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missfortune-xyz · 1 year

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why i can't wear ballet flats.

If you had told my 15-year-old self that ballet flats would return in the early 2020s, I don’t think I would have believed you. I adored the Valentino Tango pumps and had tried styling ballet flats with my school uniform on multiple occasions throughout my secondary school career (ah, the 2010s), unfortunately to no avail. In my mind, the ballet flat was too ill-fitting for me , and was an item that only my mum (or maybe Alexa Chung) could wear and actually look good in.

Skip to 2022, and as a shock twist (although is it really a shock?) the ballet flat is back. Or should I say the ballet pump? The 2022 revival of this classic item expands to formats outside of the flat slip-on that we’re all familiar with – heels, tabis, flatforms, and even sporty styles have hit the market and have skyrocketed the shoe back to its former status.

A very valid argument could be made that the ballet flat never really went out of style, that the ballet flat is simply a classic item that’s wearable regardless of the current it-style. I’m inclined to agree, but we can all see that the trend cycle was not particularly kind to this shoe over the past 5 years.

So why is the ballet shoe back? To no one’s surprise, TikTok currently dominates the trend cycle. Catalysed by the F/W 2022 Miu Miu collection, as well as other brands such as Simone Rocha and Molly Goddard, an updated version of hyperfeminine clothing aesthetics are at the forefront of the modern trend cycle.

I can’t say that I don’t love this trend. Personally, I’m a big fan of rounded toe shoes as opposed to the square and pointy styles that have been popular in recent years. Moreover, I believe that this reincarnation of the ballet shoe brings variations to the shoe that, at least in my mind, were sorely needed. As I mentioned briefly earlier in this post, I grew up seeing my mum reach for a classic ballet shoe (mostly in a patent black, or a funky leopard print) for easy casualwear, and whilst I also tried wearing this style myself, it never really stuck.

The return of the ballet shoe begged me to think – why did this not work for me?

The classic ballet flats, in my opinion, hold two major issues:

The silhouette that the ballet flat creates, whilst simple, can often feel unbalanced.

They’re deeply uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time.

I am a flatform shoe enjoyer, and so the minimal silhouette of the ballet shoe brings an unsettling lack of balance when used in tandem with the rest of my clothing. For some, the original silhouette works harmoniously with the rest of their look – think the ‘French Girl’ style, for example. For those of us with a clumsier disposition, or need more support in a shoe, the ballet flat may also seem impractical to wear on a daily basis. Thus, a classic ballet shoe just does not fit with the rest of my wardrobe or my lifestyle, and there is no purpose in investing in a trend that simply does not suit.

I don't think these feeling is uncommon. The resurfacing of the ballet shoe has not been without its scepticism.

Having said all of this, I still, like many others, enjoy the aesthetics and vibe of the ballet shoe, and this design revival brings the perfect opportunity to finish what my younger self started. As much as the styles put out by Miu Miu and Simone Rocha are something out of a dream, I’m a university student and at ~£600+ there’s simply no room in my life for that price point right now unless anyone wants to sponsor me ;) . I’ve tried similar silhouettes through the ‘A Warrior’s Heart’ style by KOI footwear, but found that the material simply did not withstand my constant lack of physical coordination and scuffed far too quickly.

Even amongst the heeled variety, Nodaleto and Carel’s mary janes still sit outside of my price bracket. It felt as if this revival, despite all its improvements and positives, still remained inaccessible to me. The lower price point provided styles that would not work aesthetically or practically in the long-term, and the higher price point would not work financially. Even second-hand sales proved too expensive. For a while, it felt as if I would have to sit this one out, despite evaluating that the right shoe would be able to remain in my closet rotation beyond its trend time.

Now, I want to make it clear that I will not be providing a list of potential buys. It’s important to me that I’m avoiding the endorsement of unnecessary purchase, and so instead of showing my ‘buy list’, I’ll be walking you through the process I undertook to complete my mission. As a 19-year-old in the process of transitioning from the wardrobe of my 'teenage self' to my 'young adult self', it’s important to me that I buy items that will fit in my wardrobe long term as opposed to trend items. For this very same reason, I’ll be avoiding fast fashion shops when selecting a shoe, as my aim is to find something more timeless that will last longer (plus, it’s better for the environment). I don’t buy shoes very often, so I’m more focused on investing in pieces that will last longer as much as I am able to afford to do so.

As the overcomplicater I am, I decided to formulate a 3 stage plan to find the perfect addition to my shoe collection.

the plan:

Step 1 – Trial

I’ve mentioned my mum prior in this article and how growing up I saw her wear ballet flats often. My first port of call was to message her and see if she has a pair she no longer uses. I wanted to affirm that the traditional version of the style was not right for me, and as opposed to buying it, it would be much better to borrow and try it out first.

I was in luck. (it’s a good thing we’re the same size)

Step 2 – Analysis

At the end of my trial, I decided to take a step back and analyse what aspects of the shoe worked, and what didn’t. I compared the flats I borrowed, to any shoes I previously owned that share similar characteristics, as well as my ideal styles to identify what I liked and what I didn’t. From there, I could formulate exactly what I’m looking for.

Step 3 – The Hunt.

Now, in all honesty, this step is what I want to focus on the least. I could give a list of my ‘top 50 ballet shoe variants’, but that’s contrary to what I actually want to do with this post. My intent here is not to provide product placement or outright promote overconsumption, but rather to offer commiseration and problem-solving to those of you who may be in the same boat as I am. To those of you who aren’t, I hope this provided a little entertainment at least.

For anyone who does want to know about the shoes I ended up choosing – I spent a lot of time scrolling through WConcept and eventually found a cute pair that fit the criteria (and my budget) well. I’ll be putting aside some money from Christmas and my next payday so that hopefully I’ll be able to buy in time for the new year.

If anyone wants an update once I've got them - let me know!

resolution:

As of the moment, I haven't managed to order the shoes. I'm pretty broke, so for now they'll stay at the top of my bookmarks list for another time. It's not entirely a negative thing though.

It's pretty cold in the UK right now, so I'm mostly sticking to warmer boots that I can layer thick socks under to keep warm - it's not like these shoes are going to help keep me warm. Waiting thus means that I'll get a cute new shoe just in time for the spring which, in my opinion, is perfect timing considering the style and aesthetic of the shoes anyway.

All in all, I'm not too bothered by waiting. It's not exactly as if I have a choice, and this process was an exercise in informed buying as much as it was a chance to find the perfect shoes.

In that case, this was a job well done.

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missfortune-xyz · 1 year

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starting at the beginning.

Why in the godforsaken year of 2022 am I starting a Tumblr blog?

I felt for a while that, before I post anything I had prepared, that I find some kind of justification to explain or validate why I’m here. First, is blogging dead now? So why start? Second, why Tumblr of all places?

We all know Tumblr has built up its own distinct reputation (the word ‘hellsite’ comes to mind) and its associated more with fan culture than the traditional blog format. This kind of blog would appear to be much better placed on something like WordPress or Squarespace, so why Tumblr?

I’d like to make it known before I continue that this is by no means my first major encounter with Tumblr. This account is indeed new, but I’ve been here since the ripe old age of 11 back in 2014. Like many of you, spending my formative years on this website has led me to witness things that the average non-tumblr user may find deranged. It’s been a tumultuous journey, but I never felt the need to leave Tumblr either.

As a nerdy tween/teen in the mid 2010s, Tumblr was an obvious choice for me to spend my spare time on. The shows I liked, the games I liked, the books I liked all had communities here that I didn’t have access to in real life. I lived in a small village on the outskirts of a small town in the middle of the English countryside – there were no physical spaces I could go to discuss these interests. I think this feeling was and still is common amongst most of us. Tumblr filled a social gap that the majority of us did not have the resources to fill IRL.

Originally, when I was considering making a blog, I looked at WordPress. I still use my personal Tumblr account (I’m a certified stalker account – I like and I reblog but I never post), but at first, I looked to WordPress to host my ramblings. It’s a giant in the blogging world and every single blog example that I’ve seen that exists in my desired genre existed on WordPress.

I quickly encountered two major issues when I started to look into this.

The first was that any feature I would need to use to create what I wanted was behind a paywall. I’m a student! £200+/year is not something I can afford to fork out when I’ll mostly be rambling into the void!

The second, was about the feeling of WordPress. It felt a bit too… professional… for lack of a better explanation. I did not want to create some majorly branded, almost commercial site, I wanted something that reflected myself much better. I have no intention to behave with the utmost seriousness in my blog, and so I decided I wanted to look to make something significantly personal to myself.

(This is by no means to bash anyone who does use WordPress, I still think it’s great, it’s just not what I’m looking for.)

This brings me back to Tumblr. Whilst my most recent personal account is in default design purgatory, my blogs of the golden age were customised to the nth degree via themes. For a short period, I even began to learn to code so that I could experiment further (although I’ve long forgotten it all now). It fit almost perfectly – free, customisable, casual, and already knew how to use it. Any issues I identified felt dwarfed by how right it felt to start this blog on Tumblr. It felt nostalgic, it felt student-y, it felt like myself, and most of all it gives me the freedom to explore this format in any way I want to.

Tumblr might be on the edge of a revival anyway, so…..

I’m not sure if this will ever get any audience, but to be honest, that isn’t really my concern. Really, who cares about traffic? It almost feels more comfortable not having an audience - less pressure, more freedom. It feels like I’m using Tumblr ‘wrong’ (but is there really a way to do so?) to be using it like this, since my history with this site has been more fandom-based, but my convictions are solid. I’m perfectly content with speaking into the void, and any notes I do receive will be treasured.

I’m going to leave my personal introduction to the next post. It was really important to me to just get my rationale out of the way first, whether that be for practical reasons or just to absolve my own anxieties. Starting a blog is, for who knows what reason, scary and this is my first time making an account with any intent to post on. I hope you stick around, it’ll be a journey as I figure out truly what I want this to be, but I think it’ll be fun nonetheless.

#writing #blog post #tumblr culture #tumblr dot com #article #blogging #blogs #i know this is so unnecessary but i really felt the need to justify this TT #xyzwrites #missfortunexyz

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