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Underground > Art, Fashion & Design >

Finding summer shoes

07:51 / 08.07.05

I know there are shoe afficianados on the board, and if you are such a person I am asking for your help. I like summery shoes, but I do not own a pair. The nearest thing I have are strappy sandals I bought from New Look last year, which are complaining to me in no uncertain terms about having to walk 3/4 of an hour a day on my commute, and I'm not sure how helpful re-heeling them is going to be. Things which I think are fundamental to their construction, such as the soles, are coming adrift from their moorings. So, it would be nice to get a new pair of shoes I can wear in the summer. My feet, however, (being very narrow at the heel and absolutely huge at the toes) are of a shape more usually seen on a marsh-wiggle or similar amphibious creature than a human female.

Do you know of a place that either does shoes that are this shape and are pretty, or will make shoes like this and are not massively expensive?

20:16 / 08.07.05

Have you tried Evans? I have the same problem, Evans are not too bad, they actually have some nice shoes in there. Other than that it can get expensive. Most shoe shops only deal with long thin feet.

23:23 / 08.07.05

I've got wide feet. And new summer shoes. *Glee*. Those thongy ones are good if you don't mind feet exposure (cover your ears Nina) because your feet can just flop about to the edge of the sole without it hurting.

Tomorrow in the daylight I'll take a picture.

10:05 / 11.07.05

Oooh, I'd forgotten Evans had good shoes -they had some fantastic boots a couple of years ago, but when I tried them they looked just a bit too pirate. This wouldn't be a problem with summer shoes, of course. And olulabelle, photos would be good! I don't mind feet exposure. In fact, I positively invite it since we seem to be in for a summer of the office air conditioning breaking.

Lilly Nowhere Late

20:25 / 11.07.05

I have your feet!
Birkenstock's are good but not pretty. Dr.Martin sandals are brilliant for wide feet and while chunky, are lovely in that "I'm wearing sandals but I can still kick your ass" kind of way. Not that I'm up for fighting. Plus the soles never die.

Just make sure to paint your toenails!

Tryphena Absent

21:22 / 11.07.05

*shudder*

Painted toenails, exposed feet, kicking people's arses with vulnerable toes. I think I need to lie down!

Lilly Nowhere Late

05:22 / 12.07.05

Sorry Nina. Didn't realize you had a foot exposure/polishing issue. Don't your feet get hot? And I must reiterate that I do not kick asses of people or otherwise.
A bit of Bankok Red laquer peaking out under from a strap of leather(in my case, vegetan)is however, an amazingly enticing sight, even when I'm just looking down.

Tryphena Absent

18:09 / 12.07.05

Yes but I only wear shoes and socks when I leave the flat anyway and my foot temperature can't regulate itself anyway. It's about 26 degrees in here and my left foot feels like an ice block.

Lilly Nowhere Late

19:36 / 12.07.05

Do you always wear socks with your shoes?

Tryphena Absent

20:16 / 12.07.05

Mostly but I have some heels that socks would look ridiculous with. I don't like not wearing socks, you usually find that your shoes rub or you get blisters or your feet sweat and your shoes smell and it's traumatic. It's also remarkably easy to find pretty socks for every shoe. I'd never buy a pair of shoes that exposed my toes though, I think they're too funny or ugly... the shoes not my toes. Like heels with a little gap at the toe just make me laugh because I think they're so silly and I just think sandals that you can walk in are generally completely ugly*. Mostly though I just despise people showing their feet off on the tube- I think about the amount of dirt squirming on people's feet as they sit on the trains and then on the escalator there's always a woman with a blister on her ankle from a pair of heels, someone with corns on their toes or bright pink, gnarled feet or toes that have never seen moisturising cream and I just spend my whole time wondering why these people treat their feet so badly and their faces so well. I mean, people can see their feet as well. Hell, I don't treat my feet that badly and I don't expose them.

*But my feet don't have an arch so if you picture how flat the average person's foot looks in sandals then imagine one without an arch you have reasons for my peculiarity.

Tryphena Absent

20:17 / 12.07.05

Erm, sorry, I think I'm exposing my weaknesses here.

Lilly Nowhere Late

05:49 / 13.07.05

Well, all that sounds quite reasonable and I agree about most of it, apart from just regular comfortable sandals. Still,even I wouldn't wear too open of shoes on the tube or other public transport as it just seems like asking for injury.
Isn't it curious how Barbelith does cause so much personal/weakness exposure?

10:35 / 13.07.05

even I wouldn't wear too open of shoes on the tube or other public transport as it just seems like asking for injury

This is another reason why I'd like new shoes! Thanks for the tips people, I'll have a look this weekend. Nina, I actually wrote the summary so that you would not fear to open the thread in case it contained details of callouses or something...

20:43 / 13.07.05

I hate flip flops. Maybe it's different in the UK, but the entire US now looks like it is continually on its way to taking a shower. They are also noisy. Then add to it all the ugly feet and the dirtiness of walking around in an average city street, and I find them completely loathsome and further evidence of the increased infantalization of this country.

I am not so wholly opposed to open toes in general, but they should be used sparingly.

Q: If the shoes are too delicate for the walk to work, some people wear walking shoes for the commute and then change when they arrive. I find, however, that one is then stuck wearing shoes that simply look silly for a critical portion of the day. Not to mention being stuck carrying a second pair of shoes. Thoughts?

22:08 / 13.07.05

The toe defender enters the room! I think everyone's feet are narrower at the heel than at the toe, though many shoes seek to crush the will as well as the flesh of the toe region. My mom is a big fan of 'natural shoes' as she calls them, and I haven't got the heart to point out to her that there is nothing particularly 'natural' about nylon.

She's got a pair of Keens which she loves for daily wearing:
http://www.zappos.com/n/br/b/427.html

Resorts to Eccos for parties:
http://www.ecco.com/ss2005/img/articles/medium/93253-00104.jpg

and meeting with clients:
http://www.ecco.com/ss2005/img/articles/medium/36753-00172.jpg

And if she's having a bad foot day, she goes for 'the pillows' -- her Mephisto trainers:
http://www.mephistowebstore.com/woshde.html

Tryphena Absent

16:17 / 14.07.05

I recommend the Natural Shoe Store in Covent Garden. Some of the shoes are ugly and it's expensive but it's definitely worth a look because you get the odd gem (like russet orange suede trainers). I have a lovely pair of black leather shoes from there, hidden away somewhere because I need to get the inner sole fixed, with semi-circular holes all round the sides of the base of the leather. They're good summer wearing because they're airy and they expose the parts of your feet in a really nice way.

Tryphena Absent

16:18 / 14.07.05

Actually they may be fake leather.

21:25 / 14.07.05

really? Just walking into that shop you just about get knocked over by the smell of leather and I thought everything in there was cow hide.

20:31 / 18.07.05

Vincennes, these are my favourite shoes at the moment.

10:19 / 22.07.05

They look great Lula -where are they from? I tried Evans shoes last weekend, by the way, but they were too wide at the heel. (Very pretty, though.) I looked a bit like I was 6 years old and clumping around in my Mum's shoes.