NYLON - January 2009 - (Page 100) eat at school and save your lunch money just so you can buy shoes?” The answer was, of course, yes—I did eat, but not as much as the other kids. I would pool together whatever money Hello, my name is Rajni Lucienne Jacques, and I am a shoe I had from my allowance with the savings I pocketed from being addict. I own around 424 pairs and counting. (Imelda Marcos, frugal at lunch, and voilà: more cash to spend on kicks. How else I’m right on your tail.) I have a serious problem: Designers keep would I have been able to buy the latest Nike Huaraches, in gray making incredibly stunning shoes and I keep buying them. My and black with a yellow Swoosh? It was 1993, the golden age of current favorites are: Yves Saint Laurent’s Tribute heel, Christian hip-hop, and I was a sneaker fanatic. As high school rolled around, Louboutin’s Mondrian-inspired wedge, Marni’s wood-and-lucite my style evolved and my habit grew even worse. I would anticipate sandal, Marc by Marc Jacobs’s ’70s-style blue suede platforms, going to the mall every Friday. Not to hang out with friends, but to and a pair of silver Nike Air Max 90s (which I’ve had since my scour every store for the latest styles. Footlocker was my first stop, freshman year of college). The truth is, shoes complete me. I’d then it was on to Wild Pair for boots covered in buckles, and finally, rather go naked than not have the money to buy a pair. My love Signature, for wedge heels and open-toed, sky-high creations. affair with them has clouded my judgment on more than one Building my collection has been like assembling an empire— occasion: I don’t get anxious when my bank account balance is each shoe serves a purpose. When I slip on a strappy Dior heel, dangerously close to zero, but I do stress out if I don’t have the I am a completely different woman from when I’m wearing Frye new Christian Louboutin suede ankle boots. motorcycle boots, for example. Shoes have the transformative I can trace my addiction back to the third grade. I had just power to bring out my different personalities. They invigorate me moved to Manalapan, New Jersey, and my mother took me back- in a way that no status bag or couture dress ever could. Maybe to-school shopping. We went to the Caldor department store and, that’s why my philosophy is that the shoe is the foundation of the for the very first time, she let me choose my own pair of shoes. outfit. I start with the shoe, and work my way around it. Any style I decided on black Mary Janes. They were patent leather, with a (sneakers, platforms, ballet flats, moccasins, oxfords, and boots); cutout heart shape at the toe, and the straps were adorned with any designer (from high-end labels like Chloé to affordable lines little white circles. I brought them home and tried them on like Steve Madden, and even the bargain stores, such as Forever with every piece of clothing in my closet. That day, I learned an 21)—everything is fair game. important lesson: Shoes do make the outfit. Every pair of shoes I purchase has a story behind it, and by Slowly, my appreciation grew into an obsession. By the time this point, I have a lot of stories to tell. One in particular concerns I was in the eighth grade, I knew I had gone overboard when my my quest to find a pair of beloved Balenciaga harness booties. mother, after helping me organize my closet, said, “Do you not They were way out of my budget—and, at the time, out of season—but I was determined to get them, come hell or high water. Every free second I had was spent looking and bidding on eBay. I harassed Barneys and Neiman Marcus sales associates from coast to coast, and even had friends traipsing around Paris mounds and mounds of shoes. 100 mania
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