My friend Steve is going to Scotland on Thursday, and a friend of his over there asked him to bring her a pair of tango shoes. He had no idea where to start, so he enlisted my help. This morning I took him to my favourite tango shoe shop, Comme Il Faut, one of the best ones in Buenos Aires. I love their shoes, but what make going there fun is the shopping experience itself, and today was even more fun than usual.

When you enter the showroom, you are invited to have a seat and tell them your shoe size, the height of heel you want and any specific requirements. Jean’s shoe size is the same as mine (even though I prefer them with 9 cm heels and she wanted them 7.5 cm!) so I could try them on for her — trying and buying gorgeous tango shoes with someone else’s money, how much fun is that?

From the selection of boxes around us, we picked out a couple of pairs, and I suggested sending Jean a photo to see if she liked them. That started a chat, and then Steve decided to just do a video call with her. That’s when the fun began! She started asking me questions and I gave her information, but one of the two assistants started telling us what to tell her. It turns out that Jean speaks Spanish, so we handed the phone over to the assistant. They then laid out a whole row of shoes and used the phone to show Jean and describe each pair! I modeled the pair she liked best and she ended up taking them. Photos and video below.

I don’t think this would have happened anywhere else but in Buenos Aires!

By now you are probably saying, “I wonder if Helen bought shoes for herself” — you know me so well! Actually I didn’t, but the only reason I was safe is that I bought a new pair a couple of weeks ago! Here they are in all their blingy glory!

There’s just nothing like a new pair of tango shoes! Enjoy yours, Jean!