Saddle up!

{1936 LIFE)

It's no secret that I completely adore shoes, but I've noticed these last couple of years, shoes don't seem to love my feet. Perhaps its that I've spoiled myself with the comfort of  flip flops and trainers, but your average shoe -- not sneaker, sandal, heel, or whathaveyou -- just isn't as comfortable or durable as I'd like it to be. And when they're comfortable, they aren't so fashion-friendly. This all got me to thinking of how things used to be. When folks didn't have 30, 50, or 200 pairs of shoes. They had a few, were well-made, and cared for. Tapping into that resourceful line of reasoning, my mind wandered back to the saddle shoe. Quintessentially "vintage America", saddles harken back to a less wasteful time in American history, a time when people used what they had until they couldn't repair it again...and even then, it was probably passed to someone who would use it anyway. (Heck, even the poorest man during the Great Depression wore a hat when he could.)

I grew up close to my grandparents and, as children of the Depression, nothing, NOTHING in their home was wasted. I rather think we could all learn a little something from our not-so-distant past and take a lesson in being resourceful. Personally, I'd like to continue to work on purging the unnecessary from my life -- paring it down to versatile, practical, and functional essentials (plus a handful of things I love just to spice everything up a bit.) Even though I'm at that "paring down" stage, I truly need to have a single pair of shoes that are cute, durable, and versatile to wear throughout the year. So here it is: the saddle shoe. Willits classic saddle shoes, white with black saddle, hard, ruddy rubber soles.With a shoe that's been in style, albeit in varying degrees, since the 1930s, I can't lose. I can't wait for them to arrive!

Sure wish they still cost $2.85.

{1941 Sears Catalog found here}