Every time I've tried to toss them, they'd remind me that we are old friends, going on ten years. I definitely haven’t worn either in the last year, and for the reasons below, it's time for them both to go.
• On the left, a sweet pair of
Esprits, which I got at
DSW, Downtown Crossing, Boston. Must’ve been when it first opened. Wore these as indoor sandals or around-the-pool flip flops. But once that band started to crack and dig into my skin, I stopped wearing them.
The unspoken factor, though, in the experience of wearing both of these shoes is the “shoefeel,” a term I am coining after the wine-tasting term “mouthfeel.” Shoefeel is the way the shoe feels as you walk, in terms of pleasure, spring, or support. Hands down, the Esprits had a better shoefeel. The molded footbed fit my foot perfectly. The rubber sole was both soft enough and hard enough to make me want to walk for hours, and the massaging nubs around the inner arch felt great on the nerve endings of my foot. I will miss these shoes.
The shoefeel: energizing and relaxing.
• On the right, the
Josef Seibels, which my husband bought me in a South End shoe store on Berkeley Street, near the Chandler Inn. A place with a few womens shoes but mostly incredibly cool mens shoes. Since the store was often empty, I wasn’t surprised when I found a cafe had replaced it.
Wore these to work and as a general outdoor summer shoe. My husband loves the little ladder design up the front, but the slides were slippery enough that unless I completely clung on with my toes, they would slip off or go flying down the sidewalk. Plus the Seibels always had a weird lack of support in the insole, as if someone forgot to put any cushioning between the pieces of leather, so it caved in around my foot. I will not miss these!
The shoefeel: totally distracting and disappointing.
