SHOES, SPICE AND EVERYTHING NICE by Grace Tran

A tall slim model is standing at Madison Square Garden’s yearly event.  The Fashion-Rama!  She’s wearing a pink skirt with a black crop top and white cardigan.  Her red Steve Madden boots are decorated with black shoelaces and golden flowers reflect the bright yellow and red lights surrounding the shiny white stage.  They’re a perfect touch to the outfit and the biggest part of the show.  Though there are many different types of shoes, they all have one thing in common: each has specific reasons for why they’re popular.

Flats are shoes that hardly include straps and have no heel.  Ballet shoes are examples of flats.  Ever see a ballet dancer do a pirouette?  Well, her tutu swirls around her and her movements are in jumps, big and small.  As her hands gracefully come together, she brings them apart again, using the same amount of grace she did before.  Her legs powerfully pushes off from the floor and her feet are on tiptoes, tall and strong.  But what keeps her body up and ready everyday?  Her shoes.  Sometimes a block of wood is placed in the tip of the shoe; it makes the dancer balance better on the full height of her tippy toes. Ballet shoes aren’t the only type of flats.  Boat shoes and along with Espadrilles are also flats.  They’re long in the front and look kind of like canoes.  These are well known because they’re comfortable and blister-free.  Also, everybody wants shoes that are “breathable”.  Nobody wants sweat soaking in their best shoes.  To top things off, flats have an easy slip on and off process.  They can come right off with just a bit of force and right on with the help of the stretchy rim on the border of the shoes.   

Unlike flats, sneakers are made for running and they have a floppy tongue. Ready, get set, GO!  The racers dash toward the red finish line, only a few miles away.  Their shoes make loud thuds as each of them race to get a place in the final ten.  A few are barefoot and they don’t last long in the race. They stumble and trip on the rocky paths and the pebbles cut into their skin. A majority of the already sweat dripping machines are wearing brand new sneakers and are pulling ahead of the others as quickly as Peter Rabbit did for Mr. McGregor.  Besides racing, sneakers are for everyday exercising. Some examples of sneakers are converses, these have a white curved tip so they are easy to recognize.  High top shoes go up to the ankle and knee high sneakers go up to the knee.  They’re popular because they’re the best shoes for sports as well as being comfortable and casual.

Flats or sandals? Sandals or flats? Which is better for summer? Sandals.  When it’s summer in New York and it’s a stunning 95 degrees, people are walking around in belly shirts and bikini tops. Obviously you want to wear open toe shoes, like a pair of sandals.  Gladiator sandals, flip flops, strappy sandals and more types of sandals are sprinkled among the crowd.  Gladiator sandals have many straps that go right up to the knee.  Flip flops are just regular, open toe shoes with a strap that goes in between the big toe and the second toe.  On the other hand, strappy sandal straps circle around as far as the ankle. Sandals are favored during heat waves.  They’re lightweight shoes that have no problem slipping on your feet.  

After a while, the weather changes and the air starts to give you the chills.  To keep warm, you throw on five knit sweaters, tights, skiing pants, and furry winter boots.  There are many types of boots; each is made with a purpose.  Knee high boots are popular in fashion shows or parties.  Most are made of leather and have heels on the end.  Rain boots are obviously common on rainy days when the streets are flooded with puddles.  Snow boots are warm, shield your feet from the cold, and live in the winter.  Ankle boots are also mostly used for style and is a standard for fashion runways.  Booties have wedges on the heel part and the tip is kind of curved downward just as the bottom of the front part curves up and both lines meet in a kind of sharp V shape.  Its made for the most complicated fashion shows.  And in other words, the most sophisticated.

To top the cherry on a sundae, what better thing is there to talk about than prom?  At the prom, the highlight for the graduation class of 2014, girls are pumping their fists in the air for more action while dancing in their pumps.  There are different kinds of pumps, such as wedges, peep toes, and platforms (nine and three-quarters -quoted from the Harry Potter series).  Wedges are those popular kind of shoes that would remind you of the late 1900’s when teenagers in weird cocky hairstyles did their best to look cool.  These pumps are like booties.  They have the same tip but a little more feet are shown on the top.  The peep toe shoe is exactly what it sounds like.  It’s a heel with some of your toes showing.  Platform shoes also bears the name, “platform”.  The front of the shoe lifts up an extra inch so it looks super heavy.  I wouldn’t wear them in a swimming pool, I’ll end up as a corpse in a six feet pool the next day.

Shoes are really important in everyday life.  Everyday you depend on your feet to walk around and if you have painful blisters forming at your heels, how are you going to walk properly?  One time when I was little, I wore crocs to school, which was the worst mistake anybody could ever make.  I couldn’t run around, I couldn’t play with the other kids.  And my shoes kept slipping off and kept making my feet sweat.  It was a nightmare.  You see, your whole body depends on your feet to keep you standing, and your feet are wearing shoes.  Without shoes, your feet are lonely and get pricked by the sharp stones lying all around the city.  Whether winter, rain, snow, sleet, hail, sun, shoes are always there for you.  And they always have a purpose, to keep you cool and unstoppable.