EXPEDITION SHOES.
They say that in times of crises, people want to buy more practical things - evident by the sudden surge in sales of sweatsuits, yeast culture, and Monopoly. In this ilk, I’ve gone and spent my money on a pair of Salomon XT-6 ADV trainers.
Oh the irony of owning trekking shoes for the great outdoors during a pandemic when the greatest adventure I’ve been on in the past few weeks is to go to three different supermarkets to find baking powder. The shoes may seem slightly inordinate to my life right now but you’d be wrong if you thought I bought them on a whim. They’re practical, high quality, sturdy, trendy and above all, multi-purpose.
I can tell you that I was comfortable and got no foot cramps on my expedition to buy more frozen peas. I safely manoeuvred my way around the rock piles and shells at the beach, and swiftly avoided the suspicious brown logs left on the streets. And once this is all over, you can find me rushing from work to my spin class then to my dinner with friends -all with ease.
Right now I’m wearing them with my navy leggings and a hoodie as I transition from the sofa to my errands. If I’m craving to wear “proper clothes” then my blue jeans and an off-white T-shirt has been the go-to with the shoes. At first I would still wear my wool coat over it all, but now that it’s warmer I can get away with a blazer or just a cashmere jumper. As you can see they also go with my cream Agolde jeans so I’m already planning the tonal outfits I’ll wear when I can see people and can show it off.
I know some will argue that a pandemic isn’t the time to indulge in retail therapy, even if all those sales\ emails flooding your inbox seem tempting. I agree. But I’m trying to keep my life normal in some areas to trick myself that everything is alright - this includes me working out ever other day and shopping for things that I’ve saved for. Do what you must to keep your head above water, and think of it as preparation for when our shackles are removed and we’re free again to go to a cafe for overpriced coffee and pop into a shop and tell the saleswoman that you’re “just browsing”.
