An Egregious Purchase – Shoes With Laces on One Side!

Unfortunately, all the available funds could not buy an upgrade for my mother’s sense of fashion. She continued to fancy herself the plain Jane from the country. She persisted in dressing down, but worst of all, she still made sartorial decisions on my behalf. Thank goodness, gone were the lederhosen that were bought two sizes too large and held up by suspenders, and gone were the brightly colored (green!) long stockings that were held up by a girdle like contraption.

But since I was starting to compete with my friends and classmates for the attention of the girls, other additions to my wardrobe seemed to become increasingly inadequate. The most egregious purchase I remember was a pair of down home country style shoes with laces on one side. Outside of Bavaria, no self-respecting young man would wear shoes with laces on the side. Yet I had to bite that bullet. To add insult to injury, my mother, after a brief moment of contemplation, liked the shoes so much that she bought a pair for herself. Oh, the shame of it!