“Got on ya Scooby-Doos…those are slippers by the way” – Jay- Z
Don’t click off this page yet. This isn’t your normal “OMG these high end designer shoes I can’t afford are so awesome” post. Today’s post is intended to give a little insight on taste and what I and others find appealing as far as garment aesthetic. Yesterday I asked on Twitter “Am I the only one who likes these?” Funny thing is one response I receive was “I thought of you when I seen these” I’m gonna go ahead and take that as a compliment, for which it was. Yes these shoes are dazzling and we all know how recognizable Christian Louboutin’s spiked slippers are in the hood and in high-end arenas but that’s not why I like these. There’s a combo of reason why I like these…like to hear them…here they go:
1.) Use of color – Whether you like gold or not it POPS! This is some high quality material used to appear as if you’re walking on 24 karat gold. Can’t go wrong with that.
2.) The WOW! factor – I’m not really into following trends but you can’t front when something is good its good and the trendy use of spikes here is really GOOD!
3.) The use of a seamless shoe – This is the underlying, most appealing part of the shoe.
Let me explain my infatuation with seamlessness. My style, taste, preference or whatever you’d like to call it lends itself to sharp, clean lines with garments. I like rugged structure and function as much as the next outdoorsman but ultimately I’m going with clean crisp line for $1000 Alex. Formal slippers, which have a seen a resurgence as of late in men’s footwear, might be thee best example of a seamless shoe. The whole slipper is made from one piece of material stitched together in one place, if at all. The use, or non-use rather, of multiple sections and stitching make slippers smooth to the touch and to the eye. There’s no interruption when you glance over the shoe making it literally, easy on the eye. This same appeal is a major reason why I’m such a fan of the shoe below….
Slippers may not be your style (don’t worry they aren’t for many others) and say you’re on the other end of the spectrum and you only were sneakers. Well there’s the Nike Foamposite One. Being from the Mid-Atlantic region (DMV, Baltimore, etc) Foamposite is pretty much in my DNA. I have no choice but to like these but if I did have a choice I’d still fill the same way. The foam used for this shoe’s toe, midfoot, heel, ankle and all in between is made and from 1 solid uninterrupted mold. SEAMLESS! I’m sure the it was easier to insert the laces into a synthetic upper thus its purpose for breaking the mold on this shoe (see what I did there). But I’m sure there’s a sketch out there in Nikeland of one single foamed out shoe with an icy clear outsole. Aside from the spaceboot influences and the foot-forming wavy imprints you can easily pick up on how smooth the Foamposite feels and looks. No extra stitching, separate panels or sections. In this sense, less is more.
So for all the people who are too “mature” to wear sneakers and all the sneakerheads who are too “cool” to wear shoes or slippers, there’s more in common than you think. When you get down to the nitty-gritty of design aspects. Below is some more admirable “seamlessness” (I should coin this word)
