Sometimes, Ya Just Gotta Have Those Shoes!

Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that Jean recently started wearing flat Skechers slip-ons this summer. She paired them with black and white patterned socks above. She needed a change of pace from her trademark customized Dankso clogs with platform soles. While the Skechers were comfy, they looked a little too sporty for some occasions.

She'd noticed these spiffy black leather Jil Sander "Navy" platform slip-ons on Solestruck's website for $314.95, but isn't one to buy shoes online. Having had total foot reconstruction on both feet, Jean has to try shoes on because invariably what feels great on the left foot makes the right foot want to scream, and vice versa.

Imagine her surprise when she recently stopped into one of her favorite East Village consignment shops to see the very same shoes which were IN HER SIZE and which were ON SALE for less than 1/3 of the online price! When Jean tried them on and walked around the store, neither of her feet seemed stuck with nails or otherwise crippled in pain. Was this God's way of telling her to buy these shoes? Not one for philosophical discussion when it comes to bargain hunting, Jean is a woman of action. She bought those little suckers and brought them home.

Once she got them home and started to wear them around the apartment to break them in, however, she noticed that they were a little big and her heels seemed to slip out of the shoes when walking quickly. Egad!  Was this another one of those daydreams gone wrong?

Jean noticed the tab at the heel of each of the shoes -- a loop of leather with a chrome logo -- and thought it might provide the perfect anchor for an ankle strap.

Ah, she thought, where would one find ankle straps?  Ever resourceful (she was a Girl Scout, for heaven sake),  Jean bought two small dog collars to use as ankle straps.  In this case, Champion Breed adjustable black nylon collars for Toy dogs (8"-11") from K-Mart did the trick.  And they even had a silver metal loop (to affix a dog tag), to match the silver disc at the back of the shoe.

To compensate for the slightly large size, she added some extra cushiony Dr. Scholl's insoles in a fetching aqua blue for contrast.

Voila!  Success!  The customized version of her Jil Sander shoes now fit like a glove.

An added plus? Note the extra padding in the heel of the insole to make clunking around on New York cement sidewalks and pavement just that much more comfortable.

Jean is already on the lookout for dog collars in additional colors. Stay tuned, dear readers, for the official debut of Jean's new footwear (this was the unofficial debut) in an upcoming post.  Til then, keep on truckin'!