Boys Who Love Girls Who Love Boys' Shoes

I've always been a fan of not so femme footwear. I've coveted men's shoes for a long time, way before they became the latest trend. There's something so reassuring and sexy about solid, brown, leather, low wooden heeled, brogues on a man. As a woman I like to borrow some of that manly sexiness sometimes. It's brute and brusk and boys surprisingly dig it. I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a perfect pair of boy shoes and although my heart's true desire would be a pair of hand tooled, timeless George Esquivels, which I drool over on his website often (that opening slide show is like shoe porn to the max for me...here, sneak a peak at some styles)...

...my budget is a little less generous than Mr. Esquivel would allow. My alternative tactic for scoring a quality pair of boy booties has been to keep my eyes peeled like bananas at any thrift store I enter. And yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, it paid off! Meet my new baby boys!

They are Cole Haan Resort and I scored them at Housing Works Thrift Shop for $30. I love the knotted leather and the twine detail. I also love that they are broken in and that my thrifty purchase doesn't simply stimulate--or perhaps lightly poke?--the economy, it helps AIDS patients get the support and services they need (go Housing Works!). My strategy is to wear these shoes with girlie things like dresses and skirts, and of course my new red lips! I'm loving this style/aesthetic I'm cultivating. I call it TomGlam (meaing tomboy glamorous, not to be confused with TomKat) and it feels like home to me. My favorite part of these shoes? You can see my bright red pedi through the strips of leather. I like it!

Fetish Where? Pakistan.

Maybe you never gave a thought to where all of those assless chaps in Christopher Street store fronts were made, I know I didn't. Well, just in case you were wondering, this New York Times video sheds some fascinating light on the rags to leather story of two Pakistani brothers who have turned the Wests' secret desires into big business.

Someone has to make famous spanking skirts for the lovemaking, it might as well be them! They started a million dollar business with $800 and a computer. Smart guys.