my ideal shoes

If I had these I would love them and caress them and call them George and wear them every day that it wasn't raining or snowing or below freezing.

My love affair with red patent Mary Janes goes back to age six, I think, when I first fell hard for a style that they sold at Wal-Mart. They had short flat heels - 100% regular little girls' dress shoes, but red of course, with little tiny heart-shaped cutouts round the toes. I wore those practically every day, with every hideously mismatched outfit (because my mom let me pick them myself), and they fell apart or were outgrown. I went through three pairs in two years before they stopped carrying them, I'm sure.

Red mary janes are my ultimate perfect shoe, no lie. I wouldn't pay £55 for them, but you can read their entry at Shoewawa and check out the source, Jones bootmaker (it's British), if you like. I'm confident I'll eventually find a good pair again.