My boss, the director of photography here at New York, is the type of person who serves sea urchin at her dinner parties. She introduced me to the Yves Klein coffee table. She wears velvet gondola slippers from Venice. And so I guess it came as a bit of a shock last month, when she glanced down at my feet and asked — in a way like she didn’t really need to ask — if the slides I was wearing were No. 6.
For those who are not familiar, No. 6 is the downtown New York boutique that in recent years has become famous for its $300-plus clogs and mules beloved by Greenpoint gallery owners and Woodstock weekenders. I, myself, own a pair of No. 6 closed-toe clogs and the shoes (handmade to order in Minnesota) have seen me through many weekend treks and long days shuffling around the office. But the slides that my boss Jody looked approvingly at recently were not, in fact, No. 6. They are made by Vince Camuto and I got them for $47 on Amazon.
I don’t know if I consciously purchased them thinking of the No. 6 Leon Slide. When my boyfriend’s mom sent me the link to these Vince Camutos, I liked their millennial mustard shade, their curves, their sculptural quality. They looked cool, in that Brooklyn Mom kind of way that No. 6 has so well perfected and also comfortable (although, I must say, I have bought other mules on Amazon that felt way too flimsy).
My feet are a wide size 10, and I often have to squeeze into summer sandals, which results in painful, gross blisters. These, to my delight, immediately supported my ankles at just the right pitch. And the suede felt more luxurious than the price-point suggests. Over the past few months since my purchase, the material has held up remarkably well, despite the fact that I’ve failed to treat them with any sort of weather protectant. I have also worn them more than once to the beach.
No, they cannot match the sturdiness of No. 6 — their sole is synthetic and narrow, and since I work in Tribeca among cobblestoned streets, I do sometimes find myself teetering on them. But the two-inch height of the heel is ideal — I usually wear them day-to-night, with my Blluemade jumpsuit, my toes peeking out just enough to show off my baby pink pedicure. And they’ll transition with my jeans right into fall.
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