots (after much loving) are close to their end and as much as I was in NY this past trip to work, I was really looking to replace them.

Thank goodness Boutsy and Murat needed to do research, so shopping was part of the work agenda. There is nothing like research shopping in NY. We traipsed everywhere - low end stores, high end stores, there was always something interesting to see. In terms of personal shopping, Boutsy and I had only one goal -"Expensive Boots, Cheap Bag" OR "Expensive Bag, Cheap Boots." Unfortunately, neither of us really reached that goal. I got a pair of mid-priced Enzo Angiolini boots. They don't replace the NY boots fully but they're a slightly platformed, rounded toe, 3.5 inch heel, semi slouchy boot. I haven't had a single blister yet and I have been wearing them almost every day so I think it's a good tide-over boot.

That is, until I can sneak the pair of Dior boots I really want. Without Stefan noticing.