Shoeflyer | Shoes, Trends & Reviews

Time to start writing the Shoeflyer post for today… I’ll just take a look around the web for shoe news… ho-hum, blah-de-blah—WHAT?  FLIP-FLOPS ARE DEADLY?  That’s right.  Take a turn around Google News for yourself, and you’ll find no less than nine articles on the insidious danger of thongs for your feet, one titled “Warning: Flip Flops Can Kill You.”  Local news stations across the country are dedicating hard-hitting journalists to this  silent pedi-threat.  Why are flip-flops so dangerous, you ask?  Well…

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Earlier this month, Peggy Spencer celebrated her 25th year working with shoes at a department store in Iowa. She first started way back in 1984 (a year that I personally remember because, well, that’s the year I was born) and has since become one of three managers in the store. To her friends, she’s just Peggy, but to the majority of customers who happen her way, she’s known as “The Shoe Lady.” In fact, Spencer even admits to often hearing the phrase “There’s the shoe lady” from time to time. When I first read this story, I knew that I wanted to share it with you because one, I still can’t believe this lady has been selling the same shoes almost everyday of my entire life, and two, I think it’s a great accomplishment to faithfully serve in one place for so long. Just for fun, I put together a little something as a tribute to the Shoe Lady of Iowa…

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I read somewhere this week that the only things recession-proof were wine and condoms. Go figure. Though, the author did also make a convincing argument for women’s shoes. In fact, she wrote of a woman who owned 90 pairs of shoes — obviously not in need of any more — making a conscious effort to cut back on her spending during a troubled economy. Despite her lofty aims, however, she’s admittedly still in the market for more shoes. And her only excuse: shoes are the one thing you have to look at all day — everything else needs a mirror. Brilliant, if you ask me. Now, about my next pair of shoes…

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Where have your shoes been?  What do they say about you?  From doodles to rips, heels to boots, your shoes express your personality, perhaps more than any other piece of clothing.  We stomp, run, and play in our shoes.  We spend hours and pound miles of pavement in them.  As a result, we don’t talk about wearing someone else’s sweater; we invoke empathy by inviting our friends to walk a mile in our shoes.  The classmates of a deceased boy scout in Omaha have moved beyond this cliche, however.  In memory of their friend, Ben Petrzilka, they have created a book titled Our Soles. The book pairs their writing with pictures of their shoes.

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Every once in a while, a new idea changes the way you think.  Today, I’d like to feature one such idea:  Rollasoles.  As the video here shows, Rollasoles are shoes that can be bought from vending machines, mostly in dance clubs.  Matt Horan, the 27-year-old inventor of Rollasoles, came up with the idea after noticing the intense pain his lady friend suffered from dancing in stilettos.  Like a true knight-in-entrepreneurial-armor, he designed a pair of flats that can fit into your purse. Okay, by his own admission, he was mostly spurred by his girlfriend’s complaints, but still, I imagine that quite a few damsels-in-footwear-distress have been saved by Mr. Horan’s invention.

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Ever wonder who gets to choose which shoes appear on store shelves?   Those lucky individuals are called shoe buyers, and a whole flock of ‘em will descend on Las Vegas for the World Shoes Accessories show from July 29th through August 2nd.  How I wish I could be there! Here’s my daydream itinerary for a fabulous WSA weekend:

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Although unusual and outlandish shoes have always been a sign of wealth, the recession has retailers scrambling to offer more affordable footwear options. As Stephanie Rosenbloom recently reported in her New York Times News service article, “Retailers switch how they do business,”* high-end stores like Neiman Marcus and Saks are offering more mid-priced merchandise. Furthermore, in a shocking turn away from his typical mortgage-payment prices, Jimmy Choo recently announced that a pair of his shoes will be available for as little as $55 in H&M stores in November. (I never thought I would write “retail” and “Jimmy Choo” in the same sentence.)

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Ladies, have you ever wanted to know exactly where and what your man was up to? Well, your chance to keep tabs on him may be just over the horizon. I recently found a number of reports detailing a new innovation in the world of footwear: GPS shoes. No joke. The shoes are being developed to keep track of Alzheimer’s patients, but who knows where the concept will go from there…

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Judging from the shoe selections at this year’s MTV Music Awards, you’d think the year’s top film was Gladiator. Of course, these gladiators were a little less practical than the shoes worn in the Russell Crowe film.  A veritable milky way of starlets opted for ankle-binding dominatrix-style gladiators, some with tiny stiletto heels. If you ask me, too many toes were sticking out over the edges of those Amazon-lady shoes. I’ll leave it to others to evaluate who pulled off the ubiquitous gladiator trend–here are a few MTV Music Awards Fashion Kudos you won’t see anywhere else.

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One upside to the dismal economy: an increase in national creativity.  Across the country, consumers are taking creative approaches to obtaining fashionable footwear. Some are taking their old favorites to repair shops, rather than shelling out precious greenbacks for new kicks. Others are swapping clothes and accessories with friends, as the Associated Press recently highlighted in an article titled “Squeezed by Economy, Shoppers become Swappers.” Still others are turning to an age-old technique for preserving limited funds: rental. As highlighted in the video at below, Maggie Snow and Shannon Valitzek, sisters hailing from Boise, Idaho, are offering consumers a chance to save both the earth and a few bucks by renting formal shoes out of their store, One Night Stand.

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