Day 12

Child's play

In general I am a ‘tea’ person. But on my feet it’s coffee all the way. These robin’s egg blue shoes are another of John Fluevog’s creations. They’re from his Coffee line and have the phrase “take the time to do it right” etched into the soles. Ironically they have what is known as a teapot heel, named because it is curved like the spout of a pot of tea.

The way John tells it, he was working on designs for a new family of shoes when he accidentally drank from a co-worker’s mug instead of his, meaning he got a mouthful of Americano instead of his usual Cappuccino. His sketches instantaneously became bolder and sharper, and resulted in what you see here.

Day 11

These boots won’t win any beauty contests, but they had to be included in this series since they take the prize for ‘most mileage’.

They carried and supported me last year throughout an 800 kilometre pilgrimage across Northern Spain. They put in some long, hard days on the Camino de Santiago, but apart from a few small blisters, they gave me no trouble whatsoever. They’re even itching to go back again! Patience, my lovelies. Patience.

Day 10

Walking a fine line

Those of you of a certain age will remember the 1960s TV show ‘That Girl’ starring Marlo Thomas. I loved watching that series and even as a young child I was taken by her beautiful wardrobe.

These shoes are exactly what Marlo might have worn on the show, and in fact they were purchased in the 1960s at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, the city where ‘That Girl’ was filmed.

The person who bought them later moved to Ottawa. In 1998 she put the

I love the little red beads on these shoes.

shoes up for sale at a large indoor market, where a woman named Susan spotted them and fell in love. Susan, who happens to currently live in my home province of Nova Scotia, is a self-professed vintageaholic and, like me, a ’That Girl’ devotee.

Susan was selling these shoes on ebay, which is how they came into my life. She told me that she tried parting with these pumps once before, only to change her mind, so truely these shoes have been loved (and will continue to be loved). I think That Girl would be pleased.

Note: want to know how this picture was taken? Make a donation to soles4souls (easily done by clicking on the donate tab at the top of this blog) and I’ll share the story with you.

You Call the Shots

Now that we are in Week 2 of this month-long fundraising campaign, I am hoping that donations for soles4souls will start to flood in. For this week only, if you make a donation (see my donation tab at the top of this page) to help provide much-needed shoes for the world’s poorest children, you get to request the setting for a photo of me and my shoes. As long as it’s not indecent or detrimental to my health, I’ll do whatever I can to make the picture happen.

Day 9

To be honest, I don’t have a story about these Miz Mooz shoes. I only found them at the local Sally Ann a few days ago, so I haven’t had a chance to really make their acquaintance. I chose to wear them for this ‘damsel in distress’ photo because they give off an air of innocence that seemed right for the picture.

So…I’m going to veer off topic just a bit and tell you instead about the dress I’m wearing in this photo. It was my mom’s dress and was in her dresser drawer (not her closet) for as long as I can remember. I’m guessing it was made for her in the 40s, although I am not a fashion historian so I stand to be corrected.

As a kid, I played dress up in this and wore it on more than one occasion as part of a Halloween costume.

When my mom died, I found the dress still among her things and brought it back to the Yukon with me. I guessed that since she had kept it all that time, there must have been some very good memories associated with it for her.

I have thought from time to time about having it re-sized so that I can wear it (my mom was a rather large lady), but pink really isn’t my colour, and in the end I thought it best to keep it in its original state.

Day 8

The photo
The subject line in the email I sent to a couple of my farmer friends said, “No, I haven’t completely lost my marbles.” I wrote to them to explain why I wanted to come milk their goats in high heels.

You gotta love Yukoners. Nothing is too strange for us. I got a quick response from both of them, and neither blinked an eye about my unusual request. Brian replied first, saying, “Come on along any time and wear whatever you like – no dress code here.” So off I went.

Not only were Brian and his partner Susan incredibly accomodating, but they also had all kinds of ideas for other photo possibilities. I just may have to pay them another visit!

The shoes
These pumps are another pre-owned ebay purchase. They are a 2008 re-issue from a line that John Fluevog came out with 13 years ago called Body Parts. He refers to this as his AIDS awareness shoe, with its very phallic looking heel and writing on the sole that says, “Your body parts are not communal property”.

Day 7

Lazing about in bed on the week-end

These moose hide and rabbit fur beaded slippers were made for me by a beautiful soul named Mary Kassi, an elder from the isolated community of Old Crow in northern Canada. I first met Mary through a course I took at the local college. A group of us, including four elders, travelled by boat down the Yukon River to historic Dawson City. The elders told stories and shared their traditional knowledge all along the way.

One evening a rather well-known country band was performing in the tiny community where we had set up camp, and Mary got all gussied up and had one of us curl her hair so she could look her very best for the dance.  I think she outlasted all of us, boogying into the wee hours of the morning. 

Mary is no longer with us, but every time I wear these slippers I think of her and that joyful night of dancing in Minto Landing, Yukon. Thank you sweet Mary!  

Day 6

These burgundy 80s slouch boots were a present from a good friend who was getting rid of many of her things in preparation for a move. This gal had closets and closets full of beautiful clothes and shoes. In fact she had so many saris that she outfitted a large group of us for a fashion show she organized one year for International Women’s Day.

As for these boots, she offered to give me multiple pairs of this same style in various colours. Not wanting to appear greedy I took only these ones. Now of course I regret it, as these boots are so comfortable and I get compliments on them wherever I go.  

No matter. One pair or ten, they will always remind me of the great times I had with Raji.

Day 5

There have been very few times in my adult life when I have been without a pair of red shoes. Not having red shoes is like seeing Fred Astaire without Ginger Rogers; Humphrey Bogart without Lauren Bacall; Abbott without Costello!

However five or six years ago I found myself in just such a situation. My last pair of reds had bit the dust and I was feeling bereft.

Luckily I was heading down to Vancouver, so I had a chance to visit one of my favourite shoe shops in the city, Kalena’s. Going there is a ritual that a dear friend and I follow every time we get together.

Not only did I find these great red shoes, but they were on sale. And because they’re good quality (and because I try to treat my shoes well) they look almost as good today as they did when I bought them.

They even make doing the ‘wheel’ easier!

Day 4

I had planned to tell you about purchasing these shoes in Spain five years ago during a trip with my husband to mark our 25th wedding anniversary. I had planned to talk about the fact that I took an extra large suitcase to Spain with me, knowing it would be returning home full of new shoes (and indeed it did). And I had planned to tell you that I don’t wear these shoes to work very often anymore after a co-worker genuinely expressed concern about them. In all seriousness, he was worried I might hurt someone with their pointy tips.

But it turns out the better story is that of me trying to take this picture. My husband wasn’t at home at the time, and I didn’t think my teenage son would be too impressed with me asking him to take a photo of his naked mom in the bathtub, so I decided to handle this one myself.

I ran the water, dumped in half a bottle of my best bubble bath, and settled in. But trying to dry off my feet with a towel in one hand and slip on the shoes with the other proved to be quite the challenge. I kept sliding down in the tub, making it necessary for me to quickly grab the shoes and whip them off my feet before they hit the water.

Next I tried drying my feet with both hands, leaving the shoes on the bath mat beside me until I was ready for them. However our tub is so deep that I couldn’t reach the mat without once again slipping down into the water, getting my legs and feet wet. Honestly, I must have looked like a turtle floundering on its back, trying to upright itself.

These antics went on for several minutes. Finally I had some semblance of success. I got into position, carefully picked up my camera that had been perched on a corner of the tub, and got ready to take the shot. But wait a minute. Something was missing. I needed a prop. I didn’t have any champagne lying around, but I did have a bottle of red wine. That would have to do.

So out I got, threw on my clothes again, ran downstairs to the kitchen and opened a bottle of red, pouring myself half a glass.

Back in the tub, I repeated my comical antics of inserting feet into shoes. But hold on…the bubbles had by now subsided. More bubble bath and more hot water were needed.

That taken care of, I assumed the position once more. I steadied the camera. One, two…all of a sudden, my viewfinder went black and a message appeared that my battery was depleted. Really? Are you kidding me?!

I ejected myself from the tub again, dressed AGAIN, and ran downstairs AGAIN to stick the battery in my charger. And waited. And waited. And waited.

Fifteen minutes later, not prepared to wait any longer, I put my barely charged battery back in my camera, crawled back into what was now a cold tub of water, added yet more bubble bath, and quickly snapped the picture.

So if it’s not framed perfectly, I don’t want to hear about it! And that, my friends, is worth a donation to soles4souls, don’t you think?