Shoe Fetish: Vintage Cherokee Wedges
One of the style icons of my life is Ms. Fernandez, my middle school French teacher.
As a 14-year old girl, I was obsessed with Ms. Fernandez’s clothes. Middle school French teachers obviously don’t choose the job for the money. But, even on what I imagine was a tiny salary, Ms. Fernandez always looked chic. And, although some of her clothes were faded from years of use, they had a kind of bohemian glamour.
Ms. Fernandez had that type of easy style that companies like Anthropologie wish they could replicate. She had hand-smocked blouses like Frieda Kahlo. She is the only woman I’ve ever seen, outside of a Woody Allen movie, who looks good in a man’s vest. She wore a pashmina scarf (that she’d bought in pre-revolution Tehran, of course) two decades ahead of the trend.
The most fascinating aspect of Ms. Fernandez’s wardrobe, was how small it was. I credit her with creating my lifelong obsession with capsule wardrobes. Ms. Fernandez probably didn’t own more than thirty garments total, but she mixed and matched her clothes so well, that she rarely repeated an outfit.
The one thing that stayed nearly constant, was her shoes. Ms. Fernandez only owned two pairs: a pair of cognac-colored Cherokee sandals with three inch wedge heels that she wore 90% of the time, and a pair of tan, Frye Campus boots, that she wore in really cold weather.
I desperately wanted a pair of Cherokee sandals like Ms. Fernandez, because they were so clearly the lynch-pin of fabulous outfits. Alas, my fashion aspirations were quickly shut down by my medically trained parents. “You’ll break your ankle,” they insisted, citing all sorts of E.R. statistics about the dangers of wedge shoes.
Obviously, Cherokee wedges were as fabulous as I remember, because they are really difficult to find used for under $125. I have an ebay alert for size 7.5 Cherokees, and after three years of diligent online searches, I have yet to find my dream shoe in my size.
Last week, I thought I’d hit the jackpot. A vintage dealer on ebay was selling the exact model sandal that I’ve been dreaming about for more than two decades.
But in a size 8.
I know. This is what is known as a 1st world problem. I also know that my love for these shoes borders on a fetish because I am not satisfied with my Swedish Hasbeens or any other high wedge shoe that I’ve ever owned. They are not the shoe.
If anyone out there has a line on a pair of these shoes, please, PLEASE let me know! You will be my shoe hero forever.
What is your dream shoe?
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