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.