A Search for Shoe Nostalgia
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008Lately I’ve have been obsessing about a shoe that was popular in the 70’s/80’s. I distinctly remember eyeing these shoes that my sister, 9 years my senior, wore with her Gunnie Sax calico and lace dress. They were these 4 inch high rubber heeled leather sandals, made by Cherokee. They seemed so sophisticated and mature back then as anything that added 5 inches to a 5 foot frame would be. And while my older sister got to prance around on these platforms of style, I had to make do with my boring flat jelly shoes for at least another 8 years.
I’ve recently become nostalgic of these shoes and have begun a determined search to find a pair to wear around this summer. As with any hard-to-find or vintage item, I turned to Ebay to begin my quest. I guess the combination of a small shoe size (6) and acceptable condition makes it a little harder of a task. I started watching a couple of pairs with the initial bid of $9.99 and felt hopeful of my chances. But with many Ebay auctions these days, the real price of an item isn’t reflected in the beginning days, but rather in the last few hours/minutes when bidders furiously click against one another.
Yet, I was pretty confident I would run away with a bargain since who really would want a pair of stinky (nothing Febreeze can take out), 25-year-old leather sandals? The answer…a lot of damn people. What started as a $25 bid, quickly hit the $50 mark, and as I typed 7 then 5 then hit submit, I was met with the evil red “X” saying I’ve been outbid. At that point, it pained me to pay even a dollar more for this particular pair so I waved the white flag, thinking I can wait for another auction for a similar shoe. Just like the commercials, I felt like the loser who let someone else get away with “Shopping Victoriously.” To further rub salt in my wound, everytime I look in my “Didn’t Win” section, those adorable vintage wedges showed up, purchased by kpheeyy for $50 more than I entered in for my highest bid.
I tried one more time to get another pair on Ebay only to be outbid again, with my $75 limit. I went as far to ask my mom if she happened to keep my sister’s pair and she actually had…until a flood at our house a few years ago left everything in our garage into garbage. So while my ongoing conquest for Cherokees continues throughout the spring, I will just have to admire them from afar.
