The problem started many years ago when I so badly wanted a pair of the Black Patent Manolo Blahnik Mary Jane’s I could actually taste it.  It was all Sex and City’s fault of course.  They introduced me to shoes I could never afford at that point in my life.  It was a desperate time that is now behind me.  Well, I choose to ignore the fact that I should not be buying some of the shoes I do buy so decided to put it behind me.

In my crazy attempts at finding the perfect Mary Jane that I could afford, I purchased one or two or perhaps six or maybe more, I lost count, pairs, all of which were not quite right.  I did like each pair for one reason or another but they just didn’t compare to the shoes I truly wanted and felt needed.

It was a few years later when my friend Lauren sat me down and said “why don’t you just buy the Manolo’s?”  I was consistently coming home with another pair of black patent Mary Jane’s.  I couldn’t afford the ones I really wanted, I knew it, but I had probably spent about the same amount of money buying six (or more) other imitations that I could have actually purchased them in the first place.

I succumbed in November 2008 while in San Francisco.  I was in Nieman Marcus with Lauren at their very nice restaurant where we enjoyed a few glasses of wine.  Armed with a happy euphoria and Lauren’s Nieman’s card, we walked down to the shoe department.

Lauren, who by the way is a far worse or better, depending on how you look at it, shoe buyer than I am, purchased a pair of Manolo Mary Jane’s for herself and said to me… “if you want them I will buy them on my card and you can pay me back!”   I did want them and I did pay her back.  After the Manolo purchase there was no looking back with regards to my need for expensive shoes.

I kept them in my closet in order to only wear for special occasions.  They were my first real pair of designer shoes after all.  I realized a few years later that was just silly so I ended up wearing them constantly and loved doing so as you can see… they are so worn now.  It was such a thrill to be wearing designer shoes to work.

Last year I broke the heel in half while walking to work and was devastated.  I took them to Nieman’s like a wounded kitten and begged them to help me even though they were already three years old.  They did and didn’t charge me a penny.  How is that for customer service!  They even told me Manolo himself fixed the heel.  How true that is I am not sure but I like to tell the story.

So, what to do with the other four pairs I still have left?  One pair is a keeper (still relatively new), one pair needs to be trashed and the other two pairs will have to be donated.  The Manolo’s, even though they are old and worn are keepers.