A GIRL WALKS INTO A used clothing store. . .
Sounds a little like the beginning of a joke, doesn’t it? In a way it is, since she walked out of the store with these crazy boots–and when she wears them, they always get a laugh.
It was the dead of winter when our shopper walked into Crossroads Trading Co. on Clark Street. She’s not particularly patriotic, is not crazy about things Texan and definitely didn’t need any red, white and blue footwear.
But she does love her bargains, and these flag-kickers were in the discount bin at the back of the store. The sticker on the sole said $42.50, and they’d just been slashed to half that.
Surely they couldn’t be her size. She tried them on. A perfect fit and already nicely broken in.
“When you find a cowboy boot in your size, it comes with an odd sense of destiny,” writes Jennifer June in her book on this subject, “Cowboy Boots, The Art & Sole.”
The destiny in this case evolved slowly through the winter as the boots sat in her closet, collecting a thin layer of dust and waiting for their moment. Whenever that might be.
Warm weather finally came but still our shopper gal had no good excuse to pull on her stars and stripes. June 14 (Flag Day!) would have seemed a perfect occasion but, alas, she completely forgot about it.
“The cowboy boot will forever be linked to feats of daring and chivalry,” writes country singer Dwight Yoakam in that same boots book.
You wouldn’t call it chivalry but daring. It takes a certain amount of nerve to appear in public in these. When the 4th of July came along, those boots were made for walking, straight into the annual neighborhood Independence Day party, where her grand entrance had everyone grinning–and staring at her legs.
This July 4, she wouldn’t think of not showing up in her flag finery. She couldn’t possibly disappoint her public.
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– Following passage of the federal Flag Desecration Act in 1968, activist Abbie Hoffman was arrested for wearing a shirt that resembled the American flag. His conviction was later overturned.
Source: First Amendment Center
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Read Ellen’s shopping adviser column every Thursday in the Tribune’s At Play section and join the conversation at chicagotribune.com/ellen. shopellen@tribune.com
