The Triumph of the Evil Shoes
Filed under: Uncategorized — Giulianna Maria Lamanna @ 3:20 PM
I am pissed off at Adbusters right now. For a long, long time, I anticipated the glorious day when I’d get my brand-new, guilt-free pair of Blackspot sneakers in the mail. Every time I stepped in a puddle and felt the water seep through the many, many holes in my old sneakers, several of which were located directly below the balls of my feet, I would think fondly of the Blackspot sneakers that were coming in the mail. Yes, they were $90, but they were vegetarian and made of organic material by fairly paid union workers! I hoped with all my heart that they would hold up better than my Converse All-Stars, which fall apart faster than that “leave Britney alone” kid. (Sorry, did that already jump the shark? Are we back onto cats that play musical instruments? I have trouble keeping track…)
So imagine my disappointment when I finally received them in the mail, only to find that, despite being a size 9, they were a little bit too small for me. Now, they were close enough to my size to deceive me into thinking that I could stretch them out if I wore them long enough, but just small enough that they made the toes on my right foot go numb and gave me nasty blisters and also were unbearably painful to walk in. Thankfully, Blackspot allows you to send back the shoes and request a different size, so long as the shoes remain unworn. Since I’ve been walking around in the shoes for the past two days, I’ve now got a beautiful pair of $90 paperweights and a pretentious little booklet ordering me to scribble circles on everything and attach the word “Blackspot” to every vaguely counter-cultural activity I engage in. (Note to Blackspot: you are not the Voice of the Revolution. You sell shoes. Get over yourselves.)
Don’t worry, I am going somewhere with this, even if it doesn’t seem like it. You see, since putting the Cursed Dread Shoes back in their pretentious scribble-box to deliver to Goodwill so they can find a new owner in some tiny-footed hipster somewhere while I go to DSW and pick up a pair of evil sneakers made out of puppy skins by starving Chinese babies, I’ve been thinking about footwear and how much I hate it. If you read Jason’s article, Learning to Walk, you probably already know all the benefits of going barefoot from the enormous, 136-comment-long thread that it spawned. But in winter, you don’t have the option of going barefoot. Well, technically, you have the option, but it’s a crappy one.
Good thing I have a few useful links on making your own shoes. Shoes that fit you because you made them for yourself and I highly doubt the materials cost $90, for Chrissakes… ahem. Anyway, if you’re in the market for some sandals (let’s say in a couple months), you can do some amazing, surprisingly cute, things with old car tires and plastic grocery bags. Hey, this kind of garbage is gonna be around forever anyway–might as well make footwear out of it. Or you could go old-school (and after all, isn’t that what this site is all about?) and learn to make your own moccasins.
Oh, and if anyone figures out how to make a pair of sturdy Chuck Taylor-esque sneakers in a women’s size 9 out of recycled and/or natural materials, well…
yucca sandals:
http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/granado/sandals.html
Comment by jhereg — 29 November 2007 @ 4:49 PM
Have you seen the Simple Shoes diy shoes?
http://www.simpleshoes.com/diy/index.aspx
They look pretty nice, but $65 is still pretty pricey for me.
=wl
Comment by Willy Lee — 29 November 2007 @ 5:46 PM
You could try No Sweat Apparel, they make that style of sneaker in many colors, all sizes, and both high- and low-top styles:
http://www.nosweatapparel.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=NSS
It’s imported, but union label and animal-product-free. I had a pair of black and white low-tops that held up pretty well, for the same price as the Nike/Converse that preceded them.
Comment by Chimpsky — 29 November 2007 @ 11:46 PM
This is awesome. I made some tire sandals at Rabbitstick. A different style than Elpels, but pretty sweet looking. I’m making some felted boots right now with some wool sweaters I got from the goodwill. I’m going to make tire sandals I can slip around them and that should be enough to cover my feet through the winter. I wore wool socks and sandals through the winter the year I went “bare foot.” I highly reccomend going barefoot all the time (though I need to take my own reccomendation!). The wool/sandal combo works well here in the NW where shoes and socks just get wet anyway. The wool gets wet but keeps your feet warm and the sandal doesn’t trap water the way a shoe does. Anywho.
Comment by Urban Scout — 30 November 2007 @ 12:41 AM
I spent the last ten years trying to figure out a way to get shoes that fit … then, since I’m blessed with tiny feet, I just gave up and hit the local school shoe shop. Plain, robust, tax-free and available in a range of width fittings. But then I’ve never been someone who had more than one pair of shoes at a time
The Blackspot shoes are kind of cute, but … I don’t know. It just seems like Adbusters are trying to set themselves up as some kind of alternate brand. Which, I feel, misses the point.
Come the spring, I’m going to try going barefoot again.
Comment by Vashti — 30 November 2007 @ 3:35 AM
if you figure out the trick to making your own, please do tell. i’ve done pretty well scrounging used pairs off sidewalks and garage sales, but snazzy winter-proof boots are particularly hard to come by for cheap.
Comment by benjibopper — 4 December 2007 @ 6:09 PM
I continue to weep with joy over my vivo barefoots. I bought my second 100-odd fucking dollar pair a month or two ago and I don’t care. Kevlar soles. No raised heels. I can do anything in them.
and at last i can stop sweating over what shoes to buy.
you’ve probably spent 500 dollars of emotional health on this shoe thing. admit it. get the vivo barefoots.
Comment by Willem — 6 December 2007 @ 8:25 PM
Whatever you do, don’t get Earth shoes. They are designed by some yoga teacher to make it like you are walking in the sand, where your heel is actually slightly lower than the rest of the foot. Supposed to be good for your posture. Worst shoes ever.
Comment by Penny Scout — 8 December 2007 @ 12:20 AM
I thought about that being bad about the Earth shoes, but I think it makes sense as far as forefoot walking. As opposed to lower heels, the raised heels of most shoes make it harder to walk with the balls of your feet touching ground first.
I don’t wear them, but tried them, and they don’t seem much worse than other options, and better than some.
Comment by Archangel — 9 December 2007 @ 4:26 PM
I’ve been really happy with Simple’s “Toemorrow.” It has a flexible sole, wide toe box, neutral heel, and since I’m unemployed/student I get to wear them exclusively.
http://www.simpleshoes.com/ProductDetails.aspx?g=Men&categoryID=112&productID=2083&model=Toemorrow
Comment by Keith — 12 December 2007 @ 7:23 PM
Could be it was just the style of Earth Shoe I got. It was a chukka boot, and the sole was also really hard and inflexible, and like the blackspots the normal size I wear was too small.
Comment by Penny Scout — 13 December 2007 @ 9:26 PM
I’ve had a pair of those no sweat shoes. I felt they were of average quality. They wore out in a little less than a year. I’ve decided that if I’m going to spend more than $20 or so on a pair of shoes I’d rather buy leather because it lasts a lot longer.
Comment by datoo — 30 December 2007 @ 12:34 AM
You should consider selling your shoes on ebay. Nice to give them to goodwill but $90 is a lot to lose. Also in response to earthshoes..I’ve had mine for a year and love them! Best shoes I ever owned..
Comment by Shiva — 9 January 2008 @ 5:48 PM
Ok, they aren’t the cheapest footwear on the planet, but they are surely the best:
http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/index.cfm
Along with Jason’s really great “Learning How To Walk” article (referenced above), several factors led me to start walking, whenever possible, barefoot. The downside was, of course, that it hurts a bit. 30 years of walking in shoes allowed the skin on the bottom of my feet, which should be thick and leathery (perhaps not attractive sounding, but biologically quite sound), to remain soft, baby-like, and worthless. I spent an entire summer working for the forest service and going everywhere barefoot, but even that wasn’t enough. Then I came across these. Nothing compares. They are like gloves for your feet. Anyway, I don’t want to give them too much free marketing. They do, however, even make a “cold water” version that is just right for the frigid Connecticut winter that I find myself currently entrenched against.
Comment by Dana — 2 February 2008 @ 7:58 PM