My first pair of boots came borrowed. I was what city folk called a “club girl.” I wore a white wig, a fuzzy turquoise dress that was too short for my dad to ever know about, and white platform go-go boots that a fellow club girl had lent me one weekend, which I returned one year later. Those boots gave me the perfect platform lift and provided enough comfort to keep me dancing all night long. When I wore the white boots, I felt sexy, which was a shoe-in to begin my boot fetish.
When I shop for shoes, I look for a certain color that I need in order to match something in my closet. My shoes usually come in shades of brown or black. If they’re sneakers, they may veer off into safe shades of green or blue, but usually shoe shopping keeps me in line. But when I set out on a mission for a pair of boots, even if I know that I need a brown or black pair, I am easily swayed to purchase boots from all spectrums of the rainbow because I know that with boots, no matter what color or heel, I will make them get along with my wardrobe.
While living in Bangkok, Thailand, there was a different outdoor market for whatever I was looking for: Chatuchak Market was where you went for gifts for friends back home or if you wanted to outfit your new expatriate household. Patpong was where tourists went at night for fake watches or to participate in the illegal sex trade. Pahurat Market was Bangkok’s Little India, where I went for incense, perfectly-crisp samosas, and a fine chai. But it was Pratunam Market, with a secret entrance nestled between some shopping stalls, that had the goods. Pratunam was where the Thai lady boys went for their sexy get-ups and more importantly for me—their hot boots.
It was 2001, and my best friend, Kali, was the most recent orphan from the dot-com bust. After helping her plan her Southeast Asian severance adventure, we made a secret joint decision that I would move back to San Francisco just in time for Burning Man, the place where the art festival met the alternative community in the Nevada desert each summer. I would surprise all of my friends who thought I was going to finish my year in Bangkok by showing up at Burning Man dressed in costume.
