Cinch It With a (Borscht) Belt

While Jslow binge-shops Moda Operandi to experience the rush of the hunt without the financial purge, I shopped Moda Operandi last September to order a pair of shoes straight off the runway. They arrived last week.

Shopping the runway today for something you won’t get for 180 tomorrows is addictive and fun and depressing all at the same time. The prices are high, and when you do find something remotely affordable to put in your digital basket, you must wait six months before it arrives. By that time, styles have already moved on, and what seemed fresh and fantastic last Fall is already dated and done before it even hits the shelves. That’s what this fast- fashion, over-exposed, over-saturated and “now I’m over it” digital age has done to us.

Usually, the beauty of shopping is instant gratification: You lust, you seek, you find, you score, you get, you wear. Today. When you delay the “get” part, will it still satisfy tomorrow? Will I even want it anymore?

That something I lusted after, found and bought last September was a pair of black Cedric Charlier lug-sole slides with giant black bows. Last week, six months later, I got my confirmation email that they were in and on their way to me.

I was beyond excited, and shared the news with Jslow.

Her reply?

“They’re fun in a Russian grandma way.”

“Don’t spill your borscht on them.”

Fuck. Did I blow it? Was she right? Were they more Borscht-belt than Red Carpet?

I happen to love the slide, even more so as my laziness reaches new heights – or lows. If I have to zip, buckle, tie or struggle in anyway to wear a shoe, they see very little action, if any at all.

So when they arrived, I tore open the box and jumped in.

O. M. G. You can suck it, Jslow.

Maybe because I grew up on Layaway, this delay was okay. All my life, I’ve loved shopping, but never had the money to afford what I wanted. Layaway saved my ass. Even high-end store Susan on Sacramento let me put things on “layaway”, as they knew I really loved and respected the obscure, avant-garde, EXPENSIVE pieces in that jewel-box of a store, but did not have the funds of the wives of Pacific Heights’ Surgeons.

It really is too bad more stores don’t offer layaway like they used to. I did some digging and came upon elayaway. The have partnerships with a handful of online retailers like Macy*s, ebay and Target, where you can pay in installments.

For me, there’s still time to shop the recent runway on Moda Operandi for something that won’t arrive ’til Fall. But for now, I’m content to shuffle around in my Grandma Shoes that have amassed 76 likes on Instagram (paltry compared to seasoned Instagrammers, but kick-ass for the likes of me). Seriously, suck it again, Jslow. xo