Shoes Shoes and more Shoes: Brian reflects on shopping.

Amidst the challenges Jordan has been having in finding herself some shoes (more info see the rebranding post), I have also been looking for a more formal-yet-casual shoe for myself. I have decided that with my wife’s redesign in full swing, I should at least try to not wear cheap skateboarding shoes or that pair of shoes beat-up work shoes anymore.

A fantastic pair of 150$ shoes that I LOVE; thanks Aldo...

I must say that with all the shoe shopping we have been doing, it seems women have it rough. All these different styles, and it seems that all of the shoes for women are designed to be uncomfortable…but trying to find nice men's shoes is starting to be just as difficult. It seems like every shoe I look at, especially dress shoes, are elf-pointed; you know the ones? It feels like you could impale the person waiting in line at Starbucks just by stepping on their heels. Or I find some I like but they cost 150$ plus tax. I'm gonna start saving now because these are amazing shoes: check them out they are by Aldo's new line 'Mr B's Gentleman's Boutique'

Brian's new shoes from HushPuppies, 75% off!

The good news is that I have found an amazing pair of shoes, and best of all they were on sale. During the hunt for both of our dream pair of shoes, we both had extremely specific wants; mine were as follows: brown, dressy, comfortable, cowboy boot-like, something I can wear with jeans as well as a casual suit, not too expensive and certainly not elf-pointy. The pair of shoes I found are all that except one thing: they are not brown. And they still aren't the Mr B's, but they are incredibly comfortable and will go with more of my outfits.

SHOE SHOPPING TIPS

With all the headaches and pains from trying on shoes I believe that we have come up with some helpful tips on how to shoe shop…

Wear the socks and the bottoms you are going to wear with the shoes:

This is pretty obvious, but you need the proper socks. They affect the  size and comfort of the shoe. The bottoms matter just as much; I still have the image of Jordan holding a scarf at her knees, and her pant rolled up to above her calf, so she could see what the shoes looked like in a skirt or dress. When men wear a pair of dress pants, they fit much differently than jeans, so wear the appropriate ones. And: please, please, please match your shoes to your belt.

Don’t get distracted:

There are so many styles, shapes colours and do-dads with shoes, so know what you want. This will make your life so much easier and limit yourself. Don’t spend 12 hours looking at shoes because you’ll start to forget what you’ve tried and if the person you're with is not shoe shopping, they will be very bored. Jordan gives me her phone to play with while she tries on shoes…

Pick your shoe shopping partner well:

The shoe shopper extraordinaire--as long as I'm kept occupied.

If you're with someone who will never say you look bad in anything, you probably have the wrong person for shopping. Be ready to have some honest opinions thrown your way because a good second opinion goes a long way.

Thanks designbuzz.com for this... shoe?

Don’t expect one shoe to do everything:

This one has probably been the biggest discovery of this whole process. We have realized that one shoe doesn’t necessarily go with jeans, a skirt, a fancy party dress, a suit, and your pjs...and isn’t under a million dollars. This is something you have to let go. Accept that you will need to buy more shoes--and that's not bad!!! And with the pressure off, when you do find that perfect shoe, it truly will be a special thing.

The last piece of advice I can give you is very simple:

Relax; they're just shoes.