One last thing

IT WAS a loafer which did it; a fancy affair with a chain across the top and a wedge heel, hailed as the shoe of the season in a fashion mag I was flicking through.

And I heard myself – channelling my mother, I’ll admit – as I said out loud: “I had a pair of those 30 years ago.” They were black and from Dolcis; proper grown-up shoes which spoke of a woman serious about her career and her footwear.

This week, I’ve been on the receiving end of some old photos courtesy of a friend who’s been rooting in her loft. And they’re great to look – and laugh – at. Those hair styles! That frock! The ultra blue eyeshadow!

But as much as I enjoyed them, I found myself wishing there was some real life in there among the party pictures which recorded the every day as well as the Saturday night.

A snap of my desk for instance, complete with typewriter and Tippex and an enormous landline ‘phone. Or the swirly decor of my college digs, the shell-made- into-an

ashtray on the sideboard, the glass clown ornaments – stuff that really paints a picture of the time.

We take more photos than ever in 2020. Perhaps as well as turning the lens on ourselves and kids and friends, we should spend more time recording the mundane for posterity too.

Like our shoes.