Adventures on Two Feet: The Ruby Slippers

From The PM Collection by 9.2.5; balange and other man made materials with a recycled leather sole and rhinestone studs; photo by Christine Stoddard.

These are my ruby red slippers, perhaps the most precious gem in my shoe collection (although nobody's given me a definite appraisal!) Well, perhaps I should correct myself. Technically these shoes belong to my mother. But she never wears them anymore because they no longer fit so I snatched them up and gladly brought them to college. I have a habit of making quick get-aways with items from her pre-Mommy era wardrobe. When I was a little girl, I used to hobble around the house in these heels, dragging whatever dress I had stolen from my mother that day. Then the shoes gathered dust because nobody touched them for years. I considered putting them on for several special events but for one reason or the other didn't until this past June.

My boyfriend, David, invited me to his senior prom (yes, he is one year younger than I am; stop with the cradle snatcher jokes before you even begin them) and I already had the perfect dress (a red number with black lace so divine I practically tore it off the rack when I spotted it at Goodwill for under $6). The question, of course, was what shoes was I to wear? For numerous girls, prom means one thing: an expensive shopping spree (or three or nine). But I'm very frugal and realized that my mother already had plenty of goodies lying around the house. It didn't take long before I noticed these rubies, tried them on with the dress, and nodded my head with smug approval. When my boyfriend's mother showed the photographs to her sisters, they complimented me and my dress but apparently they went crazy over my shoes, saying that they really made the outfit. (Never underestimate the power of even out-of-state aunts).

More recently, I almost walked out the door in these rubies with black jeans and a Free People top but something stopped me. Something told me that these shoes were too special for a simple Night on the Town. And they are. At least for strutting along Broad St. with my low-key student lifestyle. Perhaps in a few years, though, these shoes won't just seem like slippers fit for a fairytale princess. Perhaps in a few years I'll BE that fairytale princess. That's only a remote hope but a hope nonetheless. Who doesn't want a glamorous life, at least sometimes? That's part of the allure of fashion---the fact that it gives you access to the world of glamor, however briefly.