Where are my black boots?

Here is a classic case of why I don't throw stuff out. We went to Ren Fest last weekend with some friends who wanted to dress up. It was a last minute decision for us, and so I had no costume. Rich has an old king costume from many Halloweens ago, and Elizabeth has a princess dress, and we had a pirate bandanna and scarf for Andrew. And I felt like a tool with no costume ideas at all. Suddenly I was inspired. I had recently purchased a plain shirt with quite puffy sleeves. With black pants, a bandanna, and big gold jewelry, I figured I could at least look slightly like a pirate-y gypsy-ish person. (though you're not supposed to say gypsy anymore, right, so I don't know what the other part of my costume was supposed to be - a fortune teller? Is that sensitive to the plight of the Roma?). Plus, I have, somewhere, flat black slouch boots, so perfect to complete the costume.

Now, I bought these boots either in high school or perhaps in the first years of college, so late 80s. I loved them and wore them all the time and when my cat the famous Andre attacked them and bit a hole in the leather, I had them repaired at a cost probably more than the original boot cost. So, all I had to do was find them. I did remember that I hadn't worn them for a while - I distinctly recall wearing them in the winter of '94 (yes, 1994!) and noticing water seeped into them. But I have recently seen those boots, in the great clearout of the front bedroom, so definitely worth digging out and using for this fake costume.

When my sister was here last summer she helped me go through a ton of stuff in the front bedroom, for a very very nice tax deduction. I ran across the boots then, in a box of old shoes that hadn't been worn (or seen the light of day, truth be told) for probably at least ten years. And the boots were there. So, last Sunday morning, I searched. And searched. And searched. Not in the front bedroom closet. Not in the boot box under my bed (but did find a pair of boots that were ripped and I can throw out). Not in the cardboard box I thought they were in, in the attic. Not in any other box in the attic. Not shoved into my closet. Not in any other shoe storage area. No sign of them in the basement. Not in my trunk that contains nearly all my other 80s paraphernalia, like my prom dress. An hour of searching, and I could not find them. And because it was muddy and wet (which means the boots probably would have been a bad choice anyway since my last memory of wearing them was cold, wet feet), I ended up wearing an old pair of tassel loafers, and I have yet to meet any pirate/gypsy/fortune teller who wears tassel loafers.

I save things for one reason and one reason alone - you never know. You never know when you might need them. Sure, slouchy boots went out of style in the mid-90s, but now that style is back in! The location of these boots is driving my insane. I just went down and looked in another bag, inspired by a new thought. No dice.

But I did just find the tax receipt from the big clothing of the 80s purge of '08.

12 skirts
1 t-shirt. With shoulder pads
4 jackets (HUGE shoulder pads)
4 vests (I used to really, really like vests - my mid90s look)
3 silk blouses
1 top (? not a blouse or tshirt but a top?)
3 dresses
2 exercise shorts
1 formal dress
4 pairs of shoes
2 purses
1 earwarmer
1 hat
2 pairs mittens

Daggone, that was a lot. 42 items. Wohoo. Hmm, though - I had been wondering if I had donated those boots, and thought the receipt would tell me. 4 pairs of shoes. I would have written down boots if they were there. So that means those boots are in this house somewhere, taunting me.

These next 20 days of decluttering now have a purpose. Find the d**m boots. And then put them in the boot box under my bed (with another pair of brown boots I had totally forgotten I had, no, not these, a pair of high heeled stretch faux suede), so that the next time I want to be a pirate/fortune teller/gypsy I am prepared!!