Log In the Miles First

If I bought a pair of Timberland’s, I would expect to have to break them in. Not so a pair of Wolkys of Holland. A contradiction in terms, yes? Six months of walking to break in the “world’s finest walking shoe”? Normally a vigorous and inveterate returner, this time I was shamed by several previous returns, and the above-and-beyond customer service of the folks at Berk’s in Cambridge. I soldiered through constant pressure in the upper left of the toebox, which felt like an extra layer of leather pressing my toes. I prayed it wasn’t a defect and clung to the promise of legendary comfort from a tried-and-true walking shoe company.

The Wolky Impulse is now my go-to fall/winter ankle boot.

Wolky Sighting at the Office

Oh how I’ve wanted to do a post on Wolky of Holland, a brand I love. And then the IT guy walked in wearing Utopias in Art Print/Blue with a removable, washable footbed and anti-slip Vibram sole (more colors below). So much hipper than Crocs. The Utopia embodies the Dutch flair for design and playful irreverence. For anyone who hasn't been there, and by there I mean Amsterdam because Wolky has a store there and I can't find out where their original store was (and also because I've been there), picture yourself — if you can — sporting these babies in hash bars, browsing outdoor stalls for leather jackets, oogling Red Light district displays, dancing to live music at the Melk Weg, or jumping out of the way of bike traffic. And of course these shoes will want to mingle with other works of art at one of the fifty museums; prepare yourself to see and be seen at the Rijksmuseum, the Sex Museum, Madame Tussauds, the Anne Frank House, or the Van Gogh Museum.

Louis Boston Sale Hands

Walking by Louis Boston last week, I couldn’t resist taking a picture of their sale sign. Someone went to a lot of effort to fill each letter with what looks like stuffed rubber kitchen gloves. I wanted to get closer but didn't feel like jumping the hedges. Definitely demands a double take. As for the biannual sale itself, I’ve set foot in Louis Boston once, but I don’t enjoy stores where items are so far out of my financial reach that there’s no point in fantasizing about them. And why bother with the famously snooty sales people when Filene’s Basement is several doors down Boylston? On the other hand, now that I've read about it, I would probably stop in if I happened to be in the area. For those who care, the sale is from 7/9/08 to 7/19/08.

My Doc's Stoneflys

At my last physical, I was struck to the point of distraction by my doctor’s shoes, possibly because they resembled the Mephistos I’d coveted (see 6/6/08 post). After discussing my issues (all minor, thank you), I took a few seconds to talk shoes.

Exhausted after a weekend on call and wanting to lift her spirits, she had dressed in a nice suit with a tulip-shaped skirt and new Stonefly’s Sonjas, a slip-on wedge in Nero (black) patent leather (also in chestnut brown patent, black fabric, and black leather). Considering how much standing she did, she realized it was worth it to spend money on comfortable shoes, even though she thought they were expensive!

Not the perspective I expected from a general practitioner at Mass General. But the definition of expensive is relative, right? (I think what I pay for healthcare is expensive, but that has nothing to do with her.) Zappos has my doc's Stoneflys for $130 (down from $144), although Shoebuy.com sold them for $290, which definitely qualifies as expensive. I’m deciding now to define shoes as expensive if they are over $150. Or over $200. Definitely if they are over $250.

I've tried on Stoneflys and wasn’t impressed. Because of the name, I thought they were an American brand pretending to be a European comfort shoe. They looked like what you’d be afraid a comfort shoe would look like: clunky, practical, mannish. In fact, a few years ago when my husband drove me to the Cambridge clog store, Vintage Etc (crazyclogs.com), one of the shoe stores I try to check out regularly, he ended up buying a pair (the Elegant 20 model with Gore-Tex).

But like a lot of comfort brands, it seems Stonefly's added some zip to their styles. At least, judging by my doc’s Sonjas. And it turns out Stoneflys are a “premiere Italian shoe manufacturer,” started in 1993. In something called a Comfort Lab, they’ve conducted research, drawing inspiration from the sporting footwear sector, and arrived at unique technologies like Shock Air and Blu Soft gel cushioning. While these “technologies” sound a bit gimmicky, I’m willing to reconsider.