Fashion Notes: Ferragamo Vara Pumps

I still do not have Internet access in my apartment -- this being a student town in September, everyone is setting up services at the same time, and there are huge lineups. At present, I am taking advantage of the free wireless in a chain coffee shop and contemplating my Ferragamos.

I bought mine in a vintage store for $45; they don't look quite like these, being patent leather, but close enough. I hesitated to buy them, thinking I wouldn't ever wear something so sensible, so very seventies dress-for-success (the Vara pump first came out in 1978) and borderline dowdy. It turns out I wear them all the time. They make me feel like a WASP matriarch (more specifically, they make me feel like my grandmother), but I find I don't mind. They are very comfortable for what they are, and although I do think they'd look a bit dowdy with skirts, they go with almost any pair of trousers (and I wear trousers most of the time). I frequently wear them with my less ratty pairs of jeans because the contrast amuses me.

Salvatore Ferragamo produces shoes in a huge number of widths; if you have narrow feet (size A or narrower) and don't object to buying shoes without trying them on first, you can get them for a song on eBay.