since i wrote about such a (somewhat) profound topic yesterday, i thought i'd write about something more superficial and airy-fairy today, given today coincides with the middle of the long national day weekend and we all need a break to bum around at home and do absolutely nothing useful.

so today i decided to talk about my fascination with shoes-

So why shoes? i guess i also got kind of inspired? by what mel wrote about her shopping.

actually for me things used to be rather simple. I have eczema, (which actually i didnt realise till the recent years - though it's rather mild and only mostly between my toes and sometimes my fingers) so generally i avoid covered shoes. And also because i think it runs in the family- smelly feet. Previously you could smell my sis from a mile away if she's on her way back home because that's seriously how bad her foot smells after a day in whole day in covered shoes at work. My mom and I made a fuss out of it and highlighted this to her and to our relief (much more mine) she's put on care into tending to her feet and shoes. Hygiene is really so important.

So honestly i haven't really worn covered shoes for more than 3hrs a stretch since the secondary or jc school years (which strangely smelly feet or eczema weren't a problem yet-).

But in my last 2 years in hall i started to get exposed to all different kinds of dressing styles, and actually experimenting with my dressing (i guess the 1 year of being deprived of a more socially- and gender-conforming hairstyle sparked the change a bit)

and i actually started wearing shoes other than my regular havis.

But before talking about other shoes-

You can't talk about hall without talking about Havis, and especially if you're a singaporean. I'd say the easiest way to differentiate if a room belonged to a singaporean or a foreigner in hall is to check if there is a pair of havis outside the door/on the shoe rack. I don't know; it's a hall thing.

Honestly i had absolutely no idea what the hell havaianas was until i went to Eusoff. Maybe i'd walked past NewUrbanMale before but i'd never give a second glance because my impression always was 'overpriced-normal-looking-slippers', GAH!

I didn't get my first pair of havis till year 3, after my Ipanemas started to wear down. I love Ipanema slippers- not because Gisele brunchen is the spokesperson really, but cause they're so comfy, have nice designs, and are (generally) cheaper than havis.

So the first time i got my havis, it was sale period and they were having some promotion, and i bought it with some friends. The designs were pretty limited and being the miser i am, i didn't want to pay more for a more fancy-looking model, so i settled with the standard Slim, in gold.

Funny thing was, shortly after i started wearing it, it quickly became my second skin! It's funny that there aren't even grooves or that the base isn't even like curved or made to follow the bottom curvature of your foot, but it's insanely comfortable! And the shade of gold goes with everything.

So my golden pair of havis slim is about the most standard pair of shoes that i have.

Most people who know me know that i am somewhat of a shoe freak. I have the regular nice pairs that would get nods of approval from the regular crowd, but actually what i really like are those shoes that are kind of, erm, weird? Shoes that don't conform. i don't know but sometimes weird shoes charm the ass out of me.

in fact, i just bought two pairs online some time ago, and finally! they are here. just a few days more and the postman will be knocking on my door with some large parcels.

First there's the sam edelman zoe boot, which has unsurprisingly obtained a cult-like status among starlets and fashion bloggers worldwide. It's modelled after the Balenciaga harness boot, which is about 100? times more expensive. Funny thing is now on shoesone.kr they're actually making a pseudo-sam edelman boot, for like 1/1000 of the balenciaga price, and 1/10? of sam edelman price. Knockoffs! gah.

Personally i don't see the charm- but when i saw the price tag get slashed by more than 50% on UO.com i knew i had to get myself a pair to see what the big deal was all about.

Ok maybe i figure i might not even look good in this- you probably need stick thin skinny legs to carry off the look, but i'm just making a bet- if all fails i can always sell it off.

Next up is my first pair of steve maddens. Honestly i have/had no idea what the hell steve madden is until they opened a store at ION orchard. I remember my first reaction upon entering the store was

YUCK!

cause the Ion store is done up pretty grossly, deco-wise. I don't know if it's supposed to be the brand style but it just looks like the kind of place that a high-class hooker girl would want to go to to get her shoes. pft.

but whadda you know-

Steve Madden is awesome because they have this perfect pair of wedge oxfords! i'd been searching for them for about forever- and people'd said this model was actually from Zara but i hadn't been able to find it instore.

steve madden is also awesome, because they have the most perfect boat shoes ever. The price tag is a little hefty for casual shoes so i haven't been able to convince myself to get a pair yet. Just waiting for a massive sale so i can swoop in.

The next pair that's worth a mention- that's been sitting in the shoe box for about 4 weeks already (since i got injured was declared unfit to wear any footwear on both feet besides ultra padded slippers on one side, and no foot wear on the other, for 3 weeks)-

inspired by Miu Miu's 2010 runway collection,

black satin chunky platforms (pic on the right). I can't help but gush about how pretty they are in real life-Of course i guess they can't be compared to the real ones, but i can't afford real ones, so i'd have to settle.

There are a couple of other designs, including the jewelled and swallow print (left and below) , and colourblock ones (which i find too gross to be pictorially included), but i just don't think they're really utilitarian. At this point of time i'd settle with the nice classic black one please.

It's been adored so much- Alexa Chung even tweeted about how fantastic this MiuMiu collection is- and she's fashion and media's IT girl at the moment, so i guess i do understand the cult status of this shoe.

I dunno but i just find it too much? Like really too gaudy. For me i think fashion is about having a coherent outfit put together that has probably one or two highlights- but never more. And having a vibrant swallow print AND shiny crystals put together on the shoe is pushing it. But secretly i love the white-lightblue combination, so i guess maybe i might give in a get a pair if the current black ones serve me well.

Talking about Alexa Chung- i really do like her style but i think it's really overhyped!

This brings me to the next pair of shoes- Acne Atacomas. Alexa Chung wore them on an episode of her talkshow and they were promptly sold out on Acne's site within a few hours after.

I mean, be realistic people! The shoes are gorgeous, but LOOK AT THOSE SOCKS! pft. Gross brown socks with awesome atacomas- what was alexa thinking? definitely a faux pas for me, no matter what the fashion critics and fans say. Sometimes i just don't get fashion trends.

So actually i don't own a pair of Atacomas. I'd have to break 3 legs (which i dont have) and rob a bank to get that kind of money. Which i wouldn't want to spend on this anyway.

What i owned were a pair of Jeffrey Campbell Alexas , which are modelled after the atacomas, and named after Alexa Chung. There are some differences in height, material, design etc, but mostly it's supposed to be the same deal for cheaper.

what turned me off a little was how HC told me how the shoes look LadyGaga-esque and Harajuku girl like. So once a girl offered a good price they were out of my shoe cupboard in less than a week. Figured i might save for the Real Deal someday anyway.

I mean, of course if i wanted to get a pair of shoes in this kind of design, i'd rather get the

real atacomas, which are about 100x cooler, though about 5-10 times more expensive.

I'm still thinking both my ankles could probably break if i accidentally trip and fall though. Reminds me of the incident that Lady Gaga fell at the Heathrow airport and was caught on film by the press, trying to stand up in a really unglam manner. The press called her a 'fashion victim'. LOL.

I'm still thinking about it though- i'd managed to find a place to buy Atacoma-esque shoes at a fraction of the original price, even cheaper than the jeffrey campbell ones. But i'm still having my reservations. No point having shoes i don't wear anyway.

Going back to the brown socks with atacomas faux pas (IMO anyway), i thought i'd talk about shoes by another designer- Celine Clogs.

I guess they're kind of cute in a simple kind of way, but i don't really get the hype. They just feel like the kind of clogs that you wear to summer Matsuris, except they'd been given a small makeover, and had about 10cm in height added to the wedge/heel at the back.

What's worse- SOCKS WITH CLOGS. omg. i really cannot tolerate.

i mean, what is wrong with people? It's like some kind of confused dressing-

Afraid your feet would smell even while wearing clogs/sandals? So wear socks. Really.

Or maybe it's too cold to wear clogs/sandals on their own so you wear socks to keep warm. Pft.

It's all the rage now to wear a single, dark coloured pair of sandals/clogs with some quirky-printed socks (think heart shapes or lip prints) but i really don't get it.

Then there are times that i think wearing socks such that they are about 1-2inches visible above where your shoe ends is pretty cute- and times when they are just off

Okay, so going back to the theme- i'm a sucker at ending off, as usual.

I'd say i'm really fascinated with shoes/shoe designs and the changing trends. Fashion is always subjective, and i'd say people are easily swayed by fashion icons, and we may have our fashion inspirations (which don't always have to include lady gaga =/) but the bottom line is,

we should always have our unique sense of style.