TUESDAY SHOESDAY – PEWTER IS THE NEW BLACK?

Some folks believe that fashion is all about trends, but fashion is really about freedom.

When I was a young girl living in the projects in the 1980’s, my aunt used to give me all of her recycled fashion magazines. 

Seventeen. Vogue.  Mademoiselle. Glamour. Cosmopolitan.  

Those magazine editors were probably under the impression that  they were just introducing today’s style to the world, but what they were doing was reiterating the fact that it’s ok to be fashionably-free. 

I used the little money I earned from summer and after school jobs and purchased affordable clothes and shoes that were similar to the ones I saw in those magazines and created a style of my own.  

Yes...I still have this skirt that I purchased somewhere between 1987-1988.

When Vogue said it was the season of the hounds tooth pencil skirt – I strutted, in my skirt, through a sea of tight biker shorts, down the project streets, to the bus stop.

When Glamour said the classic pump was being reintroduced to the masses - I sashayed, in my pumps,  past waves of  red, white and black Air Jordan tennis shoes,  from the bus stop to job interviews.

When Mademoiselle said the blazer was the hottest new addition to any ensemble - I strolled, wearing my blazer,  past mountains of Adidas tracksuits, to those job  interviews that create a path that would lead me out of those housing projects.

Biker shorts, Air Jordan tennis shoes & Adidas tracksuits all played an important role in fashion history, but I had to create my own history.

I enjoyed these magazines for entertainment.

I flipped the pages & gazed over beautiful pieces of clothing.

I purchased reasonable facsimiles of these pieces.

I added my own personal touches to these items.

I embraced individuality in a place where individuality was not always embraced.

Almost thirty years later, I'm still happily dictating my own fashion destiny.

Exhibit #1:  These unusual Pewter booties by Unlisted.

 

                          My creative daughter, Erica's bedroom wall serves as the backdrop.

My wonderful husband, Mark, purchased these cuties as a Christmas gift for me.

He has become very familiar with his wife’s eclectic taste.

Everyone has a fashion history.

Please feel free to share yours in the comment’s section below.