Shoes

[indigo_rose99]

As I travel the world and take a quiet moment to people watch, I watch their feet. Most people don't notice that I'm staring, whatever their cultural reaction would be. And shoes are interesting! I think the patterns in what people wear say a lot about culture.

In the Philippines, many people wear flipflops. A LOT of flipflops. More than in Texas. Of the women who are not wearing flipflops, most of them are wearing flats. This differs from the US and Canada, where I see a much higher percentage of heels.

What surprises me about Texas footwear is the snowboots. I understand the urge to wear cowboy boots here. But snowboots?! On days with temperatures 80F+?! I try making up stories for why they thought snow boots would be appropriate footwear that day (over flipflops, for example). It is really hard! Many of my stories degenerate into "the aliens made me..." or "my little brother..." Because, unlike the painful heels fashion statement, the snowboots do NOT make the outfit here. Yes, I've seen them paired with shorts. So weird.

Comments

[reedrover]

I see snow boots in the San Francisco airport a lot. They are usually worn by teenage girls in shorts boarding flights to Phoenix or other non-snow locations. I figure that at least their feet are properly covered and likely have better arch support than flip flops...