The Cool Kids’s Kicks
By raincoasterForgive me, sisters, for I have sinned.
I have a confession to make: Although I work for the world’s foremost shoeblogger, I cannot, myself, be said to be much of a shoe fetishist. Of the many tiresome characteristics displayed by those four airheaded meat puppets on Sex and the City, the extravagantly overdone shoe worship was perhaps the most tiresome of all as far as I was concerned (and that is a crowded field, my friends). Art is art, even when you wear it on your feet, but please! Even Picasso knew when to lay off. The only thing more boring than competitive, fad-driven shoe fetishism is handbag fetishism, and thankfully that appears to have become so expensive as to now be nothing but a self-referential joke between Prada, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, and Balenciaga. And if so, more power to them: Kimora Lee Simmons doesn’t need all that money anyway.
In any case, I have to say that when it comes to shoes worthy of worship, the kids have it all over the adults. First of all, you can generally walk in shoes designed for kids. Secondly, the styles can be more creative, because they don’t have to be so reactive to market forces (is it a four inch stiletto this year or a two inch kitten heel?). I mean, take a look at some of these fabulous sneaks and tell me those aren’t just intrinsically wicked cool.
The Diadora Kids
Victor Plus Jr MD
Light as a pair of winged sandals, eye-catching, vegetarian-safe (although what kind of sauce you’d serve them with I have no idea) and best of all, $34. Some more snazzy soccer shoes:
Although saddled with a name that belongs more to a fighter jet than a pair of shoes, these are still the kind of futuristic style that we had back when we thought the future was going to be really cool. Remember that? Also: $61, or half the price of a similar pair of adult shoes.
And lastly, these, for which I salivate and which have the added example of being unmissable on the field. When my sister and I went swimming, my mother would adorn us with the loudest, ugliest bathing caps she could find (think rhinestone-studded floral monstrosities in puce and mustard). These are a more aesthetically pleasing iteration of the same principle:
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Those are very awesome shoes!
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:36 pm
My 3-yr old daughter picked out these as her “new spring shoes:”
http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7380206/c/132291.html
So much more fun than anything I’ve purchased for myself recently! I don’t know that they qualify as cool but they are cute.
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:12 am
Those are indeed snazzy! Kid shoes don’t take themselves too seriously, and those are a perfect example of that creativity I was talking about.
I even found some cute Uggs (gasp!). They were just a suede-soled version of the classic crocheted bootie, but no-one could deny they were cute, especially for Uggs.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:27 am
Yes, please enjoy the $34 soccer shoes while you can. Won’t be long before he’s “serious about soccer, really!” and needs the kangaroo leather boots with side laces and special inserts that start at $230. Because he’s really serious about soccer. Really. Serious.
April 23rd, 2008 at 4:22 pm
At that point I’d start looking at return on investment. Like, expensive figure skating boots are just never gonna pay you back. Blackjack lessons, however, just keep giving…