I now know I will never become a full fledged frenchwoman no matter how much I try. How do I know this?
Because I insist on :
a) walking to work instead of taking the metro (when the weather allows it),
b) wearing white (more like grey) NB sneakers with my business suit,
c) changing my shoes at the office, which incidently leads to d)
d) always ending up wearing the same shoes (the ones I leave at the office to change into in the morning because I am too lazy to carry a different pair of shoes with me every day)
I used to try hard, you know, to fit in. Every other weekend I would go window shopping and check out the new trends in shoes. More often than hubby would approve of I would come home with a box (and sometimes two!) of shiny new fashionable shoes that would go perfectly with exactly ONE ensemble in my entire wardrobe and that I would rarely put on again after two or three wears (what do want? c'est la mode!) ...
That's how much I tried to fit in.
But then again I can't fight my love for walking. If given a choice, I take my legs over the subway/bicycle/bus/car anytime. It's just how I am. I. LOVE. TO. WALK.
And so I need the comfy shoes. Even if they are ugly by french standards. And even if they don't match whatever I'm wearing to work that day. And even if I have to take off my socks and stuff them in my tennis shoes and stuff these into a drawer under my desk for the rest of the day. So be it.
I have tried to find fashionable and comfy shoes but these two things don't seem to sit well with the shoe industry, at least in France. The Converse come close, but I think NB are just a teensy bit higher in the "acceptable" category of ugly shoes you can wear with a business suit than Converse are. I also have a pair of chic Adidas running shoes. But they are so flat on the ground that most of my trousers (cut to fit the 7cm high heels that I wear at the office) drag and sweep the sidewalk the entire time. Same goes with pretty ballerina shoes.
So in the end, I accept my fate. I am destined to walk my way through life... in shoes the french consider ugly.
Fned.
3 comments:
LOL! I thought those were really pretty office shoes you were changing into, then I read the post!
When I worked in NYC I used to say that the people who wore stilletos every day were not people who lived in NYC, they must have driven in. I solved it all by wearing boring black loafers everyday, or pointy kitten heeled shoes that I could actually walk in.
not ugly, just VERY very comfortable... who cares about the rest, your feet and your back are grateful.. (and yet..) oooh shoes are soooo cool and pretty and I wish I could have hundreds of them!! :P it is a girly stuff I guess!
Mexpat: I think I could totally live in NYC from everything that you describe. I have tried wearing nice pointy kitten heeled shoes too... but after a couple of weeks the heels are all smashed and worn out at the bottom and I'm simply too lazy to take them to the shoe repair guy. Sneakers are "worry-free" shoes.... just my kind. LOL
Ale: I know, I know! Shoes are like chocolte: dangerously addictive!... I used to take pics of every new pair of shoes I bought and print the pic, paste it on the shoe-boxe and put the boxes away in my closet stacked by the colors of the rainbox... ok, am I freaking you out yet? I'm in therapy now. ;)
Fned.
Fned.
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