Dresses and Heels

Hello,

Moving involves more than what goes where in the house, meeting new people, learning your way around town, and learning the local culture. It involves clothing preferences. Most of the time in the Chariton church I was the only woman who wanted to wear a dress or skirt. Now in Burlington it is a different story as several women wear dresses or skits. Not only do they wear more swirly things than I own, they also wear heels—high heels.

I have not worn heels since sometime in the middle 90’s when I got a toenail fungus. That changed my life. It was too painful to have my toes press down into the end of the shoe. Flats were fine after I made the mental adjustment. Flats in which I might even have felt superior to what damage those other women were doing to their feet.

I just tried to buy a new pair of black flats only to find that none in the better quality, translate that to expensive, shoe store in Burlington felt good on my foot. I ended up with a pair of black clogs. They felt great and looked quite good with my jeans. At home with a skirt, however, it was a different matter. I still think I could benefit from custom made shoes, but Leroy is so selfish. He does not want to spend anywhere from $1000 to $5000 a pair. Can you imagine that?

At this time I will not be joining the crowd on narrow high toe crimping shoes. But how else to look glamorous? There must be a solution. When I could not find a pair of flats that fit, even after ordering some in an unstocked size, the guy in the shoe store told me, “My dad who started this store used to say, would you look better with a pained expression and ill fitting shoes or a smile and perfectly fitting shoes.”

Life is full of tough choices and downsizing possibilities. Should I just get a closet full of slacks? Some of these women wear those same high pointed heels with slacks. Is there no hope?

Paula