gladiator sandals from turkey?

Right, it's not Summer yet - what in the world is going on?? Or what is going on in the world?? It's cloudy and it rains since weeks - but we sure are prepared for the trends which are going to be worn this season!

As I mentioned, we have not had a chance to wear any of them - my garden is ready for sun, the lettuce planted, the orchid bulbs already aiming towards the sky, but the lounge chairs are still folded leaning on the house wall for roof top coverage.

Last year I took some pictures in the front yard where I planted flowers and this year I am planning to do some more garden shoots, provided the sun finally comes out...

Elvis Presley cotton dresses and shirt by idil vice fashion rocks.

But it's really not the subject of this post, got carried away...

In 2001, just a week before 9/11, me and my hubs spent a wonderful vacation in Turkey and Greece, which of course came to an abrupt end that day, when we were about to get some last minute presents from the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, before we intended to board our plane back to Switzerland and then finally back to NYC, which everyone knows did never happen.

Anyway, I got carried away again here, sorry!

The gladiator sandals that promise to be THE trend this Summer are the reason for my post. They come in all shapes and colors, and even in a jelly version ( I ordered the white ones).

The jelly versions in different colors and the genius version by Balenciaga above.

For all that do not know, these sandals were worn by the Roman and Greek gladiators. Ha! And until today there are the hand crafted originals in Bodrum (South/West coast of Turkey) in a variety of styles, but of course in the classic version, in leather only. Nothing better than an authentic original, right?

There is a lot of history in these parts of the world and the nearby town of Ephesus, which once was governed by the Romans in the year 190 B.C. after Athens and the Spartans, who dominated it during the Persian Wars, during which Alexander The Great won it for the Persians, is an absolute Must-See.




Yes, and that is what I wanted to tell ya'll, that THAT Summer in Turkey, I bought a pair - and since have cursed myself that I did not buy the whole collection - Bodrumlu originals.

And here they are... I wore them in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and I will wear them in 2008.
They just came form my shoe maker and have a brand new rubber sole (even the one that the old greek guy on Simi Island, insisted on putting on ((for free)), so that I would not slip on the many stairs on the island and who spoke Italian so that I was able to communicate with him, Nicolas was his name, had been worn down by now).


So I am looking forward to go to Bodrum again soon to buy me a few more styles... (I love them, be they trendy or not) and visit one of my absolute favorite parts of the world!

Bone vacanze!