Welcome to our new series, CHIT-CHAT! These are quick reads: rants, raves, ideas, and just fun items we want to share and discuss. Stay tuned for more!
Pradas and fluffy skirts <3
I have a weakness: Prada shoes. Now, let me be frank: I can’t afford Prada shoes. I buy them secondhand, usually on eBay. I have five four pairs. A couple of years ago, I found the most amazing Prada black platform mary-janes. They were DREAMY! Retail price: $495. Stacie’s price: $35 on eBay. They were like new, and hardly showed any signs of wear. SCORE! I wore them maybe 2-3 times, most famously at Fashion Week. They were comfy. They were perfect.
Were.
The Pradas in action at Palm Desert Fashion Week, 2016, with my beautiful BFF and fellow OLS-founder Sassy Pants.
Well, recently I took them out of their special box so I could take them for a spin. The heels had DISINTEGRATED. They had foam inside the platforms. I’m sorry, but if I had paid $500 for a pair of shoes, I would expect them to last the REST OF MY LIFE. These fabulous Pradas are now in the trash.
They could not even be repaired. They had major structural damage.
It hurt throwing them away.
My rant is this: shouldn’t quality be in relation to a price tag? If luxury items cost so much, shouldn’t there be a reason? With a high price tag, one expects craftsmanship, quality, and longevity. As a person who can’t regularly afford high-dollar items, I expect them to last.
Oh well. At least I got a few good turns out of them.
I’ll keep searching for more bargain Pradas. And if they break, well…at least I’ll be comforted by knowing I didn’t pay full retail 😉
by Stacie Herndon
Stacie is a writer, graphic designer, and web developer. Legend has it that she was born old. She has always loved outrageous older ladies, often befriending them over people her own age. She is a devoted Francophile, loves a good Sauvignon Blanc and can mix a mean cocktail. She will have red hair until the day she departs this earth.
Shoes. What a love/hate relationship I have with them. They can be the perfect addition to an outfit, finishing it to a T. And they can cause such pain and discomfort. The night that I fell at the opera, I was wearing some sparkly gold stilettos with at lest 4 inch heels. They are at least partly to blame for my fall down the stairs and resulting ER visit, retinal detachment and subsequent surgery. Well I have to own part of the blame for the fall. But I digress. I should have worn my one pair of Prada which I bought at an upscale thrift store for about $65. My all time favorite pair of shoes are a pair of black pumps with about a 1 1/2 inch heel that I bought from an online fetish catalog. They fit my size 10 1/2 wide feet perfectly and are a joy to wear. I have way too many pairs of shoes, and I really only wear about 5 or 6 pairs regularly. I try to avoid making new shoe purchases. But there is always that magic pair that we keep searching. Oh yeah, one more story. I found these brown, alligator vintage shoes at a vintage store. They fit perfectly. I was meeting a girlfriend for lunch. First the sole of one shoe came off. I thought I’d make do, but then the other sole became unglued and the heel to that shoe fell off. I felt like Lucille Ball. I did get those fixed and they are now my most trusty pair of brown heels I own. I could go on…
Oh, I so relate to all this, Aoife. The thing is, my trashed Pradas were too tall for me, really. I’m afraid my days of heels are over. I refuse to deal with discomfort any more.
I hate being betrayed by shoes when you’re wearing them. I’ve even had flats betray me: that’s the absolute worst! Shoes now get a maximum of two chances with me: if they hurt the second time, they’re fired!
And boooooo to those 4-inchers for betraying you in the worst possible way! Hope you’re on the mend! XO!