Friday, December 07, 2007

dishonest footwear

i looked around the quad and general campus the other day, and noticed, even in the middle of winter, a ton of dishonest shoes. what do i mean by dishonest shoes, you may ask?
i mean shoes in which the wearer is obviously uncomfortable. i mean shoes in which the wearer does not really feel like themselves. i mean shoes that lie to the world about who the wearer really is.
there are men who will say that wearing high heels is like lying, because in reality the girl wearing them does not have that posture, does not normally stick chest and ass out like that, and is not that tall. this is not quite what i mean, but it's closer.
for example, i have been known to strap on a pair of stilettos or some hooker boots for a night on the town. this does not mean that there is something wrong with me (in the context of this conversation) or that i lie to the world about who i am. there is nothing wrong with taking a night to have fun and be whoever you want to be.
but the people i see day after day on the quad wearing shoes that pinch or don't support or cause the wearer such pain that they look terminally constipated, seem like they're lying to the world.
my normal footwear is either a pair of combat boots that i'm working on breaking in, or my ankle-high harley biker boots. these boots have lasted me 5 years and are still going strong, with two new zippers and some polish. they are comfortable, i wear them to work for a 10-hour shift and when i go home, i'm not in hell. they show the world very clearly the kind of person i am - a little scuffed around the edges and not by any means fancy, but still tough enough to handle almost anything.
(in summer i wear beach walkers - the closest thing i can find to hiking sandals and still afford)
i can run in all of my normal shoes (or sandals), and often do. i can stand for hours at work or walk to class without having to limp, and i feel comfortable both in myself and around my feet in these honest shoes (or sandals).

so what kind of shoes do you wear?

8 comments:

Memphis said...

I'd wear my running shoes every day if I could get away with it.

wallycrawler said...

Hey Hannah glad ta see ya back!

I wear 3 different kinds of Doc Marten's daily. A 10 hole, and a couple of dress Doc's. On the weekends I wear skate boarding shoes. If I'm riding I have Boulet's. I wear Beatle boots when I'm go'n out to dinner. All my shoes are made in Enland, Canada or da USA! All my jeans and shoes are too. Want a great pair of jeans?

http://www.allamericanclothing.com/

Trigger said...

my 4 year old payless 19.99 brown work boots are my favorites, still going strong, the black ankle high tactical boots i got free from Levy Security or the combat boots i just finished breaking in, i used to have skate shoes, but i walk holes in the bottoms of them.. i think i have chuck taylors somewhere

~d said...

I wear chunky, clunky shoes!
Good to 'see' you!!

Steph said...

One has to suffer for art (er I mean fashion) :P

hannah said...

steve - fantastic, and good on ya!

wally - that's a lot of different kinds of shoes, but they all sound honest

trigger - i love your boots

d - good to see you too! are they comfortable?

steph - i don't think that running shoes would be right for you, i can really only imagine you in heels or slippers

Anonymous said...

I spend a lot of time barefoot.

Sciamachy said...

Size 10 British Army assault boots. The last pair lasted 5 years before the soles wore through. They're the most comfortable boots going, for £40 - a fraction of the price of Doc Martens or CATs, and way better constructed IMHO.