back in october 2004, everyone was raving over balenciaga’s s/s 2005 collection. it was partially inspired by a 1958 balenciaga original and “by all things liquid,” according to nicolas ghesquiere. the mostly navy and gold collection had great cocktail dresses, loose shorts and jackets, gold buttoned sailor pants, and spiral zippered skirts.
oh and the shoes. navy leather gladiator sandals with the chunky gold zipper that went to the ankle or almost to the knee. i knew i wanted these shoes.
in san franciso, the only store to carry balenciaga shoes is susan. so i preordered them, and when they came in, they retailed for over $1,000. nope, i said, too impractical. in june 05, i went into susan again, and they were marked down. i tried them on, pondered them, and said no again.
a few weeks ago, as i was scouring on ebay, i found them. i put them on my watch list. right before the auction ended, i placed a bid and was the high bidder…for about 10 seconds. someone outbid me. we went back and forth and finally i gave up. maybe i wasn’t meant to have the shoes.
a day or two after the auction ended, i got an email from the seller. she said she might be able to procure another pair and since i was the runner-up, would i be interested. YES! i said, not hesitating for a second. how many times do you get a second third chance?
so may i present to you…