the following post is probably much ado about nothing to most of you. don’t say i didn’t warn you.
so, i’m perfectly aware there are other things to deliberate that are of far more importance than what you’re about to read…world peace, presidential candidates, the fuel crisis. i do care about all of these, and i’m not shallow.
but i feel like one of those newspaper reporters who’s sniffin’ out a good story, and i may have just found it in the stride rite dilemma. it needs to be shared.
i’ve always had a thing about the classic stride rite walking shoes. it’s a rite of passage in a baby’s life, getting those shoes…shoes that will someday be bronzed and perched upon a keepsake shelf for all to see, shoes that will be photographed and memorialized, shoes that will earn their scuff marks like badges of honor. and it’s not one of those oh-honey-can-you-pick-up-baby’s-new-stride-rites-on-the-way-home-from-work things. oh no, no, no, no. it’s a very special moment.
i knew exactly how i wanted to do it, and i envisioned just what it would be like. we were going to take her to a little local shoe store…one some old man has owned for years…one that smelled like leather and shoe polish and was as far away from the monopolized mall stores as you could find.
she would get her little feet measured and the old man would come out of the back room holding a tiny stride rite box. he would lift the top and peel back the crinkly-sounding waxed tissue paper. inside, there they would be…her first walking shoes. (for dramatic purposes, at this point, the heavens would open and the shoe store would be filled with the melodious sound of singing angels).
supple white leather they’d be, with thin white strings and hard brown hand-stitched soles. i would, of course, be snapping pictures of every moment of this event, and then we’d all go home and live happily ever after…in really cute walking shoes.
Enter shoe crisis 1.
cubby started walking during hottest months of already super-hot-climate, and ankle-high shoes (which cost $45, by the way) just aren’t practical. besides, she needs a pair of shoes like a brick to the head. we have a closet full.
that’s okay…this is a moment, these are keepsakes and these babies are gunna be bronzed and displayed forever.
Enter shoe crisis 2.
began shoe research only to be deeply saddened. the classic hard-soled stride rites i have dreamed of for so long have stopped being made. they are no more. and i have looked everywhere, googling every combination of walking/hardsole/striderite you can find…even clicked up to page 6 on google. my white, supple-leathered, hand-stitched dick & jane classic walkers have been replaced with these, a sad-looking mass-produced modern version all the we-only-shop-at-the-mall babies are wearing. and they have, get this, soft soles. (gasp) i want the hurt-like-the-dickens-when-they-kick-you-in-the-shins kind. but no…the stride rite “patter” style has gone extinct.
i’ll never have my photo shoot.
…but wait.
did you say classic? my queen-of-all-class friend dede will certainly be able to solve this. anyone who has the most impressive collection of little black dresses you’ve ever seen (not to mention 20 pairs of the same ralph lauren shorts in black, white and khaki lined up like file cabinet folders in her closet) will know what to do about classic stride rites.
and she did just that. upon mentioning my dilemma, she immediately runs to her keepsake pile in her son’s closet and came out holding a box. “you mean these stride rites?” behold, the holy grail. hard brown leather soles: check. hand-stitching: check. white supple leather soft and lightly scuffed from wear: check. these are the stride rites i’ve been looking for…straight from the pages of a vintage dick & jane book.
…and she let us borrow them.
i now present the stride rite walking shoe photo shoot…sans a $45 receipt.
i think kathleen kelly would like these. yes…these pics are dedicated to all the shop-around-the-corners that were turned into baby gaps…and to dede: someday i’ll be as classy as you. but for now i’ll spritz some bvgari blu in the kitchen to hide the old food smell coming from the sink and go to bed. hey, at least my kid looks pretty classy in these pics.
(P.S. I’d still love for LL to have her own pair…if anyone ever sees Stride Rite “Patter” style anywhere, leave me a comment! I’ll pay to have them shipped!)
Yes, there are the vigilant eco-preservationists that will fight to save the whales, pandas or manatees…but while they were battling on these fronts, an American classic disappeared. I share your sentiments and still proudly wear the scars on my shins you children gave me with those shoes. Some take up arms, you used your feet. Loved the post. You remind me of things I forgot I missed. Love your sole. Thank you Alec for sharing your shoes with Lainey Love–even but for a photo session.
positively delicious.
yes, kathleen kelly would be proud. why, I’d imagine she’d pick lainey up and…twirl. all the while, surrounded by twinkle lights and the sounds of joni mitchell.
great post, indeed.
Moon . . . I love your ever-so-charming, wonderfully classic and creative ways you describe the world we all pass by and never think twice about! Thank you for capturing such wonderful memories with Lainey Love! I, too, knew Alec had to have the “traditional” stride rite shoes, like I did, isn’t that a “rite of passage” that all children go through? I’m so sad another classic is gone – but thanks to you, being the wonderfully creative, sentimental soul you are – you captured a memory we can all cherish! Thank you, Kelle for being you – we love you for exactly who you are! XOXO – DK
Seriously??? I am completely speecheless right now, I’ll have to post later.
i smiled and chuckled at your blog. i love the “hurt-like-the-dickens-when-they-kick-you-in-the-shins” part. 🙂 haha
brilliant photo shoot
I love this….I too couldn’t wait for the day we went to Stride Rite for my kids first pair of walking shoes! My mom always bought the first pair for each grandchild. I knew that they went ugly now too without the brown sole because my sister is carrying on the tradition with her grandchildren and when they went to get Brooks they were gone. I still have my kids too….maybe I should dig them out for Brooke!!!!I’m not quiet as organized as your friend though it might take me a while to find them.
By the way the shoes look fabulous on Lainey and you will love the sound they make on your floors!! I can just here them clomping!!!
oh those shoes…brings back memories of Elias in his shoes like that.
LL looks like Jane from the dick and jane book. So adorably classic.
And I think these are better than brand new. These will be passed on to child after child and will tell a story of first steps. Love it!
ELIAS DIAH!!! I thought the same thing (and boy could he kick with those!) …so can anyone find these shoes? I still would love a pair for LL!
kathleen kelly would indeed, twirl with lainey…in a bookshop…wearing those precious shoes, amongst the twinkle lights-i concur with carin. she said it perfectly.
those pics are so precious kell.
If I remember correctly, we couldn’t get them for Ev…in 2000 My mom and I went to Birmingham to get them; she always buys their first pair as well, and they were discontinued. We bought rubber soled ones but I REFUSED to by the flowered up scrolled on the top nastiness and bought the plainest ones. Sad sad day. I feel your pain and really repsect the generousity of your lovely friend..how nice…
I have A LOT to say about this topic! Actually, I have A LOT to say about how much I had no idea what a big deal stride rites were in the ‘rite’ of passage to walking-hood!!
I wasn’t allowed to have Reebok high tops or cabbage patch kids because they were too “trendy” and my mom wanted to show us not to follow trends in life!
Tough lesson to learn when I’m in 7th grade with your ‘stadia-wanna-be-reebok’ high tops where I whited out the label and hand wrote in the word ‘Reebok’ with black sharpie marker so Shanna Parra wouldn’t make fun of me and like me. Didn’t follow the trends because I wasn’t allowed to and Shanna liked me. Sometimes. Depending on who was looking. But, in the end it was a good lesson!!
Then I had to google who the farm ”Kathleen Kelly” was because I didn’t have a clue! Turns out she’s a famous doll maker!! How would I know since I never had a doll (by choice) bc I was outside making wooden airplanes with hammer/nails/paint, finding bugs and playing kickball with all the boys in the neighborhood!!
So much to learn!! Maybe things would’ve been different had I had a puppy to love.
HA!! Kathleen Kelly is the character Meg Ryan plays in You’ve Got Mail…my favorite movie.
Well this website says differently about Kathleen Kelly!!
http://www.infotivity.com/custom/collectible_dolls.htm
This whole thing is HILARIOUS!!
PS When I first read the initial post, I thought it said “I think Kelly would like these”…I didn’t read the word “Kathleen” and thought you were talking about me liking these shoes. Although I was honored you would mention me in a post, I looked around my room as if I didn’t know who/what you were talking about. Then I reread.
And I digress.
Here’s another Kathleen Kelly from Mr. Google. Page 1 in fact.
This poor thing has scleroderma.
http://www.ihavescleroderma.com/pages/kelly.htm
Read her story. This girl needs a puppy. Bad.
OMG! Here’s ANOHTER Kathleen Kelly!
http://kathleenkellyphoto.com/
And she’s a photographer just like you Kelle! I think you 2 are cosmically connected. Maybe you could mail her Alec’s Stride Rite shoes and you two could have “photo-off” like a showdown except you’re not pulling triggers, but you’re pressing camera buttons.
You 2 could stand back to back.
Take 3 steps each.
Turn.
And snap.
Winner takes Stride Rites home.
I can’t stop.
Do you think this photographer did an event for John McCain?
I think not.
(tapping microphone 3 times)
Is this thing on?
LOL at “ELIAS DIAH”! Man! He was the biggest boy ever! Still is!
not sure if you’re still looking…but maybe for little Nella!
http://www.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=3897891#
Hi Again Kelle – from way out in the 2013 future! I LOVE this post. I saw this same scene playing out with my little girl. I have my original stride rite’s and they are actually proudly displayed on a shelf in her room – scuff marks and all.
So I felt your disappointment on this when at a first trip to Stride Rite we were greeted with colorful, and even ugly, soft soled walking shoes. Ugh! So we stuck with our Pedipeds and waited to buy some Stride Rite white classic sandals this summer (she’s almost 2).
Just could so relate to this post. And still loving ‘the early years’ and poppa’s comments. 🙂
~Heather
Yes I know your pain (hence the reason i’ve stumbled upon your blog thanks to my combos of the search terms “old, stride rite, hard bottom, walking shoes”! I will not be satisfied until i have a pair for my firstborn daughter even though she isn’t even here yet lol! But i’m 31 and i’ve waited a long time for this and I will be so heartbroken if i can’t photograph my baby girl with her classic stride rites equipped with the bells on the laces, and wearing a dress and lace socks with her hair in two afro puffs (if she has enough hair for this). This is my vision, my dream, MY HOPE!
There is an old fashioned store in downtown Greenville Ms. They sell the closest thing to old fashioned “walking shoes”
I found my sons pair at a pregnancy care place. I couldnt believe the luck as hard sole baby shoes are rare now.
What is the store name because I am looking for some. Thanks so kindly!