Women's Footwear in America

About two weeks ago after the big snowstorm my husband and I decided to take a walk at a park near our home. We both love to take pictures, so the cold and snow didn’t deter us. We had the park almost entirely to ourselves, but in the end it turned out we weren’t the only ones with this idea. As we were leaving I couldn’t help but notice these beautiful boots.

Without missing a photo op I asked the young woman wearing them if I could take a picture. Her husband offered to take one as well — which turned out to be much better than mine. We started talking and realized we lived on the same street and both blogged.  She told me the boots are from Banana Republic and were originally in Brown.  She loved the boots, but not the color, so had them dyed black and after a few bad winters they may need a touch up.

I get a lot of compliments when I wear them and most people are shocked to know they’re from Banana Republic!

Sandra has an instagram site @lifesamoda, an Etsy site and is also working on a website. Her Etsy site is what caught my attention. She sells t-shirts that celebrate Latina Icons. It seems like the media chooses too frequently to portray Latina Women as primarily voluptuous sex symbols. Sandra is trying to change that by promoting positive images of Latina Women with her LaModa Tees.

The idea of starting this T-shirt line came one day while talking to my kids about our Latino culture. We are from the Dominican Republic but were born and raised in New York City. To explain the topic with visuals, I googled “Dominican women” on the search engine and what I saw was too shocking. There were no positive images for my children to see. I later came up with the idea that there should be a way for Latina women to promote positive images of ourselves. Thus, “LaModa Tee’s” was born! – Sandra Vargas

Latina Inspiration.

Ellen Ochoa, Celia Cruz, Claribel Alegria, Julia de Burgos, Dolores Huerta, Vilma Martinez, Cristina Fernandez De Kirchner, Michelle Bachelet, Alicia Dicherson Montemayor, Sonia Sotomayor, Isabel Allende, Julia Alvarez, Jovita Idár, Rigoberta Menchú, Salma Hayek Pinault, Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, Dolores Del Rio, Frida Kahlo.

Dolores Del Rio mural by artist Alfredo de Batuc in Hollywood : Courtesy Library of Congress.

Frida Kahlo, photo shoot for Vogue magazine, “Senoras of Mexico” 1937, Toni Frissell: Courtesy Library of Congress.

Celia Cruz, 1962: Courtesy LIbrary of Congress.

And below in memory of my own Latina Icon, my mother in law, Celinda [Ferrer] Santos, November 23, 1929 – January 20, 2009.

Celinda [Ferrer] Santos | Lima, Peru.

And the list is long…