Cinderella Says

It's really simple: if the shoes don't fit, I don't buy them.

A great principle, very simple--but there's this phenomenon that happens to me sometimes, usually when a beautiful shoe is on sale for a really good price.
The phenomenon works like this: I try the shoe on, and it seems to fit! It feels great! It's like walking on clouds! Gleefully, I buy the shoe. I get the shoe home, admire it for a few days, possibly crow to my friends and boyfriend about the deal I got. Then, the first time I'm going to wear the shoe, it hurts like a motherf*cker.

That's what happened with these cute John Fluevog chunky platforms. I love Fluevogs--on other people, and in the store.
They're beautiful, they're weird, and they're not common. But I've never found a pair that fits me. My shoe size is usually 6.5 but sometimes 6. Every shoe or boot of Fluevogs' that I've ever tried in 6 has been too tight, and every 6.5 too big. And I go to the boutique and try at least twice a year, trying several styles.

The other day I was supposed to meet my friend at a certain time on a certain street, only when I called her she said she was just waking up from a nap. She was going to come in 1/2 an hour, she said. So I wandered over to Fluevog and saw these brown, apricot and pink platforms on sale for a mere $89, regularly $225. They were the only pair left and they were a 6. I wasn't even going to try them on, but since I was waiting for my friend and there was no one in the store, I did. And they felt great! I was in shock... happy shock! Of course I bought the shoes. The next day when I tried them on with all my outfits that would match, they had suddenly shrunk and my toes could not move around and I felt like I had my feet bound. DAMN IT! So I took off my thin sock and put on an even thinner nylon socky thing and they were still killer. Sadly, I examined my receipt and sure enough, it said FINAL SALE. "FINAL SALE" was even circled in pen by the salesperson.

I let my friend try them on, thinking she might want to buy them from me--she also loves Fluevog, and she has a slightly smaller foot than I do. She got the same happy glaze on her face that I recognized from my own-- she was talking really fast and saying they were slightly too tight but she was sure she could make them work, etc etc. I think it's the $89 dollar thing, really. It's just such a great price that it makes people crazy. I don't know, maybe a cobbler could stretch them for her where they're tight. For me, it was the length of the shoe, and the arch didn't even hit my arch in the right place, so it kind of felt like the shoe was trying to eject me out of it, with only the strap like a seat belt holding me in, so I know that stretching them won't help me. I'm like Drucilla and Anastasia trying to cram my caveman feet into Cinderella's shoe. But maybe they will work for my friend. If the shoe fits, wear it! But if not, stay away, no matter how inexpensive!