Footwear

May 23, 2015 — September 13, 2023

fashion
gear
health
Figure 1

1 Sandals

My favourite are Sandália Goóc, specifically the Geocasp, which are comfy, affordable, as steady on rough terrain as most shoes, and largely recycled. They are also completely unavailable outside Brazil. I would appreciate tips on how to get them.

1.1 Compact sandals

There are everyday sandals, and then there are compact emergency sandals that I love to have in my pocket for when my shoes are soaked or an unexpected sauna breaks out.

I’m interested in the Xero sports sandals although they are rather expensive. They have an impressive warranty, though, and seem to weigh nothing.

A lower-cost alternative might be lightweight folding sandals like flipsters.

Having a spare pair of comfortable thongs can come in really handy when your feet need a break. Think of a recent night on the town with your favourite heels. You probably got to the point where your feet were so tired you just had to take off your heels. Chances are, you can also think of a time when an unfortunate misstep caused you to break a heel, forcing you to carry around your mangled footwear without a pair of shoes to replace it.

Also, they are entertainingly girly. They don’t seem massively robust; I would be surprised if they lasted me many days of continuous use.

UPDATE I got a pair. They did not last many days.

Products in a similar niche:

I replaced my Flipsters with a pair of Salvatos and they are indeed more durable, albeit slightly larger. I’m pretty happy with them. It would be nice if they had a zip-up pouch so they could be clipped to the outside of the bag, but I am basically satisfied.

2 Sock shoes and water shoes

Skinners the sock-shoe, are a low-material shoe you can fit in your pocket. At EUR50/pair they are not cheap per gram but they look terribly convenient.

Much cheaper are the water shoes/reef shoes/aqua socks, which seem to fill a similar niche at a fraction of the price. See, e.g. the Amazon listing for Men’s Water Shoes.

Figure 2

3 Sneakers

Shoes are expensive new and subject to fluctuations in fashions; I prefer to buy them second-hand.

If you cannot find the ones you need used, there are low-impact new options. Allbirds does wool-plastic runners with a low carbon footprint [sic]. Various brands offer recycled plastic options, e.g. Merrell Moab Flight.

4 Skates

Figure 3: Woman advertising boot polish, 1907-1915, Wellington, by Joseph Zachariah. Yes, those are rollerskates under that hem. What a look.

TBD. Where to get decent skates?

5 Socks

I am fond of ozone which has splendid and ridiculous socks and stockings.

Julie White is an Australian designer in Adelaide who makes lurid socks with flies and lizards and such on them.

Lindner in the tiny Australian town of Crookwell, makes locally-machine-knitted socks.

Customised? I always fantasize about getting Argyle socks in my personal colour combination.

6 Hiking boot

TBD

7 Sizes

7.1 Women’s Size Guide

MM EU AU/US
216-222 35 5–5.5
223-230 36 6
231-234 37 6.5
235-238 38 7–7.5
239-246 39 8–8.5
247-251 40 9
252-258 41 9.5–10
259-265 42 11

7.2 Men’s Size Guide

MM US EU AU/UK
216-222 7 39 6
223-230 7.5 40 6.5
231-234 8–8.5 41 7–7.5
235-238 9 42 8
239-246 9.5–10 43 8.5–9
247-251 10.5–11 44 9.5–10
252-258 11.5–12 45 10.5–11
259-265 12.5–13 46 11.5–12
216-222 14 47 12.5–13