These Boots Were Made for Talking

I’m not a pack rat.  I’m fairly good at sorting through the clutter so that my 1950’s colonial (with closets built for that decade) isn’t overwhelmed with junk.  I know the rule of any good organizer is that if you go a year or two without wearing something, it should be tossed.  This is why I fell into despair when a pair of black pleather boots I’ve owned since my business school days were torn this winter.  In my opinion, these boots are irreplaceable.  They carried me through some of the best years of my life.  What other $40 boots look chic enough to wear with a black cocktail dress, yet are comfortable enough to dance in all night at a club in the Meat Packing District?   There isn’t much of New York City they haven’t covered.  I wore them to work in Mid Town, to dates on the Upper West Side, to the ballet at Lincoln Center, to school in Morningside Heights, to brunch in Soho, and to roam on the Upper Eastside after that fateful September 11^th.  Both of my daughters have played dress up in these boots – it’s quite funny to watch a two year old try to zip up an 18” boot on her 14” leg. 

Though my address has changed several times in the past decade, they hadn’t until one icy evening this winter when I fell on the way home from an evening out with friends.  As my legs slipped out from under me, my impulse was to protect myself, not my boots.  I’d thought they were indestructible.  I didn’t even realize that there was a large gash in the left boot until a week later when I put them on again.   

Because the boots are irreparable, they cannot be added to the very small pile in my closet that is kept for special occasions.  This pile includes a cowboy hat (although I wore it on a ski trip out West, it has also come in handy as a centerpiece for bbqs at my house), an airbrushed t-shirt that bears my name (great for ‘80s theme parties), and a bridesmaid dress that looked good on me the first time I wore it and could double as a prom party dress if I ever need one.  No, they fall into the category that my favorite black cotton dress fell into.  It was the perfect travel dress for the many backpacking adventures I took in my 20s – from France and Italy to Turkey, Thailand and Vietnam.  It doubled as a bathing suit cover up by day and a nice outfit for dinner at night.  It never wrinkled and it fit me just right.  After an accidental washing in a load with bleach, it was ruined and I tossed it out – a regret to this day.

I know it’s time to upgrade to a pair of real leather boots, but parting with these boots would be like parting with a big chunk of my history.  I considered bronzing them.  I had this done to each of my children’s first pair of walking shoes.  But, I don’t have a shelf large enough to display such a tremendous work of art.  This is why I’ve created an addendum to my rules of closet organization.  If I’ve worn something for 10 years or more, it gets a lifetime spot in my closet no matter what shape it’s in.  Who knows, the value of these boots may not yet have been realized.  Perhaps they’ll come in handy late in my life when my memory needs a jog.