me, sketching a  lace up mule in blue leather

All of you know by now that I am passionate about all of you  Getting to Wow!  To make the most of every moment, every day.  Momentous living.

This is a journey and just like the proverbial journey of a thousand miles, this journey begins with a single step.  This is a moment to be wearing the perfect shoe.

I cannot imagine a loftier and lovelier challenge than to design shoes for my journey to Wow!  For my birthday, Seth signed me up for a workshop to learn the intricate craft of handmade footwear and to unleash “my inner shoe”.    For those of you who are curious about my class, you can read more about it here.

I will be learning how to make a pair of mules – those are shoes with no heels that you slide your feet into  – and to prepare for my class, I have been thinking a lot about where these shoes will take me.

My mom has a picture of her mother’s family in China where I can see the tiny bound feet of her great aunts and grandmother peeking out from under their long silk skirts.  My grandmother, however,  is wearing modern styled clothing which she wore after graduating from medical school in Tokyo.  She is wearing western shoes with a slender ankle strap and heels which took her far away from this vanished world of feudal Chinese aristocracy into the twentieth century.

I am fascinated by her journey, forever grateful for her courage and choices that ultimately brought my mother to America.   My shoes, will reconnect me to my fascinating grandmother, the one who walked from one world into another in style.

shoe with straps

I like all of these buckles.  The ones in the front can hold your foot which is very important since  mules do not have the back part of the shoe gripping your heel.

shoes so pretty

How sweet are these shoes!  They were in a store window perched prettily on a cake plate.  I want my shoes to elevate me like a confection.  With height and stature.

Height from my heels,  stature from my soul.

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee