Whenever I go somewhere I can't help to notice the shoes people are wearing. It's a habit of mine and one that has only continued to grow ever since I moved to Paris. It's as if by watching what people put on their feet and how it contributes to the ensemble of their outfit and thus their image that in a way allows me to understand a particular place or culture.
In Paris girls tend to spend A GREAT amount of their money on shoes. I think I read somewhere that the average french woman buys over 30 pairs of shoes per year compared to 8 for American women. Anyway, I suppose this is why shoe brands and shoe stores pop up like mushrooms all over the city. I've noticed that french women put a lot of importance on the design of the shoe: the color, the type of heel, the material it's made of, if it has any "chic" motifs like a budding flower or weird stitches all across it, it's as if the "flashier the better"......... this is not to say they prefer fashion to comfort but in France you will see women wearing fluo pink ballerinas or 10cm high heels in charol or polk-a-dotted peep shoes..... usually when I see this sort of "design" in a store I steer clear... but then I'll happen to see someone wearing them on the street and having paired up the weird shoe design with their outfit in just the right way that you can see the shoe complements the look perfectly......... even sport shoes are chosen for design primarily. The bestsellers are the Adidas flat and sober tennis shoe. It's designed to be as slim as possible (I've noticed women do tend to shun "plumpy looking shoes") and usually there's a wide variety of colors to pick from (from your normal black or brown all the way to pink, white, red, gold, etc)..... There is also Converse which have made a huge comeback in France and have become a sort if IT shoe, both for girls and boys..... again in as many colors and patterns as you can think of......
Today I kept watching what girls were wearing here in San Antonio and I also noticed a pattern: I may be wrong but it seems girls here prefer comfy to fashionable. About 6 out of 10 girls I'd see would be wearing white running shoes, the most popular being Nike and NB. They pair up these with jeans, shorts, short shorts, sweats and even skirts. What's funny is that at the mall I got the feeling there were twice as many "sport" shoe-stores than "classical wearing" stores. I can see the design of the shoe doesn't tend to vary much but you can tell there is a sort of unwritten "code" of which brands or models are considered "cool" tennis shoes and which are considered "less cool".... Next in line were flip-flops (2/3 out of 10 girls wearing them) ... here you have a little more variety in terms of colors and design but the general shape doesn't vary that much. Flip flops are fun 'cause girls can wear them with pretty much anything and they are comfy and easy to wear (no need for socks, hoses, etc).... I guess there is also the fun thing about being able to "accesorize" the shoe with cute toe rings or anklets or just by having nice painted toe-nails... still... I may be wrong but I get the idea that them being casual and comfy is the predominant factor here..... I only came across two girls wearing ballerina shoes at the mall and one of them had obviously just returned from Europe because she was dressed in the standard long top/hip belt/slim pants/ballerina shoes uniform that is currently the staple fashion look over there. I also came across one guy and one girl wearing Converse but the boy looked like an exchange student to me....... still, I may be wrong.
In the end, I came to the conclusion that no matter the design, shoes are an important element when picking out an outfit for people on both sides of the Atlantic. I'm glad of this because life with us going around all wearing the same plain black combat boots would just be too boring. ;)
Fned.
5 comments:
I was stuck in the international wing of the airport in Houston one time and I saw a flight get called for Paris. Let's just say you could tell who was going "home" and who was "just visiting!" The American girls were wearing short shorts with words on the butt and flip flops with their hair in high, messy ponytails- they looked like Britney Spears, in short. The French girls were all wearing stylish jeans and cool, sophisticated jackets and stuff. I'd take Euro-fashion over US fashion any day.
Oh, and Converse have been cool in New York for about 3 or 4 years now, but they're mostly worn by cool Gen Y type guys who go to indie rock shows... if that makes any sense. Basically the cool-looking sort of alternative guys... although they're making a comeback for regular teens/college kids now, too.
It's funny you mention those short shorts with words on the butt... Last summer at the airport Andre noticed them too (men!) and said that that single piece of clothing is sooooo obvious you KNOW that the girl wearing them can only be american. LOL.
I'm not sure what type of fashion I prefer actually, I refuse to wear black and yellow stripe shirts or skinny pants with stiletto boots over them or my silk green bra straps showing from underneath an off-the-shoulder top.... people tend to tell me I dress too classic (read: American) because I don't take any "risks" (i.e. I usually stick to two piece suits in tones of gray, black and brown for work) but on the other hand I don't like wearing tee-shirts with Abrecombie & Fitch splashed over them or "don't mess with Texas" type messages (LOL) and I recently got rid of my NB sneakers....
But one thing is for sure: if the French girls dress more "fashionably" it's only because they have more choice when it comes to fasion. I was at the mall the other day and most clothing stores sold similar stuff! A&F, American Eagle, Old Navy, etc where all selling pretty much the same designs and only the logo on the labels tended to change... The Gap, Express and even Banana Republic where clearly saying "all the colors in the rainbow are the new black" (like if!) and only a couple of stores like A'gaci seemed to have checked out the European runways this past fall... and even then everything they sell is made out of polyester....
Now this may all well be because we're in a little old town like San Antonio but still... I wonder what would happen if mainstream fashion temples like like Etam, Mango or Zara ever made it to the US.....
Fned.
I kept on telling you but you wouldn't believe me: white snickers + jeans = American!
Great post Fned! I tend to look at shoes as well when trying to figure out a culture...
Chilean women stick to high heels almost all the time, which is unfathomable to me because in this city there is no way to avoid walking long distances! But they don't wear necessarily stiletto heels or anything like that, just any sort of shoe with a lift on them. I am not a fan at all of Chilean fashion, here they dress as if they were still living in the 80's. I know that look made a comeback in the U.S. for a while, but here it just never went away. It's not coming back, it just never left!
I do think that if you go to a bigger city you would find a little better fashion when it comes to women in the U.S. I lived in Michigan up north where style is hard to come by...then I moved to Tampa, FL and I was shocked by how much better women (and men) dressed themselves. At my university most girls wore full makeup, high heels and cute outfits even to 8am classes!
How many times have I told you??? NB's or flip-flops with painted toe nails : American!!!
Needles to say I prefer the way European people dress. Even when dressed in a sporty way it can be nice and sexy!!
I am surprised you got rid of your NB's! Was it some kind of peer pressure???
Both Zara and Mango have stores in US's biggest cities but not too many yet...
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