Since when were Birkenstocks 'ugly'? And other stories.

My only issue with Birkenstocks was that I could never find the back-strap version readily available on the high street, I'd always wanted some but a combination of impatience, frugality and a knowledge of how fickle my own shoe size could be prevented me from ever owning a pair. 

(FYI I have a similar style sandal from Topshop, similar here, back-strap and all)

So I was surprised and a little confused when they were proclaimed the 'coolest ugly shoe' of S/S 14, because um...are they really ugly? To me they're just shoes with bits cut out of the side and a lighter base (i.e. sandals). They're what sandals should look like, gladiators are fine if you're taking a day trip, but if you're doing some serious all-day every-day travel destination exploring then you need a decent pair of sandals. If you'd like a decent pair of sandals that you can also proudly wear when you get home, then Birkenstocks are a good bet for your shoe of choice. But apparently the fashion community had decided they were a statement shoe, only for the brave, a daring rebellion against sandals usually made of a thin piece of cardboard and some string.

But then the great decision-makers in fashion (whoever they are) make lots of statements like this. I feel like I've been told my whole life that wearing flat shoes with skinny jeans shouldn't be done unless you absolutely have to. Then magazines would declare one season that they'd done it, they'd worked out how to wear a flat shoe with the skinny jean without making you look like some sort of flat-footed troll; and there was much rejoicing.Then the next season would roll around and they would declare not only that skinny jeans were 'in' again but also that they absolutely must be worn with a heel. In fact, if you followed fashion too closely, you might be deceived into thinking that you should wear a heel every day, because your outfit is simply sub-standard without one.
To that I have to say only this:
Are you out of your tiny mind?
The flat shoe is not for people who fancy a more casual look every so often. The flat shoe is for people who like to be able to move their toes and don't want to spend their weekends massaging their feet back into shape only to bend them into some obscene shape again on Monday morning.

Flat shoes aren't a thing in the same way Birkenstocks aren't a thing. People that declare you can now be comfortable and stylish haven't discovered anything new. Clothes that fit and shoes that don't put your toes 180 degree angel from your knees exist, they've always existed and people have been making them look great for a while.

So either we're all really ahead of the fashion world or...they've run out of ideas so they've been reduced to making the flat shoe a revolutionary idea as if before it was akin to wearing a dead rat on your foot.

I hope you've all enjoyed this rant about shoes.
I'll be back with a Weekly Digest post in the next couple of days.

xx