December 23, 2014 |
I have always thought of sandals – man sandals, not heeled sandals, for most men do not wear heels – as the shoe choice of the man who wants to find himself. And then actually finds himself. The man who takes a break from his life, possibly quits his job to search for the meaning of life, his life, and rediscover who he his. Usually in some far-flung locale that requires a long-haul flight, usually somewhere in Asia or Africa. Sandals are the shoes men before you wore to find themselves. When the Rolling Stones went to Marrakech in the 1960s to find themselves in a haze of opium smoke, they wore sandals. They wore them at Villa Nellcote when recording Exile on Main St in a daze of uppers and who knows what; they sang about dropping reds, greens and blues on Sweet Virginia, and hiding speed in shoes, so maybe not all of them were wearing sandals, as sandals don’t really lend themselves to speed hiding, but enough of them did, and whether they found themselves or not is another matter, but at least they produced one of their best albums. The Beatles went to India, to learn of Transcendental Meditation under the watchful gaze of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and also wore sandals, because one does not meditate in a closed shoe. Energy cannot be released through a closed shoe. Toes must be free. Free toes lead to the White Album. And should you be George Harrison, discovering your spirituality might lead to you discovering Hare Krishna, which might in turn lead you to writing My Sweet Lord in praise of Krishna, and if you’ve ever seen Hare Krishnas chanting in the street, you will have noticed that they are in sandals, too. These ones, by Giuseppe Zanotti, would be good for finding yourself in. They look secure: they have two thick zipped leather straps across the foot, one across the back of the heel that is fastened in place with a large gold buckle. When finding yourself, before you find yourself, you need to feel secure. These would make you feel secure. And cared for. Nothing makes you feel as cared for, or looked after, than fine, handcrafted leather. Think for a moment of the Merry Pranksters. They also set out to find themselves, via the medium of acid and a large, brightly painted bus. Acid, as we’ve all read, does not always result in a good trip, and when everyone else is on a good trip and yours isn’t going as planned, there might not be anyone around to bring you back to the right path, hence you need sandals to make you feel secure. Sandals, unlike people, can always be relied on in a crisis. Sandals don’t do drugs.
By Natalie Dembinska
