The first pair, as many of you will remember, were purchased at Valley Thrift Store on Woodman Dr. my sophomore year in college. To me, these boots represented me. They were cheap and unattractive and were my own personal protest to the clean and prissy Greek Life. I dont think the greeks ever knew I was protesting them with my shoes, but I defintely was.
I went on a mission to find a picture of these boots. I know, I know, Im the one who hangs on to shoes for WAY LONGER than any person should, but these bad boys went the way of "Soul Man". And by that, I mean, they were brutally and savagely ambushed by "friends".
(Soul Man was a compact of power foundation that I used to wear my freshman year in college. I thought it made me look like a coppertone model in the middle of winter, but Angie and Rhiannon thought it made me look like C. Thomas Howell in Soul Man. I came home from class one day and Soul Man was missing. Oh yeah, they called it Soul Man to my face and I STILL wore it. So anyway, I came home from class one day and it was gone. God love em, they kept the straightest faces, and I never found it until we were moving out at the end of the year. They had dropped it into a purple Crown Royal bag and I went the rest of the year, Soul Man free.)
Ok, before I go on, here are some snapshots I found, although you have to look REAL close: Here...this one is a TWOFER - Here's me, and the boots, and Pat Reilly - Congrats to Pat, who just got engaged this New Years! You can kinda see the red laces here:
Ok, here's a close up. God I loved those boots so.
Here's the only other one I could find. The picture above was Junior year, and below is obviously Sophomore year. There's my roommates, the girls of the Convo: Annie, Karen, Me, and Rachel. Sorry Annie. Im sure you're less than pleased about a flannel shirt photo resurfacing after ten years. Dont feel bad. We all did it. Im sideways on the chair and you can make out the boots. They did a lot of partying back then. 
But of course, all good things must come to an end, and that end was a 28 Montrose. I dont know what happened to the shoes. Rumor has it someone shot the boot with it (Rugby-ism: Shooting the boot is when you violate some sort of social law and are forced to drink beer out of a shoe/boot/cleat/closest receptacle that will hold liquid. If you're lucky, you'll just drink beer out of someones nasty shoe without someone spitting in it or hawking a ginormous loogie in it before you drink it. Ive seen it happen.) But one of the shoes was never seen again. Ive suspected Stacy for some time, although I have no proof.
And of course, the boots you all know & love, the Bass leathers with brown laces. I have been wearing these for almost TEN YEARS. I purchased them at the Jeffersonville Bass Outlet store en route to Athens before my Junior year. I was with Pat & Kevin Reilly in a U-Haul with all our stuff, heading back to school. They were SOOOO much better looking then than they are today:
If you do the math, these shoes really served me well. I will approximate 9.5 year of usage, so, 3467.5 days from a $65 pair of shoes = .01730 paid per day for these boots.
Anyway, I have had a hard time as of late parting with them. I cant seem to find anything that Is more comfortable. Ive logged thousands of miles in these boots, and of course, will NOT throw them away. They will sit in my closet and I will pull them out on special occasions. Camping trips, and any event where I need to look really gritty. I still love these boots. Its just time to move on.
The opportunity presented it self this afternoon when one of my customers presented me with a very generous birthday gift certificate to Macy's. The decision was clear. I needed a new pair of shoes. I found a really nice pair that I otherwise wouldnt have spent nearly this much on. (uh-oh, I feel an ambush from the Pricy Purse Brigade coming on) Anyway, here they are. Be nice.
Stacy noted that she might like to take the opportunity to put in a word or two for the pairs of boots that are either no longer with us, or no longer in service. Please. Let them know how much they meant to you. Remind them of the good times, and that they will never be forgotten.
Happy Friday.
7 comments:
I didn't realize they made bowling boots.
I can't top Aileen - I'm still laughing......
I loved your red string boots. Don't listen to what anyone says. March to your drummer, Fort.
Although, I have to draw the line at that foundation. To this day I think it's a sign of how much Angie loves you--intervention.
And what's sad about that shirt is that it probably wasn't even in style back then. Whatever happened to that black dress with the red flowers? I loved that, too.
oh man, im at my parents house now, but I will find a pic of that dress and post it! much love.
fort
I will miss Red-Laced-Boots as a fount of general knowledge. If I ever needed to know anything there was always a good chance that Red-Laced-Boots would know the answer. If he didn't he'd make sure he found the answer for you. I will miss him on walks because Red-Laced-Boots was a great walker and his knowledge of the countryside made such hikes a pleasure. I will miss him most of all as a friend because good friends like Red-Laced-Boots don't happen often in a lifetime.
Red-Laced-Boots 1997-2002 R.I.P.
SHS
I would like to take this time to remember a much-loved pair of shoes that is no longer with us. I purchased the black strappy heels in Rome, 1998 for about $5 and wore them on a trip to Trevi Fountain. They gave me horrible blisters on that first day, but I powered through it and they eventually become my favorite shoes. The heel broke a couple of years ago and I threw them out. I regret that rash decision. I miss you, cheap shoes and will always remember the good times. -- Misti
Did you know that Kevin Reilly is engaged?? And it's not even to someone who's already engaged to someone else haha
-Alison
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