The days of shoes past....

It is said that Pisceans are ruled by the feet.  How convenient...I  need not search for complicated reasons to be enthralled by footwear. After all, footwear is a fashion statement, a comfort statement, a utility statement and...a memory.  Well, that is to say, about-to-be discarded footwear weighs ever-so-slightly on the mind, gently demanding a recap, a commemoration of service to the wearer.

So many pairs have gone by the wayside with no formal commemoration, no lasting images, barely a pensive moment.  SO many lovely pairs of tiny sandals, mini boots and shrunken Chuck Taylors.  Soft leather booties, woolen slippers...the list could go on and on.  But what can we salute today?  Shoes to be discarded, but whose images have been captured for posterity.  Here we go, in no particular order.

These were well loved and led an active life.  These served Galen in, oh, maybe late 8th or 9th grade. I'm still not too sure who Sailor Jerry is/was.  The explosive appeal of Chuck Taylors has spawned so much variety that, one could pretty much wear a new pair every month and never repeat.  (Although I suppose the repetition factor really is a function of age...)   (ABOVE)

These Vans had a long and illustrious career, not only in the service of their master, Galen, but in the service of his friends as well.  These shoes had the curious characteristic of fitting for quite a long time and for fitting other kids, outlasting many lesser pairs and leaving them by the wayside.  Perhaps they were too large when originally purchased....These beauties were also versatile....often worn successfully without laces. And, did I mention?  I'm a sucker for suede....    (ABOVE)

Not Run DMC's Adidas, but, colorful, a little festive and, in leather, serving as foul weather protection for a kid who walks only a few blocks to high school.               (ABOVE)

Here we have them, although not in their native habitat, two Croc(odile)s, snuggling.  (ABOVE)  Easier on the feet than the eye, to be sure, so utilitarian.  And, so able to withstand the clay mud and muck in Pennsylvania's fabulous Camp Onas..  Kudos to the Croc breeders, for later engineering far more fashionably acceptable forms, while preserving the comfort gene.  

Can you say 'fashion tsunami'?  Bizarrely enough, these are very functional boots that caught fire on the fashion side.  I can't explain, a bare foot in a sheepskin lined suede or leather boot in zero degree weather is just very cozy and primitive.  That just might be the appeal.            (ABOVE)

Once again, it's Chuck Taylor....when I wore low top Cons in my early teens, I truly don't recall  ever hearing the name 'Chuck Taylor'....they were just Cons, as opposed to Pro Keds or even PF Flyers (the latter  being long gone, leaving us to figure another way to run faster and jump higher).  These are peace sneakers, but, for some reason, got little wear.                     (ABOVE)

These simple Adidas....perhaps they were well-loved but they weren't often worn.  A pair of sneakers that can be left at someone's house & whose absence is not noticed....well, I never!...said the  SL 72 model.   Designed in 1972 for Olympic athletes...perhaps for the ill-fated Munich Olympics in summer, given that Adidas is a German company.

Aah, my old Nike 'non-serious' climbing shoes....they've served me well in the wild.  A modern mix of mesh,  suede & rubber with a space-age braided polyester lace that needs to be triple knotted, at a minimum,  to stay put.  These have traveled, bought initially for the honeymoon in Hawaii (yes, cliched as hell, but the fact that there would be a 7+ minute total eclipse of the sun on the big island during the very next week after our marriage was just too irresistible..).  They descended Haleakala, climbed Ranier, wandered Death Valley and assaulted Triglav.

Bon's first cowboy boots...straight from Dallas.  Lots of moms at the Brooklyn Friends School asked me from where they were procured. 

Mom wore cowboy boots too...Tony Lama this time

.Interesting, because when I first brought these back from a business trip to Dallas, Bonnie would not even try them on...no way....I thought it wasn't worth it to send them back to Texas, so, in the closet with them.  Fast forward a few months, and, Bonnie tries them on....and never wants to take them off!  Her little red ropers were super comfy and she wore them almost every day, when she started at Brooklyn Friends.  Note the killer scrapes on the toes.  Little kids will kneel down and tuck their feet under, thereby destroying the toes of whatever shoes they are wearing.  Perhaps if children grow up all tropical they tuck under and scrape raw toe, thereby nipping that little habit in the bud....someone in the tropics,  please,  look into that....

For mom, it was about the 10th pair of black cowboy boots.  These Tony Lama's were a little different, in that there was zero stitching anywhere on the foot or shaft of the boot....plain, smooth, uninterrupted  black leather...nice.

A subsequent pair of cowboy boots, for Bonnie

I believe these boots made the trip from Brooklyn to Princeton, just like the kids & mom.  A little busy, compared to the little red ropers, but fun and comfy just the same.  These worked with skirts and pants, including a crazy pair of denims with gauzy fabric around the calf....totally cool for a third grader with a firefly cell phone...since mom had a long commute...and Bon needed to be able to call her brother....and her mom and dad.

These were a very pedestrian pair of Pumas.  I don't identify heavily with these, I'm having trouble weaving them into the fabric of our lives (!)  Can't complain about the straightforward canvas of it all and have to love the red.

Continuing the colorful sneaker trend, we have a Princeton-influenced choice:  orange.  Minimal, cool for the summer and, by the end,  worn straight through the heel.  

The three season leather boat shoe.  Hipsterism and millenials breathe life into the Sperry brand,  not your farther's boat anymore.  They are in mortal combat with Chuck Taylor, to see who can produce the largest number of variations on a theme....Physically sturdy, too...to be sure.  When the kid buys a second pair after the first drops dead, that's comfort.

Yikes.  Sweet to start, but these were the herringbones from hell, by the time the saga was done.  Muted fall colors in a comfortable, minimal design.  Bonnie literally wore these into the sidewalk. Notice that the shoe has a left foot pinkie bunion.  She still mourns for them.  Alas, we roam the earth looking for a worthy replacement...

A higher fashion introduction of my beloved blue suede clogs to the disco era.  I loved these and they still work (although the size of my foot has moved on, after two children).  Contacting those who wish to recreate 1975...