the tango shoe post, pt. 3

Hell yes.



Also, I've been wanting these for about 6 months, now, and have successfully resisted purchasing them. However, my willpower for not buying new tango shoes is growing thin, especially as the Tucson Tango Festival is happening next week, and I will be able to try on several pairs in my size.

One can never have too many Comme il Fauts . . . but one can have too many debts on one's credit card. Sigh.

things I like this week, vol. 23

Venetian Carnivale Masks. One more reason to move to Italy.

. . .

The opening lines of T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland - a worthy choice for a literary tattoo.

. . .

The flash of red beneath the black - so sexy. Even if I had no idea that the sole was a status symbol.

shoe porn and other tidbits

I realized when I was straightening my closet yesterday that all my really expensive, pretty shoes were stuck in their bags (Comme il Fauts have their own bi-sectioned satin bags, did I mention?) and thrown in the bottom of my closet, while my less important pairs were displayed on the shelf.


Not so anymore. Next to each other like that, it's harder to believe I've spent $600 on tango shoes in the last year (most of it was from bonuses of one kind or another, but still).

So, so worth it.

Also, it’s not your imagination or a trick of the camera that makes that closet look pink. It is pink. The whole house was that awful color when we moved in, and we had to fight to get all the rooms painted . . . they of course didn’t bother with the closets.

. . .

Remember that post I made about Kate’s wedding, and how I suspected the dress design was stifled by the queen’s rules? Here’s an article by Rita Wilson (that’s Tom Hanks’ wife) about the dressing requirements for meeting the queen of England. Fucking insane.

. . .

Ernest Hemingway has been floating around a lot lately. First Colin brought home For Whom the Bell Tolls on the same day that I checked out The Paris Wife from the library (a great read, by the way), and now I stumble across a great series of photos.



This is my favorite; he's the one one the right. Here are the rest.

things I like this week, vol. 11

In honor (and in irony) of the forecast being 110 today.

* * *

The world remains beautiful and terrible at the same time, and either way, I know it doesn’t care what I think or feel about it. There are things to do to help others, and there are things that may never change. But if I learned anything from all of this, it’s my first, oldest lesson as a reader: There is always going to be a book that saves you.

From "I, Reader," by Alexander Chee

* * *

I heart Michelangelo.






Especially since, not only was he good, he managed to insult people while doing it.

* * *

So pretty. Although, next time I buy shoes, I need to get something outside of the black/beige/gold/silver neutral family. It's just silly, otherwise.

* * *

All different patterns, made out of gourds.

* * *

Pretty houses in Buenos Aires, with gorgeous wood floors. Stolen from the facebook albums of friends luckier than I.

the tango shoe post pt. 2

So the first tango shoe post had me scouring the internet for pictures I could use, and (of course) in the process I came across a few pairs I wanted.

I caved today and put a deposit down on these.



They're a special production: larger in the toe box and regular in the heel (which is exactly what I need with my freakish feet, and is pretty hard to come by). They're also a regular leather, which should last me quite awhile, and nude shoes are always sexy (even though the background for this shot isn't as flattering as it could be.) And I needed something slightly more practical than what I currently own.

I had hemmed and hawed awhile about these, but after today I decided I needed some motivation to finish the school year. I'll pay the rest of the cost the day I finish my grades for the semester, so that I have something to look forward to. They'll be winging their way to me quite soon after that.

Compared to the recent birthday splurge of a friend (a convertible Audi to replace her recently-sold SUV), two hundred dollar dance shoes seem like a perfectly reasonable reward.

the tango shoe post

by me, with Tom's camera

So one of the major problems (I say problems facetiously) with tango is that, at least for most women, it forces you to spend exorbitant amounts of money on tango shoes.

Much of what is pretty about tango, to the onlookers, is the feet of the dancers. There's a very specific style of foot movement that goes with the dance (not just the steps, which is something different all together). The weight is nearly always on the ball of one foot, and the one that isn't bearing weight, especially if still, is usually tilted to the inside edge. That edge will often be brushed along the floor or sometimes along a partner's leg or shoe.

Like so. From Comme Il Faut Tango Shoe Addicts Non-Anonymous Group on facebook (hereafter, Addicts)

What this means, then, is that your feet have to be pretty to look at. It's a truth--though perhaps a slightly depressing one--that I (for one, although I think this is a general truth) am much less likely to enjoy watching you dance if you're wearing plain and/or ugly shoes, no matter how good of a dancer you are.

I got my first pair of Comme Il Faut (more on them in a minute) last November. All the sudden, my dancing improved quite a bit. For one, I was more aware of what I was doing with my feet, which meant I was making more elegant movements (or so I'm flattering myself). For another, it was much easier to dance in them than in the ancient character shoes I had worn before.

Purchased from, and photo by, Felina Shoes

They don't look this pretty anymore, mostly because the flour we spread on the concrete floors to make them danceable turns the suede grey, even after I brush them as clean as I can get them.

They're easier to dance in for a few reasons. One, the sole is incredibly flexible, which is important. Try taking a pair of street heels and bending the toe up. Most of them are about as flexible as blocks of wood (and you can see what this does to one's dancing when you see people foolishly trying to move in them). Two, they're soled in leather so that you can slide and turn on a dance floor (rubber doesn't let you turn). Three, because of the pitch of the shoe, you're already balanced on your toes, which is where you're going to be while dancing tango anyway.

Those are the practical reasons. The other, huge reason is that they're just damn sexy. Observe:

From Addicts.

My photo, at the Tucson Tango Festival.

Also by me.

All of the shoes in this post, incidentally, are Comme Il Faut. Long before I even really knew how to tango, I knew that Comme was the top of the line as far as women's tango heels go. (I don't recall how I found this out--probably a Google exploration). There are a few other big names, but Comme has achieved a cult status similar to Jimmy Choo or Christian Louboutin in the real world.

They're handmade in Argentina, for one thing. They're also made quite well; I've heard stories of people teaching in the same pair for 8 hours a day for years on end. The designs are infinitely sexier than almost all of the other tango shoes I've seen. They're also almost cheeky in their design choices, using extensive embellishments or unusual material or color combinations. Nearly all of their heels are a stilleto (instead of the much less graceful Louis heel).

They've also worked very hard to maintain an air of exclusivity. They only make 30 pairs of each design, so it's rare that you'll come across someone with the same pair as you. They don't let their retailers post full pictures of their shoes online to keep others from stealing their designs (this is also why I've had a bit of trouble finding the pictures I wanted for this post). I have heard, although I can't confirm, that their boutique in Buenos Aires has only about five pairs in a display case; instead of browsing their selection, you tell them what you're looking for and they go back and bring out pairs they think you'll like. It's also rumored that they only bring out the best pairs for the most stylish women.

Another nice thing about their designs is that they take into account the fact that the heels are most often seen from behind, so they'll often embellish the back of the heel cage.

From Addicts.

Also from Addicts.

Part of tango fashion also seems to be picking up some color or pattern in the heels and echoing it in your outfit.

Jennifer Richard photography (hereafter, JR). Worth clicking to view the larger image.

My photo, again at the festival. Also check out the lace pair in the background.

One of my favorite pairs I've seen is below, worn by one of the instructors at the Tango Festival, Naomi Hotta.

At rest:

JR

In motion:

JR

JR

Something about the harlequin pattern, especially worn with such a simple outfit, seemed so fun and elegant at the same time.

Looking over this post, I'm not sure that I've explained quite well enough why I--and so many other women--drop $200 or more on these shoes without a second thought, or why one pair is simply not sufficient. At any rate, I'll leave you with a shot of my second pair. They weren't what I was looking for--I wanted some in regular leather, so that I could wear them on a floured floor and not worry about ruining them, perhaps with some of those scrolls on the back--but these were so pretty that I couldn't pass them up.

My photo.