Monday, May 26, 2008

For Dad

Zapatos nuevos

Tengo que enseñarle a mi padre estos zapatos. Los vi en la revista Vogue y me enamoré de ellos. Son de Ugg en Australia y sabía que no serían muy caros. Los compré a una tienda en Estados Unidos. Llegaron el jueves. Son preciosos. El viernes por la mañana me pinté las uñas de los pies y me puse mis zapatos nuevos.

Trabajé en un encargo que tenía pendiente desde hacía mucho tiempo y comí con Aloma. De cuando en cuando miraba hacia abajo y admiraba mis pies con sus nuevas galas. Me preocupaba no poder llevarlos a la clase que tenía por la tarde, porque llovía y no quería que se mojaran y ensuciasen en su primer día. Afortunadamente salió el sol y secó la lluvia. Podía estrenarlos.

Casi sin darme cuenta, me preguntaba por qué no compro más zapatos. Me encanta. No me gasto mucho dinero en mí misa pero de vez en cuando tiro la casa por la ventana: ¿por qué no gastar más en zapatos?, me preguntaba. Obtuve una respuesta a mitad de clase. El dolor, la sensación atroz de un zapato que desprende poco a poco y con ayuda de tus movimientos la capa superior de tu piel. Hasta tal punto que las partes donde los zapatos han decidido dominar tus pobres pies se quedan en carne viva.

Mientras cojeaba hacia clase, la madre de mis alumnos me preguntó qué me pasaba. "Zapatos nuevos", expliqué. "Ahh", asintió compasivamente. Después de clase me contó en el ascensor que le encantaba comprar ropa pero que se lo pensaba dos veces antes de comprar zapatos. "Detesto tirar los zapatos, cuesta tanto esfuerzo que cojan la forma del pie que siempre es una pena separarse de ellos." Me dio algunos consejos para forzar el tejido.

A mi padre también le gustan mucho los zapatos pero sólo compra un par nuevo cuando el anterior está destrozado. Se controla más que yo. Pero le encanta cuando mi hermana y yo compramos zapatos nuevos. Recuerdo que cuando mi hermana compartía paso se compró unos zapatos marrones al estilo del Gato con Botas. Mi padre vino a casa entusiasmado con lo bonitos que eran. Cuando iba a la universidad compré un par de botas negras de plataforma. Mi padre estaba muy contento e hizo que se las enseñara a todos los demás cuando llegaron a casa.

New Shoes

I have to show Dad these shoes. I saw them in a Vogue magazine and fell in love with them. They are from Ugg Australia so I knew they wouldn't be too expensive. I ordered them from the USA. They arrived on Thursday. They are beautiful. On Friday morning I painted my toenails and put on my beautiful new shoes.

I worked on a commission that I have had pending for a long time then had lunch with Aloma, every now and then looking down and admiring my feet in their new finery. I was worried I wouldn't be able to wear them to my afternoon class as it was raining and I didn't want them to get wet and dirty on their first day out. Luckily the sun came out and dried up all the rain. I could début them after all!

In the back of my mind I had been wondering why I don't buy more shoes. I love them. I don't really like spending money on myself but every now and then I splash out - why not more on shoes I wondered. I came to the realization halfway to my class. The pain, the agonizing feeling of a shoe, slowly, with the force of your own movement, rubbing away at the top layer of your skin. Rubbing away so completely you are left with raw patches where your new shoe has decided to dominate your poor foot.

As I limped into the class, the mother of my students asked what was wrong. "New shoes" I explained. "Ahhh", she nodded sympathetically. In the lift after class she told me she loved buying new clothes but shoes took more consideration. "I hate when I have to throw away my shoes, it is such an effort to break them in that it is always a pity when the time comes to part with them". She gave me some advice on how to stretch the fabric.

My father also loves shoes but he will only buy a new pair when his old pair is no longer wearable. He is more controlled than I. But he loves when my sister and I buy new shoes. I remember when my sister was flatting she bought a pair of brown 'puss in boots' style boots. My father came home raving about how beautiful they were. When I was at uni I bought a pair of black, platform heeled boots. He was very happy for me and got me to show everyone when they came home that day.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I love your new shoes..... I can see why you had to buy them - and somehow - like all things we do to beutify - you'll work through the pain! I still wear puss in boots often - they are about to re-soled for the third time. I'm dreading the day they're no longer wearable.

Anonymous said...

Great shoes Pips. They look fabulous or as the kids at school say solid. You've just got to work through the pain. When we win lotto I think we will need to set up a special shoe account that you all can dip into when you see those really stunning shoes that just catch our attention and beg for buying.

Anonymous said...

The secret of the toe cleavage is a very important part of the sexuality of the shoe;you must only show the first two cracks!!!! C.p.b.XXX

Walter Rojas said...

Mira las espardenyas personalizadas que estamos haciendo en La Vall d'Uxó, Castellón: http://carlesroxas.blogspot.com/
tienen el encanto de las alpargatas: se adaptan a tu pie como si fueran un calcetín, puedes caminar con ellos sin cansarte todo lo que quieras y son españolas.
Uno o tres abrazos.
...
look at the personalized espadrillas that we are doing in The Vall d'Uxó, Castellón: http: // carlesroxas.blogspot.com/
It have the captivation of the rubber-soled slippers: it adapt to your foot as if it were a sock, you can walk with it without getting tired everything what you want and it's a Spanish traditional shoes.
One or three embraces