No-Tory-ous

I don't think I've ever done this before. I am officially retiring something from my wardrobe. Now I don't for a second pretend to be some trend-setting gal who has ever been the first in "discovering" anything and then tosses it aside the minute its ubiquity reaches critical mass. That's just not the way I operate, or how I choose to classify myself. That said, I know what I like and one of the many things that I do like is not being a clone.

Oh, Tory Burch flats. We had a good ride. I got you in February of 2007, and was so excited for your very existence that I wrote a story about it. About you, and me, and how we found each other. You were orange, gold, comfortable and chic. You were well-made, and seemed like a pair of shoes for the ages. You look great with skinny jeans. Your punchy color is a great cure for the style blahs. You caused an elderly Polish woman to mistake me for Judy Garland! Back when we first met, I didn't even know who Tory Burch was. I didn't know what that gold medallion-ish thingie was all about. But boy howdy I do now, because you are everywhere.

I step outside, and you are on the feet of half the ladies I see. It's just a little too much to handle; I do not wish to appear to belong to some specific tribe. Worse still are the knock-offs that I also see. But worst of all is my own close-mindedness about the others I see wearing them. Do you see someone wearing a certain pair of shoes or carrying a certain bag and you just sort of jump to a radical conclusion about what kind of person they are? Call me shallow, superficial or horrifically out of touch, but on that front I am guilty as charged.

I am retiring you, my TB flats, and might bring you out again one day five years from now when everything old is new once again. You are going the way of Uggs and Juicy sweatsuits (two trends I never got on board with but was still very judgemental about), and I'm getting off this merry-go-round here and now, while it is still safe enough to jump.

RIP, my dear TB flats. We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day.