Fashion for everyone

remember the olden days - before you could wake up, throw on an outfit, photograph it, upload, and parade it across the world wide internets, all before lunch?

remember when photos were made on real film? in black and white? when it took weeks to fill up a roll, and days to have it processed? back when things were made to last?!?!?!!

behold, the ancient (almost a month old!), just developed, only surviving evidence of the one and only time i wore those bebe shoes:

let me say first, that i was so excited about them. i thought they would revolutionize my wardrobe. naturally then, for their maiden voyage, i wore them on a day packed with places to go and people to see. as you've already guessed, things did not go according to plan.

the trouble began as i was marching midday down 7th avenue. a man behind me said, "how can you walk in those things?" and woosh! i catapulted off my feet and into his arms.

of course, i blamed him for distracting me, and sulked away. but it had become clear that my ankles weren't exactly well-supported, and i was teetering several inches off the ground.

i spent the rest of the afternoon walking much more slowly than usual. late day, i met two friends at an art opening in the lower east side:

from there, we decided to head to a fashion party in soho. as we pranced happily across houston street (only the busiest thoroughfare in all of manhattan), my heel hit a pothole. next thing i know, i'm sprawled face first in the middle of the road, and the traffic light's just turned green!!!

before i could become very colorful roadkill, my friends scooped me up and hightailed to the sidewalk, where i humbly collected my bruised, bleeding limbs. my left baby toe had already swollen to the size of the big one, but my shoes fared even worse. the glued-on side details (all that raffia and "leather" i thought i loved) had been ripped clean off - shredded, in fact.

days later, when i mustered the nerve to take them to my cobbler for repair, he literally laughed in my face. his exact words? "if any part of these were actually made of real leather, i might be able to help you. hahahahaha!!!"

then and there, i swore never to buy cheap shoes again (and they weren't even that inexpensive!). there are many ways we pay for fashion. try not to let your body be one of them.