And your feet - and ankles - still hurt even when you wear them...
And when you arrive and are sitting in the meeting with the rest of the attendees and you surreptitiously check out their choice of shoes, you see that all the young women (most of whom are young enough to be your daughters) are wearing shoes that basically are the same kind of shoes you used to put on your Barbie dolls:
And not only are they wearing them, but they don't seem to be in pain or have any trouble walking in them...
And then it hits you. You will never be able to wear cool shoes like that again. You will never be in style again.
When you buy low-riding pants (formerly known as hip-huggers in your youth) they fall down when you try to walk, being pushed down by the weight of your stomach.
You can't wear regular jeans anymore because for some reason they are making them all just too tight in the waist. So you have to buy those jeans with the elastic stretchy panel in the waist in order for them to fit properly. This means you can't tuck in your shirts, so you wear overblouses.
And you top off the whole look - or should I say, bottom off the look? With orthopedic sandals.
Yes, middle age has arrived. You can't fight it. You might as well enjoy it and accept it for what it is.
The good part of middle age is you're no longer insecure, because you don't care anymore if you look great as long as your clothes are clean. Your husband loves you anyway and your friends and you have a great time together. The pressure is off and life is good. You feel better about yourself than you ever did back when you were 20-something, and you wouldn't go back to being that age for anything.
But once in awhile it would be nice to wear cool shoes.
11 comments:
Good way to look at middle age by being glad you don't have to fit into all those 20 something clothes.
Never looked at it that way before.
Guys have it so much easier.
So true!
I like your comfy sandals, btw, probably because i just bought a remarkably similar pair in blue by ecco. Barbie shoes never really interested me too much. ;-)
I wore a pair of high heels once, while walking along a city street the heel broke off one of them, so my husband knocked the other one against a stone fence until the heel fell off and I've stuck with flats ever since. And even with the supportive and flat shoes I STILL ended up with the back and knee pains that are supposed to come from the wearing of high heels.
The "Barbie" shoes don't really appeal to me either but apparently are all the rage now. My comfy sandals are actually not even quite as good looking as the ones I posted but SAS sandals are not sold on line so I couldn't find a picture of them! ;-) But they are comfortable!
River, thanks for the story about the heels of your sandals. Good thinking on your husband's part to take off the other one!
Yes, even though I switched to flats years ago, I developed all these problems, including bunions, anyway, long after I stopped wearing heels.
Merrills--the new-age old lady shoes. The first time I wore them--and this was years ago--a buff young male drug rep said "Cool, you're wearing Merrills." I'm not sure that sort of compliment is the kind I seek. At this age of course, you take 'em where you can get 'em.
Whilst walking the other night, a youngish fellow nearly ran into the curb, turning his head (I thought) to take a second look at me. Dream on--he was actually texting on his phone.
Your post made me laugh.
Your story about the young man texting made ME laugh!
I guess every generation has its old lady shoes! My grandmother used to wear those heavy-duty black oxford type lace-up shoes. Always with stockings and a dress, though!
I solve the shoe problem by wearing Birkenstocks everywhere.
Grocery store? Birks.
Work? Birks.
Country club? Birks.
Everyone's so accustomed to my footwear at this point that no one even blinks. Besides, they greatly prefer that I remain upright. That ain't gonna happen if I wear Barbie shoes ;)
Great post!
Thanks, Amanda! I haven't actually tried the Birkenstocks but maybe they would be even better than what I have.
None of my friends wear the Barbie shoes...so most of the time I fit right in...but once in awhile it is brought home to me that I have moved into a new phase of life!
Isn't it sad that youth is wasted on those who are too young to truly appreciate it. :'-(
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