ALERT! Style crush! Stacey Sotosky is a multidisciplinary artist (with a focus on media and culture) and professor of English at Fort Lewis College. Her installation pieces, documentary work, and performance art invoke mind-expansion and stirring conversations. But heck, even brief fashion discussions can cause deep thought around Sotosky. DGO admired Sotosky’s shoes, told her so, and left the chat debating the feminist history of footwear.
“I never wear heels but I found a brand that is super comfortable and creative. They are L’Artiste and I get them from Zappos. They have 200-plus options and they’re amazingly comfortable, painted leather.
I’m interested in Durango-professional look: Clothes that have a flexible, leisurely component but that communicate a business tone simultaneously.
The necklace is amber. My ex-mother-in-law, it’s one of her pieces. She’s an artist and a cool lady. This piece keeps me connected to this lady who I am divorced from. A few people in my life have done this. I’ll say I like something and they’ll go, ‘Here, have it.’ That was this necklace. She gifted it to me. It gives an increased value of narrative and a proximity to the personal, to connectivity.
But back to the shoes, I learned from Mervin (Stilson) the cobbler what to look for in shoes, and even though they are from Zappos, I am supporting a brand that I believe to be worthwhile.
And, women in heels, there’s a lot to unpack there. I used to think that women who wore heels were exploiting themselves. It’s not the case. Heels can be a feminist choice. Fashion is complicated and deeply personal. Also, men first wore heels. It’s not just a women’s shoe. The history of heels goes back centuries and it’s a complex history of height and domination and class, and so much more.”
Interview edited and condensed for clarity. Patty Templeton
