F%*k Me Pumps…

I have a thing for shoes.  Not quite a fetish, but close.  I used to have lots and lots and lots…  before I got pregnant and developed duck feet.  ‘Cause after you’ve had a baby, your feet aren’t the same size.  If you look at my feet when they’re not touching the ground, they look fine, I won’t say dainty, but with a nice toe polish they look… fine.  Then I actually put weight on them and – ta-da! – DUCK FEET.  They spread.  They’re not webbed or anything, but they DO have a slightly flipper-like quality to them now.  I think that this is on account of the fact that I gained 50 lbs with Rissa.  Bad idea.  For so many reasons.  The duck feet are only one of those reasons.

One of my favourite books as a child

I should take a survey of women who gained, say only 20 lbs, with their pregnancies, and ask them about their feet.  Like everyone in my Mom’s generation.  Because, there were decades and decades when you were only allowed to gain 20 lbs with your pregnancy.  And then all hell broke loose.  When I asked my midwife how much weight I should gain, she said “Well, some women gain 15 lbs and grow a healthy baby and some gain 60 lbs.”  Which end of the spectrum did she think I would choose?  Bring on the mini buttermilk donuts!!  Bad choice.  Bad choice.

I try to keep my mouth shut with advice for pregnant women.  Let them have their own experience.  Let them own it.  Don’t scare the crap out of them with your harrowing birth stories.  Except for this:  I tell every pregnant woman I see, “DON’T GAIN 50 POUNDS!!!”  It took me 4 years to lose that weight.  Rissa was a big baby – she weighed 9 lbs, but that, plus placenta and other crap really only amounts to 15 lbs or so.  Which left me with another 35 to lose.  Which, I think, is why I now have duck feet.  And I’m telling you this because it explains why I had to pretty much throw out all my old shoes and replenish my collection.  Which I am still doing, 12 YEARS after Rissa was born.

Today I bought three pairs of shoes!  It was a really good day.  And before anyone gets all “discretionary spending’ on me, the three pairs cost me $130 in total, so just shut up.

See, what I was looking for, was either a pair of Scarlet-Coloured F%*k Me Pumps OR a kick-ass sexy dress.  Here’s why: I’m workshopping my vampire rock opera next week in Toronto.  There is a showcase performance on the last day and I have to be in front of a crowd and I don’t just want to look good, I want people to salivate.  It’s a vampire rock opera, so I should look a little bit vampire-y, right?  I thought “Hey, a pair of red F%*k Me Pumps would help solidify a vampire look.  I could wear a black something and then have some va-va-voom on my feet.” 

So a while back, I started the search.  There are expensive shoes and there are cheap shoes.  I don’t have a lot of extra money, so I prefer the cheap shoes.  Problem with most cheap shoes?  They really hurt your feet.  I tried on the cheap, skanky near-fetish shoes and they were crap.  $40, but really crap, and I couldn’t imagine wearing them for more than 5 minutes before wanting to amputate at the ankle.  Then there are the expensive shoes and I’m sorry, but I cannot spend $165  (ON SALE down from $300!!!) on a pair of shoes that might not be worn more than once, just for effect.

But this afternoon?  This afternoon I found Scarlet-Coloured F%*k Me Platform Stilettos!!!   I’m pretty sure that I’m 6 feet tall in these shoes!!!  And they cost $29 and change!!  Because they were from Payless AND they were on sale,  AND they had a rub on the back of one heel for which I got another 15% off!!! BOO-FREAKIN-YEAH!   PLUS (but wait there’s more!) I got a pair of Black satin (esque) (it was Payless after all) peep-toe sling-backs in case I can’t learn to walk in the Scarlet-Coloured F%*k Me Platform Stilettos by next week AND (oh yes I did!!!) a pair of black satin (esque) kitten heels with fancy-schmancy pleats of fabric on the toes!!!

May never be worn outside the bedroom

Just imagine these with bright red toe nails!

Fabric detail on the kitten heels.

The first pair were the ones I ‘needed’ to buy.  The second pair were the emergency pair that will show off blood-red vampire-y toe nail polish in case I can’t walk in the first pair.  And the third pair?  Was because I WANTED them.  I’ve been looking for vintage-style kitten heels for two years and I these were them.  They are perfect.  They look like they’re straight out of the 50s and are perfect for my vintage addiction.  Yes, I could have bought the $15 cheaper plain kitten heels, but I did not,  and you know why?  Because the nicer ones were only $39.99 and I knew, that even buying ALL THREE PAIRS of shoes, I would still be spending less than if I had bought ONE PAIR of expensive shoes.  Yes folks, tt’s Heather Logic – Hard to follow and nearly impossible to argue with.