为了生活 我必须得有一百双鞋

 　　At even the most conservative estimate, I own about 100 pairs of shoes. I have smart high heels for taking taxi rides in and flat ones for walking in. I have elegant black ankle boots for looking-smart-but-still-being-able-to-walk in, and pointy little witchy shoes for embarrassing my daughter in.

　　按最保守的估计，我的鞋也有近百双之多。我乘出租车时穿漂亮的高跟鞋，漫步时则穿平底鞋。我有既时尚又耐用的黑色漂亮短靴以及怪异的尖头小鞋（着实让我女儿羡煞不已）。

　　I own seven pairs of sneakers, two sets of wellington boots, four pairs of loafers and five lots of slippers¹. Some shoes are furnished with extraordinary, sculptural wedge-shaped heels, and others tipped with tiny stilettos. I own artisanal clogs² that would befit a Quaker woodsmith, strappy snakeskin stilettos by Louis Vuitton and black-toed Chanel slingbacks that imbue³ the most banal⁴ of outfits⁵ with instant chic⁶. I own Saint Laurent Patti Smith-style army boots, Marc Jacobs jackboots and a fabulous⁷ pair of banana-yellow boots from Céline with a fit so narrow they near give me a cardiac arrest each time I try and remove them.

　　我有七双运动鞋、两双雨靴、四双乐福鞋以及五双拖鞋。有些鞋，带有不同寻常的楔形雕花鞋跟，其它鞋则带着细长的高跟。我还有手工打造的木屐鞋（它们适合贵格会(Quaker)木匠穿）、路易威登(Louis Vuitton)系带式蛇皮细高跟鞋以及香奈儿(Chanel)黑头露跟鞋（最寻常的行头配上它后也立显高大上）。我有帕蒂.史密斯(Patti Smith)穿的那种圣罗朗(Saint Laurent)军靴，马克.雅可布(Marc Jacobs)的过膝军用长统靴以及一双美不胜收的Céline香蕉黄皮靴。这双Céline靴子太紧了，以至于每次穿与脱都快让我心跳停止。

　　The volume of shoes, and the creeping accumulation of their boxes, which are piled in stacked columns of teetering shoe-scrapers in every corner of the bedroom, are now the subject of considerable marital⁸ tension. The discussion usually begins with a question: “When are you going to do something about all these bloody⁹ shoes?” And ends with me arguing that excessive shoe ownership is, in fact, a job requirement. Which is facetious¹⁰ yet incontrovertible: if a fashion editor can’t own a stupidly tremendous number of shoes, then who the hell can?

　　大量的鞋加上越来越多的鞋盒（它们垒在卧室各个角落，堆成摇摇欲坠的“鞋楼”），如今成了我和老公关系极度紧张的源头。我们夫妻的争执通常从下列问题开始：“你打算如何处理这些该死的鞋？”争执的结果是：我振振有词地说这么多鞋实在是自己工作所需。结论是，话糙理不糙：时尚编辑都没有那么多鞋，那么到底谁还应该有？

　　And yet I concede. He does have a point. The bedroom does “look like a bedsit”, and the shoescrapers are entirely¹¹ foul¹² and ugly.

　　然而，我也得承认，老公言之有理。我们的卧室都快成客卧两用房了，“鞋楼”既难闻又难看。

　　However — and I make this point in deadly earnest — I need them all. Every last pair. In the great everyday saga¹³ of getting dressed, the right shoe can make the difference between abject¹⁴ discomfort¹⁵ and a sense of pure infallibility. Nothing else can punctuate¹⁶ a look so efficiently¹⁷ — shoes are the semicolon, comma, exclamation¹⁸ mark and full stop of an outfit’s expression. Get a tiny detail wrong, a millimetre in heel height, the wrong toe shape, and everything looks off.

　　但是，我发自内心想说：我真的需要这些鞋。每一双都有特定用场。在如今这个讲究穿戴行头的时代，穿鞋合适，是件大事，决定了自卑苦恼还是趾高气扬。想要行之有效地突出自己形象，莫过于在意脚上的鞋款——它决定了整个行头的效果差劲、一般、不错还是无与伦比。细枝末节稍有不慎，比如脚跟的毫厘之差、鞋头形状不当，整体形象就会大打折扣。

　　As I collect clothes with the exact same enthusiasm I do footwear, my shoe needs have seemingly multiplied. This goes with that, but not this, goes with that, goes with this. I never seem to have quite the shoe that I need. And so, as a result, I’ve gotten lost in an acquisitional shoe spiral, endlessly picking up variations of the same thing in search of fashion’s holy grail — the ultimate footwear solution.

　　当我以堪比买鞋的热忱购买衣服时，我对鞋的需求似乎一发而不可收了。这双鞋只能配那套服装，但配不了这套；这双鞋既能配那套服装，也能配这套服装。我似乎永远没有理想的鞋。因此，我陷入不断买鞋的恶性循环中而不能自拔，无休止地买进各式各样的鞋，以圆心中的时尚圣梦——一双理想的鞋。

　　It’s an issue that becomes even more urgent in winter, when coat lengths, hemlines and socks must be factored in. Winter shoes must traverse all kinds of environmental obstacles, and work with the seasonal¹⁹ trends. How does one balance the current crop of three-quarter-length culottes and midi-skirts, for example? What does one wear with a wide-legged tuxedo²⁰ trouser so sweeping²¹ it collects autumnal debris²² in its wake? An over-the-knee silver stiletto boot by Balenciaga may work marvellously well with those bold-shouldered blazer shapes, but not without an accompanying chauffeur²³? I do not lie when I say that such dilemmas²⁴ keep me awake at night.

　　到了冬季，选鞋尤为重要，因为此时大衣长度、裙子长度以及袜子都必须统筹考虑。冬鞋必须综合考虑各种不利的环境因素，而且还得与时尚流行风相契合。比方说，如何取舍如今流行的七分裙裤(three-quarter-length culottes)与中长裙(midi skirts)？长款宽腿礼服裤（可以说裤卷残云）该与啥衣服搭配？巴黎世家(Balenciaga)的银色过膝高跟靴也许与那些肩部醒目的运动上衣搭配效果最好，但没有私人司机随行是否会无此效果？我还是实话实说：权衡这种棘手问题让我夜不能寐。

　　Hence, it is with no small degree of excitement to announce that I may have found the answer. The footwear solution of autumn 2016 is a knee-high, block-heeled, tan-coloured boot. It’s a practical go-with-anything colour. It’s chunky enough to bash through a normal working day but works really well with a dress, and it tilts²⁵ towards this season’s 1970s trend without looking massively fashionable. The style first presented itself at the Etro show in Milan (at which I was, perversely²⁶, looking at clothes destined²⁷ for the shops next February), where the models wore a sturdy gaucho²⁸ boot with kasbah robes, kaftan silks and boiler²⁹ suits. They looked cool, they looked comfortable, and the looks were always perfectly³⁰ proportioned.

　　因此，当我宣称可能找到了最理想的鞋时，激动之情真是难以言表。我为2016年秋季选中的鞋就是棕褐色粗跟及膝靴。棕褐色可谓百搭色。厚实的鞋跟既能绰绰有余地应付正常忙碌的工作日，又能恰如其分地搭配各种裙装，而且它很好地因应了这个时装季流行的上世纪70年代复古风格（同时又没有时髦过头）。这种款式首现于埃特罗(Etro)米兰时装周：模特脚穿结实耐用的高乔人皮靴(gaucho boot)，身穿北非风格的长袍、土耳其真丝长袍以及连体工作服在T型台上走秀。这些装束显得既新潮又着眼，整体层次效果无与伦比。

　　The seed of an obsession³¹ was planted. And a short internet trawl later I found my boots at APC, the fantastic French fashion house at which one so often finds the things one really needs. This season, the store is selling an “Iris” boot (￡490), made in a thick, shiny conker-brown leather with a stacked square heel. I bought mine four weeks ago and haven’t taken them off since. They work with everything in my wardrobe and they never hurt. They weren’t cheap, but according to the fashion economy of cost-per-wear I reckon I’ll break even by Christmas.

　　自此，我可以说是为鞋消得人憔悴。稍微浏览一下网络，自己就在法国时尚名牌APC门店找到了心仪的鞋，这个网店通常能让时装爱好者满足心愿。这个时装季，APC门店正热销“Iris”方形叠跟款皮靴（售价490英镑），它由光亮厚实的深栗色(conker-brown)真皮打造而成。这双皮靴与自己衣柜的所有服饰都那么般配，彼此交相辉映。皮靴价格不菲，但按照时装经济学的每次着装成本衡量，我认为到今年圣诞节自己就能穿够本了。

　　Most importantly, the reason I know these boots are the solution is that every day I’ve worn them someone has approached me to ask where they’re from. Sartorial³² validation³³ has been secured in every instance: the woman in the audience of a talk last week who rushed up afterwards; the fellow editor sat on the front row; the fashion designer who recalled owning something “just like that in the 1970s”.

　　最重要的是，我清楚这双靴正中自己下怀的理由是：我每天穿着它上班时，总有人向我打听它是从哪儿买的。自己选对这双皮靴不断有实例为证：有位女听众在上周报告会后一再催问我皮靴的来源，坐在报告会前排的一位同行时尚编辑也是如此，某时装设计师回忆自己上世纪70年代曾有一双类似款式的“皮靴”。

　　Best of all, I’ve now been stopped five times (and counting) on the Tube to be asked about my boots. Smug? You bet I am. Not since I bought a pair of green suede³⁴ pirate boots (from Schuh in 1999) has a single item in my possession invited so much attention.

　　最让我得意的是：在地铁上已有五人次（而且还在不断增加）问及皮靴的卖处。感觉爽吧？当然啰。自本人1999年从Schuh门店购买一双绿色山羊皮海盗靴以来，还没有哪件行头获得如此高的关注度。

　　On the flipside, with the discovery of a solution, the shoescrapers are becoming daily more endangered, more likely than ever to be suddenly condemned³⁵. And so I’ve had to mix it up a bit to ensure a stay of execution. I may have found the ultimate winter footwear, but I still need all those shoes.

　　另一方面，淘到理想的鞋后，家里垒起的“鞋楼”的处境越来越不妙，遭遇“突然处理”的概率越来越高。所以嘛，我不得不间或穿穿它们，以延缓这些鞋“退出江湖”的日期。我最终也许能淘到理想的冬鞋，但目前我仍需要这些鞋发挥余热。

1 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

2 clogs   

木屐； 木底鞋，木屐( clog的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Clogs are part of the Netherlands national costume. 木屐是荷兰民族服装的一部分。
• Clogs are part of the Dutch traditional costume. 木屐是荷兰传统装束的一部分。

3 imbue   

v.灌输(某种强烈的情感或意见)，感染

参考例句：

• He managed to imbue his employees with team spirit.他成功激发起雇员的团队精神。
• Kass is trying to imbue physics into simulated worlds.凯斯想要尝试的就是把物理学引入模拟世界。

4 banal   

adj.陈腐的，平庸的

参考例句：

• Making banal remarks was one of his bad habits.他的坏习惯之一就是喜欢说些陈词滥调。
• The allegations ranged from the banal to the bizarre.从平淡无奇到离奇百怪的各种说法都有。

5 outfits   

n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits. 他把承包工程分包给许多小单位。 来自辞典例句
• Some cyclists carry repair outfits because they may have a puncture. 有些骑自行车的人带修理工具，因为他们车胎可能小孔。 来自辞典例句

6 chic   

n./adj.别致(的)，时髦(的)，讲究的

参考例句：

• She bought a chic little hat.她买了一顶别致的小帽子。
• The chic restaurant is patronized by many celebrities.这家时髦的饭店常有名人光顾。

7 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

8 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

9 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

10 facetious   

adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的

参考例句：

• He was so facetious that he turned everything into a joke.他好开玩笑，把一切都变成了戏谑。
• I became angry with the little boy at his facetious remarks.我对这个小男孩过分的玩笑变得发火了。

11 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

12 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

13 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

14 abject   

adj.极可怜的，卑屈的

参考例句：

• This policy has turned out to be an abject failure.这一政策最后以惨败而告终。
• He had been obliged to offer an abject apology to Mr.Alleyne for his impertinence.他不得不低声下气，为他的无礼举动向艾莱恩先生请罪。

15 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。

16 punctuate   

vt.加标点于；不时打断

参考例句：

• The pupils have not yet learned to punctuate correctly.小学生尚未学会正确使用标点符号。
• Be sure to punctuate your sentences with the correct marks in the right places.一定要在你文章句子中的正确地方标上正确的标点符号。

17 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

18 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

19 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

20 tuxedo   

n.礼服，无尾礼服

参考例句：

• Well,you have your own tuxedo.噢，你有自己的燕尾服。
• Have I told you how amazing you look in this tuxedo?我告诉过你穿这件燕尾服看起来很棒吗？

21 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

22 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

23 chauffeur   

n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车

参考例句：

• The chauffeur handed the old lady from the car.这个司机搀扶这个老太太下汽车。
• She went out herself and spoke to the chauffeur.她亲自走出去跟汽车司机说话。

24 dilemmas   

n.左右为难( dilemma的名词复数 )；窘境，困境

参考例句：

• They dealt with their dilemmas by mixing perhaps unintentionally an explosive brew. 他们――也许是无意地――把爆炸性的佐料混合在一起，以此来应付困难处境。 来自辞典例句
• Ten years later we encountered the same dilemmas in Vietnam. 十年后，我们又在越南遇到了同样进退两难的局面。 来自辞典例句

25 tilts   

（意欲赢得某物或战胜某人的）企图，尝试( tilt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• As the kitten touches it, it tilts at the floor. 它随着击碰倾侧，头不动，眼不动，还呆呆地注视着地上。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
• The two writers had a number of tilts in print. 这两位作家写过一些文章互相攻击。

26 perversely   

adv. 倔强地

参考例句：

• Intelligence in the mode of passion is always perversely. 受激情属性控制的智力，总是逆着活动的正确方向行事。
• She continue, perversely, to wear shoes that damaged her feet. 她偏偏穿那双挤脚的鞋。

27 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

28 gaucho   

n. 牧人

参考例句：

• Outside the city there are many countryside ranches for city dwellers to live the gaucho life,or just enjoy country life in the pampas,the grasslands outside buenos aires.城外有许多农庄，可以供城市居民前往居住和体验牛仔生活，或者只是去享受一下草原上的农家生活。
• There are many working estancias where tourists can live out the gaucho lifestyl

29 boiler   

n.锅炉；煮器(壶，锅等)

参考例句：

• That boiler will not hold up under pressure.那种锅炉受不住压力。
• This new boiler generates more heat than the old one.这个新锅炉产生的热量比旧锅炉多。

30 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

31 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

32 sartorial   

adj.裁缝的

参考例句：

• John has never been known for his sartorial elegance.约翰从来没有因为衣着讲究而出名。
• Jeans a powerful egalitarian message,but are far more likely to a sartorial deathtrap for politicians.政客们穿上牛仔裤是传递亲民的讯息，但也更容易犯穿衣禁忌。

33 validation   

n.确认

参考例句：

• If the countdown timer ever hits zero, do your validation processing. 处理这种情况的方法是在输入的同时使用递减计时器，每次击键重新计时。如果递减计时器变为零，就开始验证。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Although the validation control is a very widespread idiom, most such controls can be improved. 虽然确认控件是非常广泛的习惯用法，但还有很多有待改进的地方。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

34 suede   

n.表面粗糙的软皮革

参考例句：

• I'm looking for a suede jacket.我想买一件皮制茄克。
• Her newly bought suede shoes look very fashionable.她新买的翻毛皮鞋看上去非常时尚。

35 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。