Maria’s Ephemeral Finds – Shoes

The Shoes Make the Man. Or so Agent Babs (I bet she hates being called that) over at Dead Guy claims.

So…if I’m being judged by my shoes, it turns out I’m a cross between a ninja and…an old lady. Assuming ninjas go around barefoot or in socks most of the time and sneakers when in public. Perhaps our resident ninja (that would be Jay) can tell us for certain exactly what shoe wear is the proper uniform.

The article made the point that you can tell a lot about a character by their shoes, and, I’m assuming, a person.

Flipflops: This person is not expecting to get stepped on, run over or have to run for their life. If we’re lucky, it means they get a regular pedicure and see themselves as fashionable. The alternative (usually a male) is someone that may not believe in regular showers, does not own toe-clippers and while not likely to be expecting to run for his life, is likely to get run-over due to the fact that he was mistaken for a sasquatch running loose in the city.

Four, Five and Six Inch Heels: My days of…oh hell, I never had days of four, five or six. My days of two and three inch heels are behind me. I still own a few, but those are the shoes that are under a layer of dust that is so deep, it could be used to sod the front yard. Heels say a lot of things: Professional (depending on the inches, it could be a lot of professions, but we won’t go there.) Important Job interview. Dancing. Looking for trouble. Trouble. See, it isn’t just the heels–it’s the whole shoe. Covered? Strappy? Sandal?

Penny Loafers. Sneakers. Water shoes.

For men, it’s harder. Who knew that us ladies were judging datability by shoe wear???

Loafers: Are they made of leather? Could be refined elegance. Is the leather stiff and shiny with a heel? Could be a snob, a businessman, a guy standing in a wedding crabbing about his feet hurting. Are they less loafer and more driving moc? Could indicate sheer laziness…or a wealthy, cigar-smoking, sit-in-his-personal-library-and-read kind of guy. The driving moc guy is laid-back. He’s not in a hurry; he likes his coffee or his wine. He probably owns a robe and actually wears it.

Oxfords: Hmm. Do they tie or do they have tassels? Tassels should be at work. Tassels can be good because it means that he has a job, always a good thing for potential dating material. Tassels can be bad because he could lean towards snobbery, but it depends. Does he wear tassels with jeans? Dress pants? Or khakis? Tie oxfords (sometimes called top-siders) go with everything. This is a guy that is prepared to go out to dinner, to the beach, out driving or to work. He’s stylish without overstatement, but he really isn’t prepared to run for his life. He isn’t likely to run over anyone, but with these shoes, you never know. He could carry a gun. It’s not highly likely and if he did so, you might worry about his mental health. Gun carriers should be better prepared to run.

Boots: Are they hiking boots or Western Cowboy boots? Because those are vastly different shoes. The Western boots should be in Texas/out West on a ranch. If they are dress boots, it’s still a good idea if they are in Texas, either in church on Sunday or at a formal event. Hiking boots could be anywhere. Hiking boots is a guy ready for adventure. He can climb a mountain (figuratively or literally), he is ready to run, be run over or do the running over. He is not standing still.

Sneakers. Motorcycle boots with skulls. Canvas shoes.

I think Babs is right. You can design an entire character just from one pair of shoes. Think about it. If you were a vampire, what kind of shoes would you wear???

    
_{These and other fascinating picks (including fresh vegetables, stories, and miscellany) can be found at Maria’s blog at Bear Mountain Books.}