In addition to packing essentially everything I own for 9 days of Paris Fashion Week, I made one new purchase: a pair of white Nike SB Dunk High Pros [1]. My theory: pristine optic-white high-tops would, in the blink of an eye, 'pull together' any and all of the denim-and-button-down combos I could muster. A little Yeezy, a little Hedi. Slip 'em on and all of a sudden, you've got an Outfit (but not in that street-style-clown way). However, white shoes come with a lot of responsibility—as does white anything, I guess—with regard to maintenance. (The New York Times once reported that Murphy's Oil Soap and a toothbrush is the best way to keep your white kicks looking fresh. See—this is an issue!) And what's the life expectancy on a pair of these bad boys? Three months? Because 1) Shoes touch the ground, and 2) The ground, particularly in NYC but also in Paris (the French: great at steak; picking up after their dogs, not so much), is disgusting. Fittingly, it POURED on Day 1 of Fashion Week...which, of course, is when I decided to break out my new shoes. But this made up for it: as I mulled around looking for beauty soundbites backstage at Rochas, I spied the models' footwear. They all wore white lace-up wrestling boots [2, 3], protected from scuffs by blue cotton booties (surgical scrubs?). Good one! I considered swiping a pair. Clearly, Rochas designer Marco Zanini had been listening to Nelly's “Air Force Ones', in which the St. Lunatics rap:

Now don't nothing get the hype on first sight like white on whites

Them three-quarters, them lows, they all tight

The only problem, they only good for one night

Cause once you scuff 'em, you fucked up your whole night

—Nick Axelrod