Clothes make the man.
We’ve all heard it. And seen
it. It’s true. Who can resist a well-dressed man, nor a man
in uniform.
Shoes, however, apparently make the woman.
But the woman’s shoes do not “make her” to “the observer”,
but rather, shoes make the woman to *herself*.
The right shoes make a short woman tall.
A fat woman thin. A tall woman short,
a thin woman fat. It works all ways. Positive, and negative.
Put a short, overweight woman into sexy, strappy sandals and
she is transformed into a Playboy bunny around 6-feet tall. Put that playboy bunny into frumpy footwear
and she feels short and obese next to that overweight counterpart.
So last winter my YoungerChild insisted upon wearing her too-thin
fashion-boots every day, in the show and ice and freezing temperatures. Nothing, but nothing, could get her into her
winter-warm Sorels. She came home with
near-frostbite-frozen-toes. Daily. Feet that had been
soaked-thru-socks at recess and endured a second soggy-freezing at lunch break. Still, she insisted each morning “I’ll be ok!”
and “I’ll be warm enough”.
Getting her to don a scarf or hat was nearly as
difficult. I gave-up and let her freeze,
hoping she’d cave-in to warmer clothing eventually. But she didn’t. She spent a very cold, wet winter.
Today I clued-in... I
have big feet. My feet are average-size for length
but they're WIDE; I have difficulty finding footwear that fits, much less that makes me feel “tall and
pretty”. Generally I opt for “it fits
but I feel dumpy”. Very rarely do I get
to feel “tall and sexy”, due to what’s on my feet. So suddenly I realised… YoungerChild does not
prefer to be cold nor to have frost-bitten toes.
It’s that she doesn’t feel like a princess in the practical winter
garments I have provided for her.
Favourite colours isn’t enough.
And having the same as her friends is also not enough.
I spent the day today shopping for favourite *styles* and
favourite *patterns*. … Instead of a
toque, she now sports a knit beret. The
scarf is leopard-print with giant pink pom-poms.
The boots are NOT Sorels, but [expensive] FASHION winter boots
(bought at a discount supplier, tho!) … and finally, she’s happy to wear *her*
fashion. Including “Non-Clunky” boots.
This winter my girl is heading out into the winter weather
feeling as warm as my heart.
