Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Comme il Faut Tango Shoes and Nirvana


With each passing tango email, class or milonga I realize that, when it comes to understanding women and their relationship to tango shoes, I'm only barely scratching the surface of something I'll never fully fathom. But that's ok. My Czech sister-in-law rolls her eyes every time my brother and I start talking for another hour about the Boston Red Sox or New England Patriots. And that's ok, too.

Viva La Difference!

So, even though I don't understand the shoe gene that women have, I have come to understand that there are three states of being for female tango dancers:

Happiness: Buying/wearing Shoes
Joy: Buying/wearing Tango Shoes
Nirvana: Buying/wearing Comme il Faut tango shoes

Now don't get me wrong, I know there are tangueras out there that aren't obsessed with tango shoes. I just haven't met one yet.

Word.

6 comments:

Vixi said...

Mark, I despise Comme Il Fauts. They last about a few months and have the comfort of Chinese Water torture.

I will say though, that they are definitely daring and unique in their flavours, colours, and designs.

And I assure you, I have met many, many women all over the country who dislike them as well.

Anonymous said...

Well, Sappho, I knew I was sailing into dangerous and unchartered territory when I tried understanding tangueras and their relationship with Comme il Fauts.

The interesting thing is that Comme il Fauts illicit such passionate reactions from women(positive or negative).

So, I humbly raise my white flag. I know when I'm out of my depth and I'm sinking here trying to understand tangueras and their love/hate relationship with Comme il Fauts.

But I will say this (and I'll say it with confidence)--women look damn sexy in Comme il Fauts!

Red Shoes said...

I don't own Comme Il Fauts, for one reason: they're all open-toed. Every pair of tango shoes I have is closed-toe. I know it's not fashionable, and it certainly makes it harder to do that shoe shopping which admittedly does bring me joy...but I'm just not a sandals kind of girl...

Anonymous said...

Dear Red Shoes--I didn't know that about Comme il Fauts. As a guy who never paid much attention to shoes before, I've learned more about shoes over the past 2 weeks than I've ever known in my entire life. And I've seen plenty of closed-toe tango shoes on women that look damn sexy.

Red Shoes said...

Mark, yes! Comme Il Fauts are gorgeous, but I'm still entranced by the sharp-looking closed-toe, cross-strapped black patent leather shoes that used to be standard issue. They're just plain sexy.

Glorious thing, that something as simple as shoes can be so entrancing...

Anonymous said...

Dear Red Shoes: open-toed, close-toed...they're all damn sexy!