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| New Shoes |
They are supposed to have a slip-resistant sole. They cost $29.99. They weren't on sale and I paid full price for them, because my other pair was looking too shabby for me to wait for a sale on these particular type of shoes. With our 8.75% sales tax, they came to $32.61. That put the final cost of the shoes slightly above what I had budgeted for shoes ($30), but that's OK.
I still need to buy a pair of pants to wear to the office, so, hopefully, that will be my next purchase. One of these days, when I next feel like going shopping for clothes! LOL.
Today, I am grateful for:
- New shoes!
- Feeling up to shopping for them.
- Finding a pair in my size.
- Not feeling guilty about paying full price for them because it's what I had budgeted for.
- Having a little bit of leeway in the budget to accommodate the sales tax.
Every time I buy a pair of black shoes, I am reminded of a story my mother had once told me. As a child, I never had a pair of black shoes. I had several pairs of shoes in all the colors of the rainbow, but not a single pair of black shoes. And I longed to have a pair of black shoes. Finally, after I begged and begged, my mother relented and bought me a pair of black patent leather shoes for my 9th birthday.
Several years later, when I asked her why she wouldn't let me wear black shoes as a child, she told me it was because, when she was growing up, all her mother would buy for her and her sisters were black shoes since they were so serviceable and could be worn with any outfit! She said her mother would take her to the shoe store and say to the salesperson, "A pair of black shoes for this child, a pair of black shoes" (and mother would drag out the word "black" so it sounded more like "blaaack"). Mother, obviously didn't like her black shoes!
My mother was one of 4 daughters (and one of 9 children, altogether). She said her mother had a method when it came to buying shoes for the girls. One year, the two older girls (my mother's older sisters) would get new shoes (black, of course) and their old shoes would be handed down to the two younger girls (my mother and her younger sister). The following year, the two younger girls would have new shoes bought for them, while the older girls had to manage with last year's shoes. Mother didn't say (and I didn't think to ask) what would have happened if the older girls' feet out-grew their shoes during that period! I also don't know if Grandmother had a similar method for shoes for her sons, as well.
By the time the younger girls received their older sisters' shoes, those shoes would have been worn for two years, already. And, I suppose, if the shoes were still in good condition after being worn by the younger girls, they would have been passed down to a cousin or two. Mother had several cousins as her mother had been the oldest of 14 children.
My mother continued this tradition of passing down shoes, as I remember her giving my outgrown shoes to one of my cousins. And, at least one of my cousins has given her daughter's shoes to my daughter! So, we are keeping the hand-me-down shoes tradition going! LOL!
We had lots of hand-me-down clothes among all of my cousins and sisters, but never shoes. My mother had a thing about shoes. She wanted to make sure our growing feet had the right fit. However, I remember one time when I really wanted this pair of red patent leather shoes. I lied and said they felt good and fit well. However, they really hurt my feet. It didn't matter though because I thought they were so pretty. I don't do that any more.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how so many of us are willing to put up with uncomfortable shoes to look fashionable, even these days, isn't it? Some of my cousins and several of my nieces wear such high heels and I wonder how they even manage to stand in them, let alone walk and dance! I am all for comfort, these days.
DeleteYour new shoes look smart but still comfortable. Following a growth spurt I've had to buy Lily some new shoes, trainers, sandals and walking boots! It all adds up so you are wise to budget for them. We are fortunate in that we get discount at a reputable store. X
ReplyDeleteChildren's feet grow all the time, don't they? My daughter's feet grew so much that she outgrew the children's sizes and was wearing women's sizes by the time she was 9! It was so hard to find something that was suitable for a child among women's shoes!
DeleteYes I can see that in big families items would be passed down. I believe the resale shops that have sprung up are especially good for cheap children's clothes. Hubby found a like new jacket for a pittance this past winter and has found jeans like new. Do you have resale shops?
ReplyDeleteSandy
Yes, there are several re-sale shops. And also, places like Goodwill, etc. I tend to shop at a couple of discount stores, but I just haven't gone shopping, recently. Need to make an effort and go, one of these days!
DeleteI really enjoyed your story about the black shoes being passed down and your mother's method of how and when she was bought shoes as a child. No wonder she had an aversion to them. ;)
ReplyDeleteYes, I imagine that a pair of NON-black shoes might have been among her first purchases, once she started earning her own money as a teacher! :)
DeleteThose shoes look lovely and comfortable, I am all for comfort these days. I tend to weart sneakers too and seem to need a pair a year. When I was growing up, we spent most of the time barefoot and even didnt wear shoes to school in the summer. Mind you that was a tiny country school, when I went to Intermediate (11yrs) in town We had a Uniform and shoes were a must but they were Roman Sandals.
ReplyDeleteOh, how I would have loved being able to go barefoot to school! Or even wear sandals! We were required to wear shoes to school and they had to be black, white, or brown shoes, worn with white socks. At home, however, I went barefoot, most of the time, or wore slippers. Even now, I tend to go barefoot when I am at home (or wear socks, when it is cold).
DeleteI grew up wearing what they called then corrective shoes, so I essentially wore what looked like brown men's wingtips until I was about 10 when the orthopedist declared they were doing no good. (Amazingly the only thing that cured my pigeon toed tendencies was discovering boys at about 13. All of a sudden how I walked became important to me__imagine that) After 10 a whole new world opened to me and I saved my personal money to buy shoes, because my parents only bought shoes when we outgrew our old ones. Like live and learn I would wear uncomfortable shoes just because I loved them. Yeah that train has passed. Now I wear flip flops every day the weather will allow it and flats any other time. Cute heels no longer hold any interest for me.
ReplyDeleteNo heels here, either, Anne. I used to wear them when I was younger (and several pounds lighter!) but can't manage them, any more!
DeleteYou reminded me of the time when I was around 10 or 11 I think. I wanted casual shoes, the kind you slip on, that looked so much better to me at the time. My mother had different ideas, knowing I was hard on shoes, and she bought me a pair of brown lace-up shoes with heavy soles, that I named my "Clumpers"! Needless to say they didn't get a lot of wear as I somehow avoided wearing them (can't remember how, and we were not flush with money). As far as fitting shoes was concerned, this was back in the era when no one realized the danger to shop assistants when they continually used the x-ray machines to see customers' feet in the shoes they were trying. I used to love to peer down the child level observation port while Mom and the shop clerk looked in the high ones at either side. I could see all the bones of my feet clearly in the shoe!
ReplyDeleteBushlady
I have never heard of x-ray machines in shoe stores! How interesting! I remember my mother and/or the sales clerks pressing down on the toe box to see if the shoes pinched or not. My mother had a thing about my shoes - she always tried to buy me Clark shoes, which, as you are probably aware, English made, and, therefore, had to be imported. This was during a time when imported items were highly restricted, if not banned, as the government was trying to promote local products! Eventually, the old stocks the stores had got sold out and we had to settle for the locally manufactured shoes. They weren't bad, I think, but my mother thought Clark shoes were better. :)
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