Special tortures.

In trying to find a new pair of closed-toed sandals that use a buckle instead of Velcro, I'm learning that's basically a product no longer being made. I'm also learning shoe websites don't like people searching for things like closed-toed, or the clasp mechanism. Sometimes what I want is classified as a sandal, sometimes a shoe. And this isn't even getting into considering things like heel height, and heel narrowness.

It's especially demoralizing to find there's very little made in the way of women's shoes with buckles these days. Something nice to wear to work and meeting up with friends that helps me feel like I'm a grown-up and costs less than $400 doesn't seem like it should be giving me such a headache, but then, it's shoe shopping. Nothing's at all pleasant about that. These seem promising, and I may risk buying sight unseen to avoid going into a physical shoe store.