The shoes in the photo above were made for a girl by Chicco Ruiz, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They bear tiny pennants in metallic fabric. This photo was taken late at night as my boyfriend and I were wandering the streets Palermo, a neighbourhood there.I haven't been having any shoe dreams lately; this could be because life is sort of like a dream. Vacation was like a dream. And the shoes I encountered in Bs As were accordingly dreamlike. Now I can only think of real shoes, living on in a place where I am no longer!
Chicco Ruiz's shop (Thames 1780) was but one example of the simple gorgeousness that seems to be part of daily life in Buenos Aires. A living wall replete with plants on one side and decked out with antiques on the other, it was like a chic, enchanted cabin. The window display was of children's shoes--including the smallest pair of brown leather sandals the world has seen--in bird cages, set on top of aluminum that reflected all the lights outside...dim streetlamps and headlights of cars whooshing past. Drivers in Bs As aren't so much assertive (as we say here) as courageous and in a hurry.
On another street in the same barrio was Mishka. Here were the shoes I needed on my feet. Peeking into the window at night, I decided to return the next day and buy at least two pairs. I did, and brought them home in pink flocked shoe boxes. I've never seen shoes like these before: inventive, unusual, practical and pretty all at once. (This happy customer knows what I'm talking about.) Viva Industria Argentina!
In total I bought four pairs of shoes, if you don't count the slippers. The other two pairs are amazing: electric blue oxfords with a woven toe-box, and golden flats with a sparkly, crackled finish. These I got at Bottana, which is on a beautiful street parallel to the zoo in Palermo, or near Recoleta. Honestly, I wasn't quite sure where I was for 10 days. Right now, I can't find Bottana's website, but I can tell you that I just got lost again gazing for 10 minutes at a Google map of Buenos Aires.
Since I got back I've just been retracing my footsteps. Before you get the wrong idea, shoes were but a tiny fraction of everything that is charming there, and were certainly not a big priority for me. But, it is shoe central.
And for one million reasons, I now have a tiny, gleaming pennant waving in my heart from being there.
