now you're heading down to be somewhere

I spotted these Mr Christian shoes a few months ago at The Green Shed Underground. They were the wrong size, or I probably would have bought them, even though white shoes really aren't my thing.

I can find very little trace online of Sydney-based Mr Christian Shoes. A pair of high heels for sale on Gumtree. An old ebay listing. From this fascinating post and comments about the House of Merivale, I gather Mr Christian was known in the 70s-80s for high heels and towering platforms. These look more like the era I remember, late-80s to early 90s (not sure when they disappeared).

 

These aren't the shoes you're looking for.

When I was in high school Mum had a pair or two of really interesting leather shoes by Mr Christian. They always had a handcrafted look about them. I had been waiting for the day when my feet would be deemed to have stopped growing, which would mean owning more than the minimum number of pairs of shoes - school shoes, sneakers, sandals, something for church - would be justifiable. Clothes and shoes cost more back then.

It was 1990 and I was in year ten. There was a sale on at the Mr Christian shop in Civic, and Mum and I had decided together that I could go and buy a pair of shoes like hers. She had tan and I wanted black. They had pointy toes and flat heels (I would not have considered any heel height back then - I remember it was a big deal buying my first low heels when I was starting my office job in 1998). The top part was woven leather in multiple colours and they had a zipper running down the middle instead of laces.

I had the money from my parents in my wallet. I don't remember what else I was doing in civic. There's a strong chance I bought myself a cup of hot chips because I was always ready for a snack. And somehow I managed to lose my wallet. I think I left it sitting on a pay phone actually.

So, no shoe buying at Mr Christian. I didn't call my parents and I didn't go straight home. I got on the bus back to Belconnen and went straight to the CES (Commonwealth Employment Service). I must have already been thinking about getting a job and had probably loosely discussed it with my parents. Now I had lost this $60 and that was that. I knew you could look at the jobs pinned up on the boards there at the CES. The staff called Coles Jamison for me and arranged an interview for a casual weekend job on the checkouts.

By the time I got home, Mum already knew about my wallet. A good samaritan had handed it in to the police and they had already called my house. And the money was still there!

I still went ahead with the interview and got that job at Coles. While I was still at high school Mum and Dad only allowed me to work Friday night and weekends. The supermarket used to shut at 5pm on Saturdays and 4 on Sundays! I would work one or two 3-hour shifts and collect a small yellow envelope of cash, maybe $20-30. A few years later while I was at uni I earned much better money when the store went to 24 hour opening and I did the weekend overnight shifts.

And I did still get those fabulous shoes on sale. I wish I still had them, or at least a photo.