My go-go boot fixation started when I was around 5 years old. It was 1979 and my favorite show was “The New Zoo Revue”. I wanted to be Emmy Jo, one of the few people on the show that wasn’t concealed by a big furry costume. She was totally cute, and to this day I recall her signature outfit: some sort of short skirt and high-heeled boots. I used to imitate her dancing in the circle with the rest of the cast by skipping around the living room on my toes with my knee socks pulled as high as possible. Those socks were my own very first pair of go-go boots. Then there was Olivia, as in Newton-John. I must have seen Xanadu at least 50 times between the ages of 7 and 8. Not only did she sport some cool white slouchy boots with those goddess dresses, but even her roller-skates were fashioned to the knee.

Fast-forward a couple more years and you might have caught me glued to the TV again, this time transfixed to Olivia’s ’82 “Physical Tour” concert, which was repeated on HBO several times a day. She had the most amazing pair of red boots that perfectly matched the sparkly red frock she wore as she shimmied across the stage. And boy, did I worship Olivia (I wanted to cut my hair into the short shag she had back then, but my mother wisely never indulged me of that wish so I settled on wearing a headband). I really haven’t changed much since those early years (as a matter-of-fact, I just recently tracked down the DVD of that Olivia concert on Ebay). It’s just that now, I wear the real thing instead of knee socks. Over time, I’ve acquired a nice little collection of vintage boots (new ones? Please! They never get the heel or the toe shape quite right).
As I tinkered with my initial obsession with swinging mod fashion, they had to be of the white round-toed space-age variety. Eventually, my personal style slowly progressed from 60’s mod pop to 70’s wannabe rock star. The boots, however, were a constant, although my heels got higher and the toes got a little pointier. Guys love them too. Just reading the user comments from the “New Zoo Revue” DVD page on Amazon says it all: “Let me get this right...6 discs full of the incredibly hot Emmy Jo wearing miniskirts and go-go boots??? Sign me up for this one!” I think that most of them would prefer a girl looking like Emmy Jo than Pamela Anderson any day.

But pleasing boys has never been my purpose (though I do enjoy the peripheral side glances). My reasons for digging those foxy numbers are all about making myself happy. Pairing a great set of suede boots with a little miniskirt automatically turns me into the heroine of some campy spy flick. Swap that skirt for a little pair of hotpants and I feel tough and strong, but cool, kind of like a superhero (maybe that’s why Wonder Woman, Emma Peel, and the chicks from “Superfriends” wore them too). There's just something about zipping them up that's way too sexy. I was recently digging though some old artwork that I created as a kid. I found this one packet of pages from second grade entitled “My Me Book”. One of the exercises had me draw myself 10 years into the future. And lo-and-behold there I was: long blonde braids, a-line miniskirt, and boots to my knee. With the exception of the hair (mine is currently a chin-length shaggy bob), the image was spot-on. Even back then, I knew myself too well.

From top: Emmy Jo, Olivia Newton-John, 2nd grade self-portrait, the author's own go-go boot collection