is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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What I've Done for You Lately.
Ladies, I have been truly inspired by Evany (Evany Thomas)�s recent decision to revisit her wardrobe and make old things new again. Just in the last week I have rediscovered two pairs of shoes and three dresses that I thought I didn�t like anymore. One argument for hanging on to things you no longer wear (�for a while, before selling them on eBay and putting that money toward new things�.) is that times, styles (and, let�s face it, body weights) shift all the time and, voil�, all of a sudden something that made you feel like a shlump a year ago is fabulous today. If only I could magically make my Dansko clogs seem cute, I�d be set for summer in New York City. Because this city requires a LOT of walking of a girl, and hot city walking is HARD.
But WAIT. Just you WAIT! I don�t need to live with those damned Dansko Damocles� swords anymore. No more failed cutesy cow-hoof fashion faux pas for me! Why? Because I have done it.
I have done it.
I have found summer city walking shoes that don�t make me feel like a mom in comfort shoes. And where did I find them? In a catalog full of hiking gear. So strange. There I was, wondering whether the hiking shoes I have stored in California are up to one more year of mountain climbing, and checking out what my options are if not, when lo! and behold I see the cutest sandals dangling off the end of a jock-girl�s legs in the Athleta catalog. I put a post-it on the page. Then I kept going back to the page and looking at the shoes, as days passed. They kept being cute! Then I did a little websearch on them, and found that women all over the place were raving about how great they are, great and comfortable, and never-any-giving-of-blisters-from-them, and so on, from day one of ownership. Could it be true?
It could. But of course first there has to be some dramatic tension, before the happy ending can happen. I didn�t buy them right away, because, well, I have no money. But then I spent a number of days walking around New York City with hot and/or uncomfortable feet. I realized walking shoes had to move up the prioritized list of expenditures a bit. And when I made a bit of money on eBay, I decided maybe I was allowed to get the sandals. But because they are miraculous, and I had already waited for like a month to order them, they weren�t easy to find anymore, especially in my totally-average (and thus most likely to be sold out) size of 8.5. But, well, if there is any skill I�m lacking, it isn�t the skill for shopping. My new shoes arrived last Thursday. Gus and I then had a HUGE day of walking on Friday.
Normally a girl is asking for trouble if she decides to wear her new shoes on a big day of walking. But I decided to believe the various women who wrote the Zappos reviews, and take my chances.
Our walking trajectory: We went to the David Byrne �play the building� art thing in lower Manhattan, then we walked up to South Street Seaport to the New Zealandy restaurant Paul had recommended. Good food, good beer. Then we went to the Strand on Fulton street and walked around looking at used and remaindered books for an hour or so. Then we walked over to the city hall-ish area, stopped at Starbucks for water and restrooms, and decided to just go ahead and walk home across the Brooklyn Bridge. We stopped at Henry�s Pub for more beer. And my feet did not hurt at all, after a long day consisting mainly of walking and standing. It is miraculous. And no, I am not exaggerating. I can walk around New York City in the summer, all day long, without foot discomfort, and I don�t even have to look like I�m wearing Dansko shoes. (Oy. The Dansko shoes are comfortable. But they just ARE NOT CUTE. Even the so-called "cute" ones are still compromise shoes.)
(Sometimes I see other women wearing Dansko shoes and they look cute. That�s what made me buy the ones I own in the first place. But man, I do not ever, ever feel cute when I wear mine. No, I feel like a docent with cow hooves. Or someone who can't wait until the next time she gets to do a twirly dance at a Phish concert. Or a dowdy teacher.)
So, you are wondering, are you not? What are these magical shoes I�ve found? Do you fear that I will not tell you? Aw, come on. I will tell you. And I won�t even get mad if I see you wearing them on the same day I wear them. They are by a company called J-41 and they are called the St. Martin sandal. The first version had a really cool city map detail on the sole and the side of the platform. The version I got has a floral design. I would have preferred the first version, but I don�t wear a size 6 or 10, so it was out of the question. I am not complaining. The leather is buttery, smooth and totally non-chafy. The shoe gives me enough of a platform lift to help me feel taller than I am, something I really like in a shoe. They are strappy without being too strappy or not strappy enough (and believe me, a shoe can very easily err in either direction!). The footbed is cushy and arch-supporty, and it doesn�t even make that weird sucking noise that Danskos make when you walk with sweaty feet. ALL GOOD. Go forth and buy some, I tell you.
Of course, they aren't the shoe you're going to wear when you have plans for a super foxy dinner date. Unless you have to spend a number of hours walking around before or during your dinner date. And no one ever said one pair of shoes could or even should answer every footwear need!
12:16 a.m. - June 23, 2008
sduckie - 2008-06-23 04:26:56
Hmm... am very tempted as I do a lot of walking myself! I am wondering if the toe-separater thingy is comfortable? Must be if you walked across the Brooklyn Bridge!
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js - 2008-06-23 04:34:12
I had no problems at all with the toe separator... though that was one of my areas of concern before I took them out on the day of walking. ALL GOOD.
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