Fantasy Shoe Crush: Paul Green's Violet

How do you know when your job is riding you raw? Could it be the late nights where you and the cleaning lady are keeping one another awake with a little karaoke? The real sign for me is when I start craving shoes, with complete and total disregard for price, which is how I found myself on Newbury Street at Footstock, a store featuring very high-end comfort shoes. Last summer, I successfully resisted a $300+ pair of Jakezas, black wedge Mary Jane Mephistos (now on sale for $200+, and still resistible).


I slipped into Paul Green's Violet metallic sandals and told Jason, the salesman, that I couldn't take my eyes off of them! I know that metallics are everywhere, but these looked like little pieces of modern art. Like mini-homages to Anish Kapoor's 2006 S-Curve sculpture now at the ICA. I've always been aware of the brand, having seen them in high-end places like Neiman's or Sak's. But aside from Zappos' blurb that mentions Paul Green's proprietary hand-built lasts, obsession with a perfect blend of style AND comfort, and the fact that their boxes say the shoes are made in an Austrian factory with Austrian sizing and terminology (although the logo says Munich), I had trouble finding information on the company or the folks behind it.

Since Jason didn't have them in my size and had to get them from his other store, the only thing I bought were some $6 Hue peds -- "micro net liners with cotton sole." As I walked out, my head began to clear and I realized A) I wasn't even looking for sandals, B) in summer, most women wear flip flops, which do not cost $200 (except Mephisto's popular Babatas), and C) the Violets really do not fit my lifestyle. They need someone who will take them to art galleries, the French Riviera, someone's yacht party. Not biking around JP!