Saying that I love shoes will be a huge understatement (and sometimes they give me trouble). I cannot live without them; they are the perfect remedy for a difficult day at work and the perfect gift to myself.
The shoes and I have a secret relationship based on mutual respect – I keep them clean, in nice boxes and in exchange, they don’t hurt my feet.
I remember the story behind every pair of shoes I have ever bought. Most of them are strange. So is this one, which is about me finding the perfect shoe store in downtown Rome. This, basically – we all fashion victims agree – is not difficult, Rome being Rome and the Italian fashion being THE fashion. There’s only one downside to this: shoes in Italy (as wonderful as they are) tend to be expensive.
This is why I’m proud of finding Luli Shoes – Scarpe per Donna – while crawling back to the hotel after hanging around Piazza di Spagna one afternoon. And here are the details: there are plenty of colourful shoes on its shelves; their styles stretch from comfortable to casual chic with very, very affordable prices, as high as 70 – 80 euro.
The models Luli has in the store are out of the ordinary.
I was under the impression that it was an outlet type (one or two pairs left of each model). Searching the internet about it, I find out it was an outlet, as most of the brands it sold were from Italian companies who went out of business.
I wandered around the shelves, trying all sorts of shoes (I’m a European size 36 myself – 3,5 UK, 6 USA – the one that is always available), feeling like a child in the candy story (I actually dreamt about being lost in huge shoe deposits and being allowed to try on shoes all day long).
The store keeper spoke English (and Spanish) and was kind enough to still smile at me when, after about an hour of hassle, I left with one pair of Duccio del Duca dirty pink ballerinas (luggage constraints… what a pity).
But guess who’s going to take no shoes with her for the next trip to Rome?