Adventures on Two Feet: The Victorian Lace-up Boots

These are killer boots, as in I could imagine them featured in a kinky student bondage film. Sometimes I wonder if I, with my generally sweet demeanor, can pull them off---but I've told that I have spunk! Although I'm not entirely sure that spunk correlates to naughtiness...

Anyway, enough about whether or not I SHOULD wear these boots because the point is that I DO. Time to indulge in some good ol' fashioned gossip. Let me spill about these boots. One day, probably about two years ago, my mother and I were wandering around Target (a common mother-daughter pastime for us) when we hit the shoe department. I was just casually browsing in an aisle apart from my mother when I heard her call, "Chrissie! Look!" With that amount of excitement shaking in her voice, how could I do anything BUT look? I went to where she stood all Vanna White, holding up these very shoes. "Aren't these cute?" I'll be honest. I liked them because of the Victorian styling but I wasn't too enthusiastic about them mainly because of the four-inch heels. At almost 5'8'', I'm aware my limitations and I don't cling to the "no heel's too tall" mantra. I'm already as tall, or even taller, than many of the boys I know and that makes me a little self-conscious sometimes. My mother, at 5'1'', is just the opposite (adorably petite) and can therefore wear five-inch stilettos while still falling short of my height by a couple inches. The problem of possibly being taller than her date naturally does not occur to her.

But my mother was visibly thrilled by her find and I wasn't going to disappoint her, biases regarding high heels aside. (These days, I'm more inclined to wear 3 & 4-inch heels than I once was, mainly because I'm secure that I won't tower over my boyfriend, who's 5'10'' when he slouches. And, yes, he slouches, safe to say, always unless I correct him). I pulled one of the boots on after sitting down, hopped up to model it for my mother, and observed her proud smile. They were sexy and my mother obviously approved. A check-out line and $7 later, those boots belonged to me. And I'm glad they do.

Now you're probably curious about one thing in particular: what does a lady like ME wear with these hooker boots? Um, well, not fishnets. After all, I have to tone these down unless I want strangers to mistake me for a prostitute. That means no tiny skirts (which aren't "me," anyway) or low-cut shirts or visible bra straps. I wore the boots on Thursday with a flowing hippie tunic and black fitted leggings a la Stevie Nicks. When I put them on yesterday evening, I wore a denim jacket with a knitted sweater lining (faux sweater peeking out of the sleeves and around the collar), a rose-colored knitted sweater, and black hobo gloves. Just my usual pseudo-bohemian, Neo-Victorian, ladylike self.