O P I N I O N
As the snow continues to pile up outside my window Tuesday, I know it’s time to pull out my “big girl” boots; you know, the boots you wear when the snow is over a foot — and climbing — and you want to be able to shovel the sidewalk to the Amazon driver can make it to your front door, should they be out and about the streets of Manchester.
I’m almost embarrassed to say my big girl boots are more than 40 years old. I bought them when I was first married, coming up to the New England area, and brought to Newbury Steet in Boston, where the yuppies shopped.
TMI: I’ve always had challenges buying tall boots; my calves are narrow, and most boots feature a two-inch gap between my leg and the boot. I’m a tough fit.
So, 40 years ago, my husband and I went shopping in all the hoity-toity shoe stores to try on boots because, he warned, it snows a lot in New England as opposed to Philadelphia where we met at college.
It took hours, but I finally strutted around a store with tall, sleek, leather boots with side zippers that fit my calf. However, they cost $90. This was in the late ’70s. At today’s cost, the same boots would cost $476.62, so you can imagine how nervous I was spending that kind of money as a newlywed. Would you spend nearly $500 on a pair of boots?
But with the whispers from my husband that “I deserve it,” followed by the warning “you’ll need them,” we plunked down the credit card.
Did I need them every winter? No. Did I use them many winters? Yes. Was it a great shopping decision? You bet!
PS: Do you have footwear, coats, or other clothing that you’ve had for decades — and still use? Let me know that I’m not the only person in Manchester who made amazing purchase decisions that carried on through the decades. annette.kurman@gmail.com
