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The Stiletto Diaries

Gold Digger Shoes

Sex and The Shoe

My boots are made for walking. That’s just what they’ll do. Depending upon the mood of the day, try they could be an accessory, physician a weapon or a tease, look says Goa’s Fashion and Lifestyle writer ETHEL DA COSTA, who believes the more shoes a woman owns, the more dangerous it is to cross her.

My green tea, for the seventh time, has run cold. The feisty kitten Ms Kikki has ambushed the household, marking her turf like a pro, fiercely defending her litter box and bringing the kitchen to a standstill when feeding time arrives. Ms Kikki  watches me, learning my moods, as she purrs next to my laptop, fighting hard to catch my attention, then giving up to cuddle near the heat vent, claws dug into the keyboard. As I prowl the internet at 2am catching up with world fashion trends springing up with eccentric couture and ramp dare-devilry,  closer home friend-in-design Hema Nagvenkar burns the midnight oil stressing between sundry tantrums and genius that comes as a package deal with fashion. Ms Kikki purrs in a dream, as if instinctively tapping to the play of cat fights in my head… I believe it takes one kitty to know another (said with a cat-who-ate-the-mouse smile lurking on my lips).

sebastian

Sebastian Errazuriz

One man who I suspect secretly loves cat fights is one of my favourites, the 37-year-old Chilean born, London raised, New York-based artist and designer Sebastian Errazuriz, who took art classes in Washington DC, film courses in Edinburgh, and obtained a design degree in Santiago. If all this globe trotting wasn’t heady enough, Sebastian, a prodigious and obsessive workaholic who received the title of `Chilean Designer of the Year’ in 2010, added envious notoriety to his illustrious feathered cap by designing an entire almost poetic shoe collection – yes, all 12 of them my darlings – based on the exploits of his past ex-girlfriends.

Exploring the question of love and sex through the memory of 12 previous relationships, reflecting on the re-collection of his personal and sexual stories with former lovers, each of whom became the influence for a series of his 12 shoe sculptures. I smirked till dawn, as I read how each day he released one image per day of a new heeled design, completed by an accompanying photo of the footwear’s naked muse and a small, explicit story about the duo’s sexcapades together. If it had the ex-girlfriends frothing at the mouth, I would not be surprised.  Quirky Sebastian nicknamed each shoe according to each lover’s distinctive idiosyncrasies, peculiarities, and character traits, the women and their narrative materializing through each wearable shoe’s varying aesthetics, defining each lover’s design…Each shoe story, lip smacking candid with personal photographs in the nude. My heart rate thumped a couple of beats louder. A controversial artist or designer makes for great headlines.  Another cup of hot green tea with a dash of honey, lemon and brandy to accompany my voyeuristic glee, Sebastian amused me with the public display of his tell-all how-he-played `footsie’ with his muses. The 12 shoe narrative collection kicked up a storm: Shoe No 1 `Honey’ Natasha (the girl who baked him cookies while nursing his broken leg, he dumped her for being too nice); Shoe No 2 `Cry Baby’ Alexandra (the masochist girl on rebound who cried over the last boyfriend while making out, albeit several times); Shoe  No 3 `Gold Digger’ Alison (the gorgeous  TV journalist who wanted a holiday in Brazil Sebastian couldn’t afford. She dumped him); Shoe  No 4 `Heart Breaker’ Laura (with one fake, one real boob); Shoe No 5 ‘Ice Queen’ Sophie (the close-to-frigid tall model girlfriend who was no fun in the sack); Shoe No 6 `Hot B’ Caroline (a cheating bombshell in a miniscule dress, attention seeking tease); Shoe No 7 `The Virgin’ Anna (who gave up on sex to become a nun); Shoe No 8 `The Jet Setter’ Jessica (of the high living, high flying, all talk flake);  Shoe No 9 `The Boss’ Rachel (hardcore feminist, power-tripping, role playing); Shoe No 10 `GI Jane’ Barbara (daughter of a Colonel with an over zealous father who went commando); Shoe  No 11 `The Ghost’ Valentina (a local girl at a small seaside town, beautiful, wild, weird, lost, free spirited who disappeared); Shoe No 12 `The Rock’ Alice (the girl he fell in love with, he will always love, but who got away)…

heartbreaker shoe

Heart Breaker Shoe

Need I say Sebastian was a sell-out tabloid rage. Did his ex-girlfriends hunt him down?  Intrigued by such a ballsy shoe statement, I immediately shot Sebastian an email letter marveling at his creative genius and cheeky story telling. He replied the very next day… a creative, artistic, straight man who gave back shoe for boot. He had loved creating every bit of his shoe-saga and had settled his scores, once and for all.

Julio Bw

Meanwhile, Ms Kikki by now has laid claim to a corner of my walk-in closet lined with my shoes. It’s almost work time. With alarm I watch as Ms Kikki daintily steps on each shoe as if tempting a shriek out of my throat. This is sacred space, yeah, she knows that. And nobody toys on hallowed ground. We lock eyes, stare hard at each other… An old line pops in my head. I transmit it via telepathy `Thou shall not bite the hand that feeds you.’ Message received, loud and clear, Ms Kitty breaks gaze, curves her tail and walks straight to her food bowl. It does not hold good stead to mess with she who brings the bread and butter home. You see, a cat with a shoe fetish learns quick. The same way we women (err.. some of the smart ones) understand that a man is like a cat too; chase him and he will run – sit still and ignore him and he’ll come purring at your feet. I’m betting Sebastian is a cat man, who likes his milk and mice. Did his tell-all get him a new girlfriend? Should ask him next email. Meantime, wear your happy feet people. Be nice to each other.

the boss shoe

The Boss Shoe

Ethel  Da Costa: Is a Goa-based award-winning Fashion, Lifestyle, Music writer-journalist, Radio Head, Creative Entrepreneur, Media and PR Consultant, Stylist, commentator and columnist of all things political and socially incorrect. She’s worked with Femina, The Times of India, Radio Mirchi 98.3FM, the International Film Festival of India, OHerald Publications among others.  Founder, Creator of Think Geek Media Entertainment (a label for Music, Fashion, Lifestyle, Media), she is passionate about music, fashion and travel.
Emailetheldacosta@gmail.com
Website: http://about.me/etheldacosta
Ethel - by Prasad Pankar