Jolie laide?

I seem to be on a sandal kick at the moment but I think it's part of my getting-equipped-for-summer-angst...more on that another day when I get my thoughts in order...

When I first came across Modern Vintage's gladiator sandals I couldn't decide if they were a)ugly, yet pretty and kind of cool or b)ugly, vaguely orthopedic, and 70's glam. At this point I think they're a mixture of all those things...and a little more...an odd pot-pourri of Gene Simmons, Bande à part, and 50's schoolgirl...slightly wrong and yet oddly attractive. Or jolie laide, as the French say, unconventionally attractive. But, really, who wants to be conventional?

"Not I", said the fly.