photo a day challenge – your shoes
When I was in my twenties I couldn’t understand why old ladies wore such ugly shoes. I swore that I wouldn’t ever wear ugly shoes when I got old. I would wear elegant and fashionable shoes. Well, the years have passed and I’ve now learned why many old ladies wore ugly shoes – because they were COMFORTABLE. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately, so this challenge theme was very apt. Today’s purchase is these Bared shoes. They are SO comfortable, and I think that they’re also rather lovely*.
I love pointy toed shoes with elegant mid-height curved heels. They are so pretty! As are high heels and strappy sandals. But I simply cannot wear them anymore. Over the past year or two I have been wearing my fashionable shoes to work only to find that they now pinch, hurt and rub my feet and I can’t wait to get them off. My shoe collection has been reducing at a rapid rate as I send pair after pair to the op shop. Life is too short to have sore feet. Gradually my shoe wardrobe has changed and I am now shod by the likes of Birkenstock, Hush Puppies, Naot and now Bared. Shoes with lots of cushioning, shaped footbeds, lower, broader heels or a gentle wedge, rounded toes, that don’t cause pain. My bunion and fallen arches are thanking me. My wallet is not. But I have officially become an old lady wearing sensible shoes. Well, a middle-aged lady. However, I don’t think that these shoes are ugly – or maybe my perception has changed over the years!
Mind you, I remember that in my twenties I thought that all shoes should come in the colours of black, navy or brown. That was it. I thought that those colours went with everything and didn’t see why the shoe manufacturers would waste their time making shoes in other colours. Now I do my utmost to find shoes that are green, red, orange, metallic……
* And isn’t that tin that the shoes come in gorgeous? Much prettier than a cardboard box.
Many years ago I bought destructoBoy a pair of canvas summer shoes and they cam in the coolest tin. A tin! I was so escited I had to be restrained from going and buying suficient sizes to see him through to his teenage years.
I do like those shoes.
I always wore sensible shoes, and then a couple of years ago, I decided that the reason the outfits in Burda magazine looked so good and not homemade was that they styled them with fabulous shoes. So I spent the next couple of years learning to wear high heels and got more adventurous in styles and colours. Only now, I find myself casting them aside for the comfort shoes again…I mean, who has time to dilly-dally in heels…mostly when I walk I want to get somewhere. Sad, but true.
I like your shoes, but then again I’m not in my twenties. Funnily enough, a 20-something would probably think they were ugly (along with my entire shoe collection). But you know what – I think most of the shoes 20 year olds wear are ugly. Women of our current age probably thought the shoes we wore in our twenties were ugly, when we thought they were so cool. I think that’s the interesting thing about generations – we’ve all got our own versions of groovy/pretty or ugly…and that’s ok.
I was only just having a similar chat with my mother about the shorts I’ve just sewn. It’s the first time I’ve made the pattern and I feel they are a bit high as they sit right on my belly button. Woman of my generation however, have mostly wore pants just below their belly button. Baby boomers seem to prefer then on their waist and Gen Y either low-riders or above the waist. When I see a pair of pants worn really high or really low it all looks a bit odd…but that’s just me and my good ‘ole Gen X ways.
I am with you on the shoes thing. With my extra large feet, I had real trouble when I was in my teens adn 20s, and 30s, finding fashionable shoes. I recently learned that a shop owner thought we big footed gals preferred dull colors so as not to draw attention to ourselves and our feet…oh no no. I wasn’t the only customer who had asked for the more colorful versions. I want to be as pretty as the next gal. I think that shoe manufacturers have come a long way though in producing attractive shoes that are also comfortable. I have also long accepted that if I want comfort, style, and quality, I have to pay for it. No Payless Shoes for me (that ‘s a discount shoe chain in USA). Our feet are the foundation of our physical well being, why would we mess with it?
Thanks for the posting.