Prada yes, painfree no.

Let’s get this straight, I’m not a label whore, I don’t buy into brands just because they’re big names or expensive, in fact I’m actually a late adopter with most things in life. By the time naval piercings were seen on the ‘not so hot’ lists in magazines I decided to get mine done. By the time everyone started to swerve leggings, I went out and bought some, after spending about a year spouting about ‘not buying a fashion item because I remembered it from the first time around’. 'Jelly' shoes and bags get thee behind me, you live in the 80s not the now.

No, I don’t just buy things because there’s a name attached or a kudos associated with them. So ‘back in the day’ when my friends were swanning around airports dragging their overly badged Prada luggage behind them, I wasn’t moved in the slightest and stuck with my trusty Samsonite.

And then it happened. As an apology for keeping my husband in Russia for longer than anticipated in order to do more DJ gigs, a promoter who we shall just call ‘D’, bought me a Prada purse. To be fair just like any other purse, it carried coins, notes and cards, it didn’t have any super powers and other than the little red ‘Prada’ label, it just looked like a nice purse. A nice purse that oozed quality and class and said 'Prada' on it, yeah baby! I bought in to that little slice of exclusivity for a while and I loved that purse for a good number of years until it, just like all other purses that enter your life, one day it passed away.

Its ability to carry coins, notes and cards ceased and suddenly it stopped being a purse, suddenly it became a grubby piece of leather with a zip and an expensive red tag. Just as candles that never burn are only lumps of wax with a string through the middle, when something does not perform the task for which it was acquired, it’s a cuckold in your life and it needs to move on. Its presence only stops you from allowing other good things in to the space that is currently occupied, you become rooted in its past and not your present.

My love affair with the purse ended but I remembered the pleasure it gave me so when these Prada shoes became available on ebay I jumped at paying a fraction of the original cost and allowed them into my wardrobe and my heart, a space they have occupied for some time. They are a lovely shoe with an exaggerated buckle that hangs cheekily to the front of the foot, the all important pointy toe and teeny heel meant these shoes accompanied me to work on a number of occasions, though them being brown meant I had to go out and buy a whole new outfit to match. Go on be honest how many of you have bought clothes to match your ‘must have’ shoes? No, really? I should get my mom reading these blogs then I know I wouldn’t be alone.

With some sadness I have decided that these shoes are going back from whence they came, to the great ebay in the sky. I tried them on a few days ago when I took them out of the wardrobe for their photoshoot and the ever present throb and burn in the left foot was turned up to ‘11’ like Nigel Tufnel’s* Marshall stack. ‘That’s one louder, innit?’

Prada yes, painfree no. I think I'll stick to my trusty Merrels, where the strap line could be ‘For the hobbit in you’ or ‘For when your foot is as wide as it is long’.

Sigh......


*Spinal Tap guitarist.