[156/365] Adventures in Shopping

[cosmolinguist]

Me: *buys a new sun hat because the one I had is too femme*

Also me: *notices on the bus on the way home that the new backpack I also bought, which looked red in the store, is in fact bright pink*

Ah well.

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Had to get my third-choice Father's Day card for my dad, too, because the first two featured British words or ideas that I wasn't sure he'd understand or that I was sure he wouldn't. I remember this being a Thing in previous years too. Greeting cards are funny things.

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I got Andrew a pair of sandals, so for the first time since I met him he has more shoes than feet. He always used to say "I only have one pair of feet so I only need one pair of shoes!" I've tried to explain the compromises between comfort and suitability for different purposes that lead me to have as many pairs of shoes as I do, and I have relatively few for someone presenting as a woman, but he's always been baffled.

But now his feet swell sometimes which makes his autistic super-sensitive skin even more sensitive but also makes his feet even less likely to fit comfortably into his shoes. So he's been walking on the backs of his nice slip-on Clarks brogues rather than putting them on properly in the house, which wrecks them and also leads to things like him nearly falling at the top of the stairs. I said "They make shoes that protect the bottoms of your feet and don't cover the tops, they're called sandals." It was a revelation for him. The sandals seem to be working out; I'm really glad of that.

Comments

[lilysea]

I currently own two pairs of shoes: the shoes I wear every day; and a pair of hiking boots in the wardrobe that I last wore in 2011 or 2012...

[angelofthenorth]

It's not the raspberry coloured vango rucksack is it? I got one of them a couple of weeks ago.

[cosmolinguist]

It is raspberry colored. :) I don't know what brand it is.

[jesse_the_k]

<3

[nou]

I have three pairs of shoes:

• a pair of Crocs for walking/standing in the house (to stave off plantar fasciitis)
• another pair of Crocs for going in the garden (so I can just slip them on quickly instead of taking time to put on my boots and so I don’t track dirt into the house via my walking-in-the-house Crocs)
• a pair of walking boots for leaving the house

My walking boots are carefully chosen to not look like trainers, so I can wear them in restaurants and other places that ban “casual” clothing.

[theandrewhickey]

Just in case anyone gets the wrong impression about this -- I don't think it's bad that Holly has multiple pairs of shoes, and I never do the "Women, huh, with their shoes and their hair..." man thing. I've just personally never had any need for multiple shoes.
A lot of time my baffled acceptance of things that other people find necessary can come across in text as being the patronising dismissal of the privileged. It's not that. People should have as many or few shoes as they see fit, nobody should be made to feel bad about their clothing choices, and it's utterly appalling that we live in a patriarchal society that means some people are penalised by their gender or perceived gender and are forced to make choices they might not want to make.
(I know this is probably over explaining things, but I just *really* don't want anyone thinking Holly has to put up with someone acting like a 1960s sitcom husband rolling his eyes at how long it takes "the wife" to get changed or something).

[cosmolinguist]

Aw, I'm sorry if it came off sounding that way. I was just trying to describe how utterly novel an occurrence this was for you. :)

[theandrewhickey]

Wasn't complaining about how you said it. Just that I could easily see it as being read that way.

[softfruit]

I've always (well, you know, since 16 or something) thought I needed 2 pairs minimum not one - so when one pair falls apart I can wear the other pair to go and buy some more. One pair feels like living dangerously :D

[theandrewhickey]

I always wait until they're falling apart, go when they're *just about* to become unwearable, and stick the old pair in the recycling straight away.

[moem]

Shoes will last longer (in total wearing time) if they're allowed to rest (= dry) for a day between each time they're worn and the next. So there is a very good rational reason for having two pairs of shoes and swapping them out every day. It's frugal.

I have a lot more shoes than is rational. I have shoes for several occasions (dressy, every day, hot weather, hiking, and work) and for each of these at least two pairs. I do not spend a lot on shoes; I generally buy them second foot or when there is a sale.

If your feet are on the smaller side for an adult, you can often buy shoes that teenagers have grown out of, and they are usually hardly worn and in great shape. That's how I get all my expensive hiking shoes (Lowa) and sandals (Keen). I wear them with my own custom made insoles anyway, so it doesn't bother me, and Keens can even be machine washed.

[momentsmusicaux]

I have about four pairs of shoes. I have my everyday boots, two pairs of converse (red and blue) that I wear when it's warm, some Chelsea boots that are handy if I'm just popping out to the shops and I can't be bothered to do shoelaces. And wellies. And an older pair of the same model as my everyday boots, with the laces removed, that I just slip on to take the bins out or go in the front garden.

And slippers too!