from hell

isn't it the worst when it's impossible to find the most simple things? i remember a few years ago, in the midst of my logo-happy, hood-fresh days, every now and then i'd long for a simple tee or tank top, and wouldn't be able to find what i needed anywhere at a good price. nowadays, american apparel fills that void for just about everything, but until they start manufacturing shoes (which whould be unprecedentedly awesome, by the way), i'm on my own when it comes to finding simple, unadorned shoe styles. i've bought pretty much every version of the black flat within my price range, and with the exception of one pair of now beat-up beyond repair black flats that used to belong to my mother, and a suede pair from anne klein that's quickly headed down the same path, the others just don't make the cut. maybe a pair of repettos will make themselves available to me.. if i ever learn to save my money.

when i told jessica that i was searching for a simple pair of slouchy black boots, she reffered me to CutesyShoes. i began searching the site reluctantly, and was surprised to find almost exactly what i'd been looking for. "imitation leather, fabric lining, other man made materials." ok, cool. at twenty dollars, i wasn't exactly expecting fine craftmanship, but i figured it would serve my needs fairly well. or not. maybe the second day i'd worn them, i noticed that imitation leather starting to scuff and peel off the heel. once, i tripped on a step, looked down and noticed that a big chunk of it had scraped off the toe, leaving a big beige spot on my left shoe. starting to get a feel for just how cheap these shoes really were, i just filled in the mark with a black sharpie and called it a day. but now, about a month later, these shoes are at the end of the line, pretty much. on the heels, all the imitation leather has rubbed away to reveal a cardboard-y substance that seems to be shaping the shoe, and now even that stuff is slowly disappearing. and by slowly disappearing, i mean a big chunk of it goes missing every day. forget about wearing these babies while walking across a lightly misted lawn (trust me, i've tried), let alone in the rain. and the worst is that every time i put them on and take two or three steps, these mauve/beige chunks of.. stuff.. will dislodge itself from the inner sole of the shoe and assault my feet until i stop, take the shoe off, and shake them out.

despite all of that though, i still wear them all the time. they're just too functional, fashionably speaking. but now i've found these boots on modcloth, and while they're constructed from 'all man-made materials' again, i'm kind of considering buying them. they're simple, but also a little different, and even if they're not real leather, there's nothing that says they'll be just as atrociously cheap as the last pair. then again, there's nothing that says they won't either. but at forty bucks, i think i owe it to myself to scour local shops, especially thrift and vintage, for something similar before i make the leap.

abort, retry, fail?