Flat Out Happy

Flats are In not Out. That makes me happy because these feet ain't too happy wearing heels. Oh, I can stand there okay. Maybe make it from the car to the restaurant and back again, but actual movement in anything higher than a kitten is beyond me. I do still love trolling down the Aisles of the Impossibles at DSW Shoe Warehouse gazing at Shoes as Art. As for the wearing...

All flats are not created equal nor does one style fit all wardrobes. Today's fashionable flats are:

> The ever-popular ballet flat or skimmer (ballet flat w/o the bow)
> Tuxedo flats (aka men's bedroom slippers)
> Oxfords (lace-ups as borrowed from the boys)

Lucky Magazine (April issue) has given us a cheat-sheet on how to wear them, and now I know where I've gone wrong.

BALLET FLATS are easy as they go with everything (I thought). But Fashion isn't always about Easy. The ballet flat keeps a short pencil skirt from looking trampy. Ballet flats can be paired with long skinny pants (to the ankle or artfully schmoosed). Think Audrey Hepburn/Laura Petrie.

We're Lucky to have a cheat-sheet

Natali-adorable Portman

OXFORDS are softer versions of school shoes like the white bucks popular back when. Enthusiasm when they first made the scene a few years ago quickly dimmed. Yes, they were quite comfortable but would I be perceived as wearing "old lady shoes" for comfort rather than chic? My French cousin Jill showed up in gold leather oxfords on a visit from Paris about thirty years ago. I thought they were wonderful and I would get myself a pair one day. Now that I am the age she was at the time, I'm not so sure.

Seems one reason I never got it right was this look must be treated as ironic. Girls can wear boys' shoes either with a girly-girly short full skirt (will not, cannot, must not happen if you are a "girl" over thirty) or with tailored crops a la menswear designer Tom Browne. The ankles need to show. We are not cross-dressing here. Lucky also suggests pairing oxfords with a long maxi skirt. Uh oh— if you are of a Certain Age you risk looking like Marian the Librarian.

Youngsters only to the left

Tuxedo flats are so Lord Grantham, says Lucky. There is indeed something delicious about wearing slippers as daywear. Pair them with an A-line or slightly flared skirt or with boyfriend roll-ups befitting a modern-day Tom Sawyer. Even Lucky says stay away from long skirts with tuxedo flats and calls that look "nerdy".

Really borrowing this look from the boys...

I'm beginning to think long skirts can be a drag...

Is barefoot best for a long skirt?