By Susan Caba
Photograph by Mark Gilliland
Shoes are the ideal lovers, says my friend and fellow writer Catherine Rankovic.
“They cover for you, bring out your best, make you feel self-assured, awake and smart,” she says. “And they love you back, molding to your foot and adding their character to your own. They can make you feel like a warrior, a chorus girl or the first woman on the moon.”
Some shoes, she adds, are “G-strings for the feet.” Well, they surely figure in our fantasy love lives—everything from Cinderella to Sex and the City. Would Sarah Jessica Parker be just as alluring wearing Naturalizers as her Manolo Blahniks and Jimmy Choos? I think not. On the other hand—well, foot—shoes can also add gravitas to an outfit. My mother says a good pair of shoes brings up the level of otherwise mediocre clothes, and Hannibal Lecter gave Clarice the same advice in Silence of the Lambs.
So where in St. Louis to get shoes at a good price?
Generally, I’m against hunting shoes at garage sales. Formerly owned shoes are just too personal—and usually too badly worn—for my taste. There are exceptions. A neighbor happened on a sale last year featuring the shoes of a true collector. There were literally dozens of pairs of high-quality, lightly worn women’s shoes—and this was midmorning, after the best, presumably, were gone. She bought 10 pairs for less than $3. I once witnessed a fortunate handyman snatch up a passel of expensive men’s shoes, from loafers to dancing slippers, at $2 a pair. Come what may in life, he would be properly shod.
I do like the Women’s Closet Exchange (11557 Gravois, 314-842-8405) for very lightly worn designer women’s shoes on consignment. I’ve seen Jimmy Choos and Blahniks there in the $200 to $250 range. On my last visit, a pair of size 5 Chanel spectator high heels—black patent leather toe and plain leather vamps—was priced at $250, while Louis Vuitton black boots, size 7, were $199. Designer shoes at the Closet Exchange are generally a little less than half the cost of the same pair new—admittedly, not cheap. I did get a pair of Donald Pliner black loafers, seemingly never worn, for $39. A pair of Bally’s black pumps was $22.
On the other end of the spectrum, at Value City (8800 Watson, 314-842-8811), a $20 bill will just about cover any imaginable shoe need, from boardroom to bondage. If I were a lawyer, I’d choose the Kasper burgundy-and-black business pumps for $19.99. I’d let the dominatrix in me snap up the Amano black patent leather spike-heel boots with zipper at the ankle and chain at the heel for the same money. I passed up a pair of cream-and-white oxfords ($20) that I’ll regret if I ever have to go some place wearing cream wool pants. My shopping companion succumbed to a pair of low-heeled, spangled-and-beaded tangerine harem sandals ($30), which I intend to borrow when the need arises.
You can’t talk shoe shopping in St. Louis without mentioning Marte Shoes (1326 Washington, 314-231-2432). Marte is a remnant of St. Louis history, located for 36 years in what was once the heart of the city’s wholesale shoe district, now home to residential lofts. Owner Shirley Alper presides, hot dog in hand, at the cash register, while son Steve chats about football and Martha Stewart’s downfall.
Marte does carry a wide selection of women’s shoes, ranging from $25 to $75. Cross-dressers take note—the women’s shoes run up to size 14. My favorites were black suede, open-toed pumps with mink trim for $65.
But men’s shoes are the real draw here.
“Women’s shoes, you can find them anywhere—I hate to admit it,” says Shirley, a tiny woman with hazely green eyes. “The real business here is men’s shoes. Stacy Adams, lots of cowboy boots, eel, lizard …”
Ostrich-skin boots by Dan Post are $350; Hornback gator boots are $395. I’m not familiar with the cost of exotic-skin cowboy boots, but Shirley says those prices are $50 to $100 less than retail. The store’s best-selling shoes are Stacy Adams knob-toes—rounded, sleek leather shoes in high-top ($79.90) or low-top ($74.90). These are player’s shoes, with contrasting leather toes and vamps in a variety of colors, as well as more conventional leather shades. Marte Shoes is a shoe store for men who are not shy about their shoes.
“When you need purple alligators, I have them,” Steve says. Not to mention black lizard and mint-green ostrich skin and burgundy with satin stripes and red—definitely lots of red.
I’ve always said every woman should have at least one pair of red shoes. I’m not ready—yet—for a man in red shoes. But there’s something about those sleek Stacy Adams high-tops … and all that buttery leather … that has me thinking about men’s shoes in a whole new frame of mind.
