Like these:
Right now, in my closet, reside four pair of boots (oops, make that five), including a beloved pair of beat up cowboys it's going to rip my heart out to try and replace when they finally do the final dance of destruction, which, with any luck and the talents of my long-suffering cobbler (is that still a word?), won't happen until long after I'm dead, cremated, and scattered over Neiman's.
But these. These! I didn't even know I wanted them until The Pirate emailed me a month or so ago and told me she'd just scored a pair at Dillards for some fifty bazillion percent off and now they were hers, all hers! Hmmm . . . I thought. I don't have a pair of Frye Harness Boots . . .
Then two weeks ago I was placing an order at Amazon for a couple of novels I've been wanting to read. You know how when you go on Amazon and on the home page they welcome you by name AND include a short little list of books/CDs/perfumes, etc. that they think you'll be interested in? This time, Nina Garcia's The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own popped up. And it was only, like, a few bucks, so I tossed it in my cart.
Yesterday, basking in my post-Thanksgiving feast glow, S.B. in his chair watching the LSU/Arkansas game, Ivan snoozing in the sun, I tucked myself in for a long afternoon of do-nothing-but-read-on-the-sofa and, well, read the entire thing. And there, on page 94, #33 on Nina's list of 100, was, once again, the Frye Harness Boot.
Now, before you think I just run around drinking the fashion Kool-Aide from every corner lemonade stand in existence, know that there are a few things I have managed to avoid over the years that Nina also heartily recommends. Like caftans. And red lipstick. And aviator sunglasses. I'm a big girl. I totally grok to the difference between fashion pushover and to thine own self being true, I don't care how absolutely funny and charming Nina's writing is (And it IS! Who would have thunk it? You should go out and purchase the book for the lively writing alone, regardless of whether you are barely able to make it out of your pajamas and into a pair of Levis each morning. For instance, when extolling the virtues of having at least one A-line dress in our closets, thus speaks Nina: "Eat, ladies. For we always have the A-line.")
Anyway.
The question becomes: do I need a pair of Frye Harness Boots or do I not? I would be helping the economy, you know. Frye has been around since the mid 1800s and is one of the few American owned and operated shoe making operations in existence. No Chinese melamine in them soles.
19 comments:
If you're sure they're not made in China or by muslibs, I say buy them. It's a tad confuzzling to me who actually owns Frye Boots these days. And whether any or all of them are made by Mericans.
A "pioneer in shoe importing" Jimlar Company, apparently owns Frye now.
http://www.jimlar.com/history.html
By all means, get those great boots and it might be worth it to go ahead and order the whip...S.B. will love it.
I have a pair of these in mules. Love. Them. I also have THIS pair in brown. Love.Them. Too. The mules aren't so heavy, and are easier to take off. I bought them 3 years ago and your post has told me what I told myself back then; they are classic, they will never go out of style. I bought a pair of new black leather boots on Wednesday.... not so "rustic" as the Frye's. Why? Because they were practically giving them away ($50.00!!) Now go out there and stimulate that economy!!
And Happy Saturday post yams.
P.S. you can wear them in Feb. ;-)
Finally a pair of shoes I can get behind and on my feet.
LOVE. THEM.
(Must be the old school Lesbiaonic in me.)
Troll: Jimlar owns the company and maintains manufacturing plants throughout the world, including in China. However, according to U.S.stuff.com, Harness boots plus a couple other styles are all manufactured at the company's Arkansas plant.
DorisRose: I'm thinking more like a vintage Ducati or Triumph.
A.B.: Ooo, the brown is so pretty, too. Dang. Now I have to decide on color.
Shamu: OMG. Could it be that you and I have finally achieved Shoe Synchronicity?
I had to have a pair of Frye boots back in about 1976 when I was in high school. It was probably the most money (my mother) ever spent on my footwear--maybe about $80 (?). I thought recently it might be nice to have a pair again, although why, I'm not sure. It's not like they'd make the walk to the editing bunker any easier. And then I saw that the style I would have wanted would have cost around $300, which is more than I've spent on my entire wardrobe, including clothes and shoes, in about the last 3 years. Needless to say, no Frye boots. The most recent acquisition of a pair of nonsneakers I have is that of some Earth Shoes that an acquaintance of my son's left here . . . and since they are no longer in school together, the shoes are mine. But I don't think they are the real old-style Earth Shoes, with the heel lower than the rest.
Dahlink, vy do you eben ask?
Sweet pea, git on over to the local emporium forthwith an' get them boots!!
( Uncle still goes to a cobbler, so I reckon it is a word--along wif' ice box, and victrola)
Wait! What were the two novels?
Czar: One word, two syllables: eBay. Vintage and new styles come up for auction all the time.
Aunty: I'll do the eBay thing and see if I can't get a slightly better price. Oh, the novels! Thinks by David Lodge, which deals simultaneously with issues of fidelity and the meaning of human consciousness (so far, pretty good) and The Shadow of the Wind, recommended to me by a fellow blobber, a mystery about a book.
Those boots are OUT. STAND. ING.
There is always more room in the closet for boots. Always.
I think you only need the boots if you are v thin, feminine looking, willowy - then these boots would look okay. As for myself I would look like a bull dyke wearing them, nothing wrong with that if one is trying to look like a bull dyke but otherwise...how tall and willowy are you exactly?
ooh can't wait for Top Chef...i'm not saying my life is empty or anything like!
You must.
Meghan: There is always more room in the closet for boots. I need to cross stitch that on a pillow.
Emma: I'm tall. But I'm also pear-shaped. J-Lo hips and butt, never mind the fifty bazillion years of running. So I'd say it's 50/50 for me. Top Chef is da bomb. What do you think of the Euro Twins?
Java: From the cut to the chase imperativeness of that statement, I'd say you're a woman who's spent her share of time in shoe stores.
The Euro twins...luv em...I'd love to be the hot dog in between their baps!
ya know, you'll get nothing but support from anyone here. Methinks you've already decided!
I tried and tried to find them on sale - the best I could do was to find them on amazon for $20 less than dillards, and that was negated by the shipping expense. There are no cheap luxuries, my dear.
I bought the "tan" which is uh, not tan -- more of a chocolate.
I. loVe. them.
by the way you represented them when I axed you WTF will I wear them with I thought you already owned a pair, my dear!
it's destiny!
Moi, my vote is YES!
Any woman who feels compelled to write such an entertaining blog on this subject has surely earned herself a reward!
Get the boots....on the 50 bazillion discount .... and smile every time you don them !
Emma: I, too, have trouble separating food from sex.
Pirate: Huh. See, in my memory, I thought you had one of those coupons for a million dollars off. Which is good, now that I know you didn't, 'cause I can't find these things discounted anywhere. As for my already owning a pair, non. I just have many, many fantasy shoes and outfits in my head :o).
Fishy: I'm sweating an eBay bid as we speak!
Yes, we have acheived Shoe Synchronicity. I'm fairly certain it will not happen again. You are Java Junkie's twin sister of another mother. Me, I'd be happy with a great pair of Red Wings.
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