A Dream Come True

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Thrifted Louboutin Five years old, I stand in the midst of my mother's bedroom; my clammy little feet swimming in her high heels. I reach to my tip-toes to see my face in her vanity mirror. Catching just the slightest glimpse of the top of my blonde hair, a rush of royalty flows through my veins. I imagine myself as Princess Diana, waving to the crowd of adoring fans as I make my way to a regal ball.  The Innocence of Childhood & Beginnings of a Thriftanista In reality, I am standing in my mothers room with ketchup smears dried on my pudgy face. My messy blonde locks are tied in a loose pony tail and my cut-just-a-bit-too-short bangs fall unevenly across my forehead. Naturally, as a 90s baby, my shirt  is tastefully [insert sarcasm] tucked up and under to resemble some sort of sexy bra top. *** When a woman puts on a heel, she has a different posture, a different attitude. She really stands up and has a consciousness of her body.  --Christian Louboutin *** I found myself wandering the aisles of the Charlotte Hall Farmer's Market a few weekends ago, hoping to get one of those wonderful local cantaloupes; little did I know, I would (literally) stumble upon the utmost fabulous pair of shoes. I shuffled through the dusty aisles, picking through tables of random goods: old ceramics, knock-off fragrances, faux designer purses, cheap electronics, dingy tupperware and the usual bake goods galore. Just as I was making a bee-line for the produce barns, I tripped over a large rock. Looking around to see if anyone noticed my clumsiness, my eyes met a small table with a mountain of mismatched shoes on top. My shoe-whorish nature sucked me right in; I had to thumb through the pile before making my way to the melon I came for.  And there, in that mountain of old, floppy, mismatched shoes I found something unspeakably beautiful. From the bottom of the pile, a flash of red caught my eye. It couldn't be. I told myself, "Karen, you are in Southern Maryland. This ain't what you think it might be. No way. No how." Carefully, I plucked the red sole from the bottom of the pile.  A Christian Louboutin espadrille, size 8. Doubtful of its authenticity, I scavenged the mountain of shoes to find it's mate. Even better, the mate still had the Nieman Marcus price label on the sole. Original price read $448.00, knocked down to $298.00 on sale and then $200.00 on clearance. This sealed my authenticity-doubt. I was holding in my hand the creme da la creme of shoes. Actual view from the acquistion Momentary freak out. They. Are. Real. I rushed to the man sitting on a bucket, who looked to be manning the shoe mountain and asked him, "How much?" He replied with something along the lines of, "You know Rihanna and them movie stars be wearing them type of shoes." My heart sank. I assumed he would suggest I give him full value; he knew what he was selling.  "$25.00 for you."  SOLD. This was a high unlike any other. Ladies and gents, if you know shoes, you get me here. I raced away. Literally, these shoes elicited both a physical and emotional response. My heart raced as I pulled out my phone to call my Mom (fellow shoe lover!) and share this breath-taking find. I felt a sense of energy that lasted for what seemed like hours; even sitting down to write this post brings it back to me today. This was absolutely the BEST find. The condition, the fit, the price: perfection. Any and every woman who has an interest in fashion, knows and desires anything Louboutin.  I often discredit my area for its lack of designer labels in the second-hand arena. This was a sobering day for me; true gems can be found anywhere, even in my own rural bubble (aka the county).

Thrifted Louboutin

Five years old, I stand in the midst of my mother's bedroom; my clammy little feet swimming in her high heels. I reach to my tip-toes to see my face in her vanity mirror. Catching just the slightest glimpse of the top of my blonde hair, a rush of royalty flows through my veins. I imagine myself as Princess Diana, waving to the crowd of adoring fans as I make my way to a regal ball. 

The Innocence of Childhood & Beginnings of a Thriftanista

In reality, I am standing in my mothers room with ketchup smears dried on my pudgy face. My messy blonde locks are tied in a loose pony tail and my cut-just-a-bit-too-short bangs fall unevenly across my forehead. Naturally, as a 90s baby, my shirt  is tastefully [insert sarcasm] tucked up and under to resemble some sort of sexy bra top.

***

When a woman puts on a heel, she has a different posture, a different attitude. She really stands up and has a consciousness of her body. 

--Christian Louboutin

***

I found myself wandering the aisles of the Charlotte Hall Farmer's Market a few weekends ago, hoping to get one of those wonderful local cantaloupes; little did I know, I would (literally) stumble upon the utmost fabulous pair of shoes. I shuffled through the dusty aisles, picking through tables of random goods: old ceramics, knock-off fragrances, faux designer purses, cheap electronics, dingy tupperware and the usual bake goods galore. Just as I was making a bee-line for the produce barns, I tripped over a large rock. Looking around to see if anyone noticed my clumsiness, my eyes met a small table with a mountain of mismatched shoes on top. My shoe-whorish nature sucked me right in; I had to thumb through the pile before making my way to the melon I came for. 

And there, in that mountain of old, floppy, mismatched shoes I found something unspeakably beautiful. From the bottom of the pile, a flash of red caught my eye. It couldn't be. I told myself, "Karen, you are in Southern Maryland. This ain't what you think it might be. No way. No how." Carefully, I plucked the red sole from the bottom of the pile.  A Christian Louboutin espadrille, size 8. Doubtful of its authenticity, I scavenged the mountain of shoes to find it's mate. Even better, the mate still had the Nieman Marcus price label on the sole. Original price read $448.00, knocked down to $298.00 on sale and then $200.00 on clearance. This sealed my authenticity-doubt. I was holding in my hand the creme da la creme of shoes.

Actual view from the acquistion

Momentary freak out.

They. Are. Real.

I rushed to the man sitting on a bucket, who looked to be manning the shoe mountain and asked him, "How much?" He replied with something along the lines of, "You know Rihanna and them movie stars be wearing them type of shoes." My heart sank. I assumed he would suggest I give him full value; he knew what he was selling. 

"$25.00 for you." 

SOLD.

This was a high unlike any other. Ladies and gents, if you know shoes, you get me here. I raced away. Literally, these shoes elicited both a physical and emotional response. My heart raced as I pulled out my phone to call my Mom (fellow shoe lover!) and share this breath-taking find. I felt a sense of energy that lasted for what seemed like hours; even sitting down to write this post brings it back to me today. This was absolutely the BEST find. The condition, the fit, the price: perfection. Any and every woman who has an interest in fashion, knows and desires anything Louboutin. 

I often discredit my area for its lack of designer labels in the second-hand arena. This was a sobering day for me; true gems can be found anywhere, even in my own rural bubble (aka the county).