clogs redux

When I went to visit Bryn Mawr College in the fall of 1979, I remember vividly what I wore. To visit the school that gave us Katharine Hepburn (and, I hoped, to impress the interviewer with my appropriateness), I pulled out all the stops: red Dean's shetland sweater with my monogram, white Skyr cotton turtleneck printed with tiny red hearts, navy wool skirt, and -- my favorite part -- my navy suede clogs. I loved the clogs because they made me taller and made me feel powerful. Maybe they felt like weapons on my feet, a sort of preppier play on Bond style. And I also loved them enough to have bought them with my own money from the tony shoe store in downtown Princeton, New Jersey. I think I paid almost $50 for them. Yikes.

Today I saw Chanel's spring 2010 clogs on eBay for $1500. Affixed to the gray suede is a camelia flower, so I guess they have something over my 1979 favorites -- what I don't know is if an aspiring 7-sister would wear them for an entrance interview these days. But I saw a different listing somewhere that Tretorns are coming back, too. Whale pants are just around the corner.