by ALISON CONNOLLY
For as long as I can remember, I have been attracted to marabou slippers. You know the ones; the high heel boudoir slipper with the flirty little puff of feathers or fur at the toe. I recall when I was 6 years old and being at a girlfriend’s house whose mother owned a pair of these slippers in white. You bet I was taking any chance I could get to play dress-up in those shoes!
Fast forward many years later when I opened my own lingerie boutique, and of course one of my very first orders was for the Fifi Chachnil TraLaLa marabou mules. They became a mainstay decoration in my shop, often photographed by visitors, and eventually became one of the few keepsakes I ended up keeping when we sold the business. Even while I owned the boutique, I often ogled at the boudoir slipper styles sold at Agent Provocateur, and considered buying a pair simply to wear as shoes to wear to work at my shop (never happened since I couldn’t justify the cost of the purchase).
Now that I am a work-from-home social media consultant, my day-to-day lifestyle doesn’t factor in the glamour of wearing high heel marabou shoes around the house. I actually had a pair of soft flat slippers with a little fuzzy puff ball at the toes, but my co-worker Zoe (the naughty Shiba Inu) ate them.
Luckily, there’s a new, more modern (and daresay, casual) version of the marabou shoe that I am thrilled to have discovered. It’s even something I can wear out and about; the marabou sandal. I just ordered a pair of Cape Robbin sandals online this week and eagerly await their arrival! It’s a way to bring a bit of that old glamour into my routine once more, and I envision days of errands, work and meetings wearing these fun little shoes. Or I may just feel ridiculous in them, and keep them stored next to my pristine Fifi Chachnil heels. We shall see!
