Just as denim is the fabric of the working man, pasta and beans a dish known as Italian peasant food, humble utilitarian espadrilles will be forever tied to the working class people of the Basque country who have farmed, cooked, created and marched for independence in these comfortable shoes.
An early memory of rope soled espadrilles can really bring us back. One friend recalls wearing hers to Woodstock and returning from the Festival with mud caked and then moldy slippers on her feet as a token of her days in the glorious rain with Hendrix, Slick and the rest of the gang. Some of the lucky ones of our gen brought these slippers back from world travels , where they could be purchased for 50 cents, and quickly an earthy but sophisticated trend was born. Best worn in the dry sand and not the rain, this slipper popularized by our favorite iconoclast artist that telegraphs all things Spanish and anything but basic Picasso flat is what we wear in our painting studio dreams.
The espadrille look as applied to a more uplifting wedge drives us to pair them with full cotton or linen dresses and skirts and this season’s ugly but cool Birkie look alike from Clergerie is giving us a serious case of the “I wants.” A pom-pom espadrille slide from Soludos is a party on our feet (no kidding, we can’t stop smiling at them) and for Missoni super-fans like us this knit slipper collaboration is molto bellissimo! The grand daddy of them all is the Chanel espadrille. Word on the street is that is expensive but worth it.
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