By Charlotte Steinway, 20, reporting from Paris, France, on pret-a-Pocahontas style
Ever since Disney's Pocahontas came out in the mid 90's, I've had a mild obsession with all things Native American. It's gone from an innocent penchant for moccasins to a severe affinity for feathered and fringed accessories. In fact, I distinctly remember the first time I laid eyes on Sam Edelman's "Uri" over-the-knee, tiered fringe boots. I dragged my boyfriend to the store window in Harvard Square and pointed to the glorious feats of footwear: "Beautiful!" I exclaimed. "I thought u were talkin' about me," said a middle-aged man standing in the general vicinity.
I kept my mind off the boots for a while, deciding that $225 was far too much money for something modeled after the footwear of our hunting and gathering predecessors. I moved onto a pair of far more practical (as practical as fringe moccasin boots can be) $76 Minnetonkas. Then I came across my original love for HALF-OFF on Nordstroms.com and made them my own. All in all, a great success.
A month or so later I packed up my entire life to study in Paris for the semester, and I had to decide which pair to bring with me. I went with the smaller, lighter Minnetonkas. And now that I've gotten here, French fashion involves a lot of fringe at the moment, including the taupe messenger bag I splurged on during the last week of the soldes (the monthlong sale season, love this country) that matches exactly with the Sam Edelman boots I DIDN'T pack.
But now that I think of it, wearing the two together could create some sort of gnarly dreadlock of interwoven fringe accessories. So I guess it all worked out. —Charlotte Steinway