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.

First Shoe Memory

My love of shoes can be traced back to a pair of blue patent Mary Janes. The closest matches I found on Google were these "Maloles" (above) ($295 at Piperlime) and these "Pour La Victoires" (below) ($154 at Zappos). Yet unlike these contemporary Mary Janes, unless my memory is playing tricks, mine had a multi-cutout pattern, including a triangle behind the strap on the outside of the foot. The next time I get out my family albums, I'll scour the shoes. In the meantime, these Peacock (Aqua) Alice Crocs ($34.99 at shop.crocs.com) represent a less serious aspect of my first shoes. I don't remember if blue was ever a favorite color of mine; it certainly isn't now. But I know I put them in a prime spot on the floor of my closet so I'd see them first every time I looked in. And the peep-toe patent heeled Mary Janes from Chadwick's ($24.99 on sale)? I would never wear them now, seeing as I am not a high-heel wearer, but they would have been perfect for dress-up.

Own: LOVE My Kamiks

While my mother was getting her hair cut next door, I wandered in to the Curtis Family Shoe Store, a tiny place in Ellesworth, Maine. It was July of 2007 and I was not looking for rain boots. Not because of the summery weather, but because I was a rain boot snob. Even after 20 years in Boston, where rain boots were required unless you wanted wet feet and ruined shoes, I refused to buy LLBean duck boots — the standard issue rain boot for New Englanders. Duck boots are not stylish in any way, shape, or form. Despite what this Fashiontribes poster says.

Then I spied these Daisy Pink Kamiks. Their sherberty pinks and oranges channeled Emilio Pucci, the jet-setting Florence fashion designer known for bold kaleidoscopic prints (and Capri pants). Pucci’s daughter Laudomia has been involved in updating the brand since Pucci's death in 1992, which must explain Pucci’s footwear collection, and the Pucci pumps and rain boots I found on Zappos!


Luckily for my pocketbook, I prefer my $55 Kamiks to the Puccis (pumps $270; boots $154). Apparently, so do a few celebrity mother-daughter pairs. Orange Daisy wearers allegedly include Courtney Cox and daughter Coco, Brooke Shields and daughters Rowan and Grier, Kelly Ripa and Lola, Gywneth Paltrow and Apple. Pink Daisy wearers include Reese Witherspoon and Eva.

Introduced to the USA in March 2007, Montreal-based Kamik rain boots are made of recyclable synthetic rubber, and because of a new technology have clearer graphics with no distortion or front seam that otherwise ruins the boots' design. When asked about the rain-boot stink factor, I’d have to say that mine are stink-free. Kamiks are made with soft Polartec lining and removable Kaxeric antibacterial insoles. But to be honest, unlike some teens I hear about, I mostly wear mine when it rains.

Real Shoe Crush: Tsubo's Lara

Three times (and counting), as if they were puppies in a pet store, I've visited these Tsubos at Nahas Leather at 65 Charles Street (their store at 285 Hanover didn't have them). Each time I try the Laras on, I'm shocked by how comfortable their rubber soles are. Not only are they sexier than anything else I own, the Laras pass my idiosyncratic test: I could definitely ride my bike in them.



So what's stopping me? A) The $110 price, which is feasible but not until I check out all my regular shoe stores to make sure I'm not missing these on sale or something better for less. B) The open-toe manicure issue. How many disapproving looks am I going to get if I don't keep my toes polished up? I rarely do finger- or toenail polish, much less deal with maintenance once I do. C) The tan color is slightly too large in a 39, whereas the black 39 fit perfectly — but do I really need another pair of black shoes?

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!

Awesome Fuchsia Hoody

At last night's Payne Bouchier holiday party at the Artists for Humanity Epicenter building, I couldn't take my eyes off this fuchsia boiled wool hoody: the silhouette, the three leather ties that accentuate the waist (which you can't see in the photo), the shawl collar, the bell sleeves, the pintucks front and back. This girl's mother bought it in Christiana, Copenhagen — a sort of mecca for hippies and environmentalists — and gives it tons of street cred, but means that even if I get myself over there, and find the designer (the label said: Defoyn), it's probably one of a kind. The perfect jacket for a snowy December in Boston.

Tree-trimming Party Ornament

For my neighbor's tree-trimming party, I snapped a picture of his Bengal cat Kimba. In sewing class, I sewed together the sandwich of red felt medallions that I'd edged with pinking shears, on top of six sheets of red and pink tulle. Then I sewed a second circle through the paper images et voila!

Nanowrimo Winner!

Nanowrimo winner means I wrote 50,000 words over the course of November 07. This was the eighth annual National Novel Writing Month with 90,000 international participants. It was thrilling at first, then grueling, and then it was over. I managed 2,000 words a day until my Thanksgiving visit to Bar Harbor, where I fell to 500 words a day, hitting the final count on 11/26/07. It was more than I'd ever written at once and I'm amazed I did it.

Unfortunately, I haven't finished. At the TGIO (Thank God It's Over) party at Subway in the Fenway, I learned about Nanofimo (National Novel Finishing Month) in December (NOW!) and am trying to gear up for an impossible 30,000 more words. Then there's Nanoedmo, National Novel Editing Month, in March 08. Nothing focuses the mind like a hanging, says Samuel Johnson. Or a deadline, says I.

What is it about? It is a fashion mystery: a fashion designer's boyfriend goes missing, turns out to have enough debt to get mixed up in some luxury counterfeiting of designer shoes (Gucci, Prada) made in China and maybe connected to the yakuza... an excerpt.