I’ve always liked shoes. I don’t boast several thousand pairs in my closet, but I do know what’s comfortable, durable, and worth the cost. I also know what looks good. Even with all of these various’requirements’ for shoe-shopping ventures, I can still come home with great shoes that will stay on my feet for several months or longer.
My all-time favorite shoes - the ones I refuse to live without - are Converse All-Stars, a.k.a.’Chucks.’ Yeah. They’re the canvas-bodied, toe-capped high-tops that are seen all over television: Snoop Dogg wears them, many popular drummers wear them because they fit onto the bass pedal easily, and’Tommy’ from’Third Rock From the Sun’ wore them while filming the episodes.
Here in Texas, they run about thirty bucks a pair - a good deal if there ever was one! They’re designed for basketball players and their big feet, but I find that they’re comfortable for just about any activity. The canvas material gives a bit of breathing and stretching room, they’re easy to clean, and they look pretty cool to boot! They come in red, blue, white, and black, but various’special release’ models can be found every year. I have a black pair with a maroon liner and two maroon and white stripes sewn into the sides. They’re just too awesome!
Let’s see.currently I have a pair of clunky, over-sized low-top sneakers by a company called Attix. They’re made of synthetic materials and are black with safety-orange accents: Just weird enough to stand out, but much too comfortable to be’just another weird fashion statement.’ They’re the kind of shoes most skateboarders wear, and are great for riding bicycles(namely, BMX, dirt-jumping, and other intense biking activities that are so hard on most shoes). Firm rubber soles, thick shoelaces that stay tied no matter what I’m doing, and a price of under fifty bucks. Yeah, these shoes are going to stay in my collection for a long time.
I’ve got a great pair of steel-toed boots by the Caterpillar shoe company that I picked up for a warehouse job I had several months ago. They’re all-black leather, with enough toe room to keep the metal plates from rubbing against my feet. I paid about thirty bucks for them because my job required me to wear them. However, even after I quit that job I ended up wearing them around the house because they look so good with baggy jeans and a tee-shirt. That, and I doubt these things are going to wear out anytime soon: Despite the fact that I bought them at one of the worst retail outlets in the United States, they appear to be pretty durable.
I’ve never felt as if my shoe collection was complete without a pair of sandals. You know the kind I’m talking about: Those really cool rubber-bottomed ones with three straps(one across your toe, one across the top of your ankle, ane one over the top of your heel). I always liked the ones that Teva makes. My favorite? The black pairs with the plastic buckles instead of velcro fasteners. They’re just too awesome, and I find that I only have to replace them about once a year despite the fact that I wear them all summer long.
Finally, I can’t help but recommend any pair of shoes ever created by Fila. I’ve owned several pairs of their medium-top basketball sneakers, and I find them to be the most comfortable, longest-lasting shoes for my needs. (Namely: Basketball, baseball, running, wrestling with my brothers, tag football with same brothers, lots of walking in the country, and riding my bike.) Plus, most models actually look cool to me, which isn’t the most important thing in the world but is still a big help when I’m trying to decide what to wear.