gurdymonkey | On being a fashion victim

Quick! Shun the Curmudgeon (or at least snicker derisively), for being un-hip, un-cool and wearing old lady shoes.

One of my favorite pairs of shoes are my Clarks. They're black, a sort of a cross between one of those slip-on sneakers and a loafer, with a rugged rubber sole and a fabric and suede upper. I've worn them and worn them hard for about five years. The original insole is in shreds and the heels are FINALLY starting to show some wear - and of course, they don't make that style any more. So I've been keeping an eye out for a comfortable, casual winter shoe I can wear to work.

I stopped at the KMart on my way back from lunch to pick up some cotton socks and had to cut through the shoe department.

Cobbie Cuddlers. (EWWWWWWWWWW!)
Black. (Good)
An athletic shoe-inspired style with a velcro strap closure that actually looked decent. (Good.)
Real leather uppers and lining. (Sniff test - leather SMELLS like leather.) Sturdy manmade sole. (Good.)
The 8 1/2 fit my wide duck feet, bunion and all. (Miraculous. I usually have to size up to fit my instep and end up wallowing in 9s with loose heels).
$15 on clearance. (What the hell.)
Who knew?

The Curmudgeon became curious. A little internet digging turned up the following tidbits.
Cobbie Cuddlers are a product of Footstar, Inc. headquartered in one of my old stomping grounds (pun intended), Mahwah, NJ. They own Thom McAn, also now found in KMarts but once a chain of shoe stores found at most malls. (All those Thom McAn stores are now Footaction stores). And look at this: they also own fashionable and pricy Nine West.

Nine West didn't have any fashion sneakers on their website, but Clark's did: Zabel "sneaker." I think my Cobbies actually look a little better than that, and were considerably less expensive.

I did two 14-minute miles in 'em on my breaks today. No blisters, no hot spots. They're still a little stiff in the ball of the foot, but I figure a couple more wearings will take care of that.

I unwrapped all the Thai silk that Josh and Ellen sent me from Bangkok. It's freaking gorgeous and there's a lot of it. I could probably get an uchigi out of it and have enough left over for a cocktail dress. But how to decorate it? Here's a detail from a 15th century men's garment preserved as a Noh costume. Gold seems the obvious choice.

However, I also found this garment in one of my books. I have no idea what color the original is, but I like the subtlety of the decoration on it, especially as I've done extreme bling with the Tosenin and Shoot Me kosode. I don't have to do Tokugawa hollyhocks either.