In need of some new shoes for the Orlando trip, I went shopping in the O.C. last night with Erico Suave and MacArthur.
The first mission was to buy a fedora. I never met a fedora that I could make work, but I was determined to force one to. At Urban Outfitters, it just so happened that all fedoras were $20! Score. So digging through the lot, I found nothing. Everything was either too big or like highwater pants for the head. It made it all the more depressing when many whiter folks came into the store sporting fedoras and looking oh so natural.
So I gave up. I accepted that I just wasn't the correct race and found a golf cap that I loved. I put it on and immediately felt like I was Usnavi from "In The Heights." How lame is that! I know!
But then just as we were about to checkout, Erico Suave found a straw fedora, plopped it on my head, and it worked! I was an Asian in a fedora and looked normal. So I bought it! And I wore it around for the rest of the day.
Then we moved on to South Coast Plaza for some shoes. I classify myself as a stingy shopper. Generally I only buy things when they are on sale. I remember Erico Suave once told me that he bought a $200 pair of jeans. My jaw hit the floor and I hurtled myself out a window. I was shocked.
And while I would still never pay $200 for a pair of pants (why when Old Navy has them for $15?) I did think buying shoes only for deals is the wrong way to go. So I went looking to buy a pair of shoes that felt good on my feet. And boy did I find them!
Diesel shoes. White. Like they were custom built and broken in for my feet. Light and like stepping on clouds. I bought them without considering the price. They were $90. Not TOO bad actually. That's normal, I'm told.
But then, on a shoe shelf, I found a pair of slippers (made from many recyclable parts) that matched the golf cap I bought earlier! I tried it on for the hell of it and they too were extremely comfortable! So, I had to have it. Slippers... $60.
I won't make these shopping sprees a habit. I'll still look for deals since I'm human and want to max out my buck. But it's nice to buy stuff for the right reasons (you love it / it absolutely fits) rather than because it's cheap and you can settle on the look and feel.
Does that make sense? Who cares. Check out these photos:
Yo ye-ye-yo yo!
Usricky
