Lucy's Story (4)
Posted by Lucy on May 24, 2003, 22:13:02
Hi All!, and don't worry Stu, writing these little
memories is a fun doddle compared with my daily
business paper-mountain. Yes, I should try to contact
the boys from my class.... isn't there some 'Find a
lost friend' computer programme??? Here's Episode 4:
By 1958 (I was now 14), I was feeling much more
accomplished in my 4" stilettos and spent whole
evenings and weekends in them without problems.
Between 14 and 15, I discovered that boys were
becoming hugely more interesting than girls! When out
shopping, Mummy noticed that I had increasingly been
half-closing my eyes whenever trying to see distant
objects. I told her that for some reason this made
them look a bit clearer, so Mummy bundled me across to
the opticians and I was diagnosed as becoming
short-sighted. He said I would have to wear glasses
all the time (were contact lenses even around in those
days?)and I had a little weep. Despite choosing the
most ultra-fashionable frames of the day - with
pointed upswept turquoise-coloured wings at the edges,
I convinced myself that everyone would dismiss me as a
frump from now on. Daddy had already asked me what I
wanted for my birthday, so to cheer myself up I lead
him over to Oliver's Shoeshop window and pointed to
the highest stiletto heels on display in the entire
town. The heel-height measured an illogical 4 3/8"
(much later I realised they were Continental 110mm
heels). The sleek, streamlined lines of those black
patent leather shoes and needle heels were utterly
deadly! Daddy was torn between feebly protesting that
'Mummy would object' and trying to hide his
ill-concealed excitement at seeing them being slipped
on to my young feet. I stood up and that first rush of
adrenaline at perching in heels came rushing back
again tenfold. These felt incredible! I felt that
extra vital bit of height really thrusting me up under
me all the time and the sense of feminine
precariousness was overwhelming. My size 5 feet were
rammed right up towards being verticle, but it was
HEAVENLY! In this daze, I hardly heard Daddy say
"We'll take them please; Happy birthday Loo!". I would
not be parted with them, and opted to wear them out of
the shop. However, they were MUCH more difficult to
walk in than the 4-inchers, I had to take much
shorter, more teetering steps. It didn't help that
flared, pleated skirts were out and tight, pencil
skirts were coming in. Naturally I was one of the
first in the town to wear the latter and this hobbled
my stride even more. I admitted to Daddy that I
couldn't manage the full walk home for the first time
in those heels, so he took me into a milk bar to
change down into my 4" heels. The town's milk and
coffee bars all had Juke boxes and were packed with
teddy boys with their drainpipe trousers and
brothel-creepers. They all loved watching me changing
between my two pairs of stilettos and I got lots of
thumbs-up and winks! The next Saturday night, my first
boyfriend Derek invited me to 'The flicks'(the
cinema)to see a new film starring Sophia Loren. She
played a poor, barefoot peasant girl in a remote
Italian coastal village. (Anyone remember this film
and it's title?)In one scene out on a rough track, she
unwraps a shoe box and puts on the most stunningly
high pair of brand-new stiletto heels. This
immediately got a thunderous roar of approval from the
dozens of teddy boys who always occupied the front
half downstairs. Derek was dead chuffed at this.
Immediately the lights went up at the end, he called
everyone's attention to my own stunning shoes, saying
they looked EXACTLY LIKE SOPHIA LOREN'S. In modern
parlance, our street-cred shot up a mile high, and
Derek was as proud as punch. The whole effect of those
killer shoes more than made up for me having to wear
glasses. The only thing was, I had to stand around
until we made sure that we were the last to leave the
cinema so that those countless admirers didn't notice
that as yet, I could hardly walk in them! 'Still', I
thought 'If Sophia Loren can succeed in mastering
them, then I'll jolly-well make sure that I do". Next
time, I'll tell you about attending special
high-heel-wearing-lessons. Love for now, Lucy. |