Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Thou shalt not covet women's sandals...

I know I'm not supposed to, and everything in the very fiber of my being says NO! NO! NO! Avert your eyes lest you become tempted and become hegemonically debauched! But I. Do. CRAVE. a ...[*tear***] yes you guessed it, Women's Sandal! Just hear me out on this one guys...

...after seeing this photo posted to one of my all-time favorite blogs, Jak and Jil, I just couldn't stop thinking about these sandals. Clearly its a woman we see in the shot wearing the, yes you guessed it, women's designer brand sandals, but theres just something about those rough hewn leather straps and that primitive canvas ankle cuff that I just can't get my mind off of...

...Being the relentless google-search-hound I am, it didn't take me long to pull up dozens of photos from nearly every angle...and I'm going to share them with you and hopefully you'll feel the same way...Naturally being Chloé...they're extortionately expensive. As an unpaid intern for a Boston Design Center showroom, I'd ironically have to sell my own legs [feet attached] just to pay for these sandals...which I'd then be entirely unable to wear...what then? electrical tape mantle-piece ornament perhaps?

...I've always liked that militaristic look, and these sandals have that aesthetic pegged perfectly... but what I don't get is why women get to delight in such innovative detailed footwear. Normally I'm a loafer-wearing, chuck-toting, wingtip-scuffing, top-sider-boating kind of guy, but for some reason designers seem to put so much effort more into a proliferation of women's accessories, shoes, hats, etc and we all get why...men hate to shop. But still...it leaves me in this awkward situation in a Barney's shoe salon where I'm doing my best not to steal furtive glances towards the gender-bending sandals I so dearly adore...

...I think its the looping belt-buckle like straps and the mixture of texture, material and colour which are what I find the most appealing about the sandal. And because the canvas part ultimately loops around your ankle it provides a certain ability for one to alter the look of the sandal. For example, take the sandal pictured above...doesn't it almost look like it might have stepped out of World War I with that height they've given the ankle cuff, whereas the one pictured just below the Barney's Ad looks much more...[dare I say it to please myself...yes.] Masculine?

...At the end of the day, what with my current financial status, [I work literally for sun-chips, free fabric and the odd carpet sample] I wouldn't even be able to afford a heavily discounted pair on sale let alone the full priced $595. However, as with many things I so severely covet, I think someday, someday soon... I'll spend a lazy-Sunday feverishly tearing apart canvas bags, stripping leather belts, and sewing a cobbled version of my own to love and to cherish for all the cobble-stone sidewalks of my days...

2 comments:

  1. aaron, those sandals look more like MANdals to me! you can have them! give me a stiletto any day and leave the gladiators to russell crowe!

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  2. I am always on the hunt for flats, comfortable sandals and these definitely fit the bill!
    I would probably wear them every day, they can be dressy or casual, perfect!

    Women's Flat Sandals

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