jamelah e.

red patent, repurposed

I have this pair of red patent leather shoes. I bought them a little over four years ago to wear to a wedding, and I danced in them all night long. (Except for when a friend and I took ridiculous Polaroids of ourselves and hid them in the bride’s hotel room, that is.) Since then, I’ve worn them a lot. I’ve worn them on dates, I’ve worn them on boring days in the office. I’ve worn them while I was balancing on the edge of my bathtub. But earlier this year, the buckle on the right one broke and I couldn’t keep it on my foot (which was fun, since it happened on my way to an 8:30 a.m. meeting and I was stuck in them all day long), and I haven’t worn them since. They’ve been sitting on the floor by the back door, and I’ve known that it was time to throw them away, but I couldn’t ever bring myself to do it.

They’re old, they’re incredibly worn out, the inside has started peeling away, the leather is scuffed and cracked and worn. (How is it that some women are able to keep a pair of shoes looking nice forever? Don’t they ever walk in them?) They’re not even presentable anymore. It’s time for them to go. And yet…