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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Farm Box: It Was Bound To Happen Eventually…
Eggplant in the farm box. So gross. How is it that a vegetable that is so easy on the eyes is so yucky on the tongue? Luckily I was able to pawn the eggplant off on some poor sap who actually thinks her, “husband makes the best stuffed eggplant on the planet.” But I can’t [...]
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Farm Box Confession: I Am A Selfish Wife
For the third week in a row, I’ve gotten fresh strawberries in my farm box. And, for the third week in a row, my husband doesn’t know this. Why? Because I’ve eaten all of them before he’s gotten home (and composted the evidence). When it comes to snacks, I have no scruples. I mean really. [...]
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#richpeopleproblems What To Wear To The Punk Themed Gala At The Met
Today’s New York Times explains the plight of rich people attending this year’s Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art–What to wear to a punk-themed event that costs $25,000 per ticket? The article asks: will any of the guests get it right? The answer is no. None of the guests, even Vivien Westwood [...]
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Hipster Crafts: Make A Mustache Out Of Beet Root
Fact: beets are evil. Look how (extra) bad Pannonica looks with her beet root mustache. And for the record: yellow beets taste like dirt. This week’s farm box includes 2 bunches of curly kale, 3 (bleech) yellow beets with greens attached, 19 strawberries, 2 cups of sugar snap peas, 3 Minneola tangerines, and 2 grapefruits.
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Heartbreak: Bacon Avocados Not Made From Actual Bacon
Or Sir Francis Bacon for that matter. This week’s farm box haul includes 3 Bacon avocados, 5 Gold Nugget tangerines, 2 Navel oranges, 1 bulb of fennel, 1 bunch of swiss chard, 4 broccoli trees, 1 bunch of spinach and 39 Ruby Crescent fingerling potatoes.
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Wait. There are Red Green Onions?
This week’s farm box includes 1 Pinkerton avocado, 2 cups of Strawberries, 1 bunch of asparagus spears, 1 bunch of collard greens, 4 Burgundy spring onions, 1 bunch of Dino kale, 5 carrots, 1 bunch of Romaine lettuce, and 3 Navel oranges. I’d never thought about what red onions look like when they are green [...]
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Spring Garlic Looks Like Green Onions?
This week’s farm box more than made up for last week’s deprivation.
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