Va va vroom: Prada, Spring 2012 Hot Rod Flame Shoe

Va va vroom: Prada, Spring 2012 Hot Rod Flame Shoe, originally uploaded by retrogemkitty7.

Dammit, Miuccia. You've done it again. By "it", I mean you've come up with a collection that is filled with the retro references that are so near & dear to my heart, but also tweaked them in a wonderfully irreverent way so that not one item is too serious or precious. I would happily welcome any number of your Spring 2012 pieces into my wardrobe, especially the shoes, but with prices well into the four figures, that's not happening anytime soon. Since I don't give a damn (or perhaps a stronger word or two) about wearing "last year's" stuff, I can only hope a pair of these babies will eventually make it onto the shelves of one of my favorite Upper East Side consignment stores. Size 6.5, please.

I'm a gym rat & general exercise nut, & this Wednesday, my Spin class was led by a sub for the sub. To put it mildly, her workout was a disaster. She didn't seem to know the vocabulary of Spinning, which is quite specific, & as such, she called out almost no cues when it was time for us to switch moves. We basically had to watch her & guess what we were supposed to do next. Most of her in-class chatter centered around a fake travelogue, during which she mentioned that "we'd like to stop at McDonald's, but we're not going to." She also engaged in a a few moves that are known to be unsafe, such as doing push-ups on the handlebars of the bike. The kicker (so to speak) for me came during our cool-down stretches, when she launched into a lecture/rant about the evils of high heels. Out of the blue. This from a woman who was touting fast food a few minutes earlier? Maybe Morgan Spurlock should have made a documentary about superspiked footwear rather than supersized meals. Obviously, I got quite annoyed at this point, sprayed down my bike, & went downstairs to spend some quality time on the elliptical.

At age 42, I am well aware that high heels are not necessarily good for one's feet. I don't wear them every day or on occasions that will require a great deal of walking or standing (all-day shopping trips in NY, museum jaunts in Italy, etc.) I do, however, intend to wear them on special occasions or just when the mood strikes - as long as my body will tolerate them, of course. Snotty as this woman was, I do have to feel a bit sorry for her; she's aesthetically challenged (she also admitted to not caring much for music - of any kind!) I also can't wait for our regular Spin instructor to come back.