old, nasty, unstable character shoes. These have withstood two full runs of Barksdale Theatre’s summer musicals. I wore them for “Guys and Dolls” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie” during the past two summers. They miraculously survived the entire run of both shows - then the costumers let me buy the poor things for $16 (a steal for character shoes in this day and age…) They have done me well, but it was time to move on…

These… are the shoes. New, beautiful, stable, legit, character shoes. Sigh. I sucked it up, and made an investment. I have decided I deserve the real thing! There is one Laduca store in all of Manhattan - just big enough to give you what you came for. With exposed brick along the walls and dark maroon/gold painted wood detail makes for a classy, old book store environment - perfect for trying on the nicest shoes I have ever purchased. Upon my arrival, the super nice, flamboyant man behind the counter gave me his full attention. They even put a slab of dark green velvet fabric on top of the wood floor in order to protect the surface of the bottom of the shoe. After two frantic calls to each of my parents, I felt better about taking the plunge. Something about the process made me desperate for someone to give me the okay: I needed that person saying, “you need this” in order for me to hand over the cash.

As I was telling my mother…. it feels like wearing those paper flip flops (the ones you get after a pedicure) around the streets of New York city for 10 hours, then putting on a pair of the best running shoes you can find, and walking down the block. They’re that good.

I… really… own these…