The Little Black Bootie

 One major staple we have identified since being in Paris, and Europe in general, is a simple bootie.  Tall boots are out, and are a sure fired way to be pegged as an American.  Back home, it needed to be a very special occasion to get me into a pair of heels, but after one week here, I fell into the grasps of Parisian fashionistas and I had to buy a pair of Little Black Booties.

I see them on the metro, hear them clattering down the sidewalk, they are anywhere and everywhere.  I have not yet managed to incorporate them into my everyday ensemble, but they are a must for the night life in Europe.  Just this past weekend, I had three friends visit that are studying in Barcelona, all of whom brought with some form of short boot with a heel.  This craze for a short boot has gone international, and I can only imagine it popularized right here in Paris first.   

In America, any kind of heel for daily routine like grocery shopping, laundry, and other frumpy errands seems a bit ritzy, but here dressing down for public activity is frowned upon.  Even if said Parisian's outfit is not that over the top, they are almost always paired with a heeled bootie.  The practicality of a bootie trumps high heels due to the fact that they are easy to walk in, yet bring an overall fashionable finish to any outfit.  

Depicted below is the first "European staple" I have purchased since being here.  Though I don't think I'll ever give up on my tall boots, incorporating simple items such as this will help in our journey to assimilate into daily European life.