I haven’t worn clogs since I was 15, but I still try them on for nostalgic reasons. My foot shape has changed over the years and now, clogs slide off my feet as I stride. My feet have to grip unnaturally hard to keep them on which gives me arch cramp, so that’s a no go for me. But I wholeheartedly believe that clogs have stylish potential. Wearing them with a cute casual outfit under a pair of boot cut or wide leg jeans, exposing just the tips of the toe box can look adorable. Some of the more refined and sleek clog styles lend themselves to straight legs too.

I have an extremely stylish 49 year old German friend who wears white clogs with lighter wash boot cut jeans (this is the same friend who wears a white ceramic Chanel watch). She too has fussy feet and clogs work for her when she’s on her feet for a long time. My friend rocks the look so I’m going with a stylish yay for clogs. As with all wardrobe items, it’s how you wear them that makes the difference. What’s your verdict on clogs?

Believe it or not, my friend’s white clogs are similar to the Dansko style (top left), but with a light brown wooden heel. And she is as chic and pulled together as it gets! Fabulous footwear designers like Donald Pliner, Paul Green and Stuart Weitzman have started showing clogs in their collections and the ped featured quite strongly in Fashion Week for Spring 2010. I have a hunch that we might see clogs come back for Spring. Perhaps I’ll even find a pair that stay on my feet.

Booties are an excellent alternative to ankle boots, loafers and oxfords. They’re warmer than pumps and ballet flats because you can wear them with cozy socks, but cooler than mid-calf or knee-high boots because there is less coverage. Perfect for warm Winter and cool Spring weather.

These booties are available in three colours (grey, red and black). They’re soft, cushioning and roomy in the toe box, meaning that the bootie might work for a slightly broader foot too. The two inch heel is ideal and the vintage ruching detail is charming. Suede is not a good idea in wet weather but the flat leather styles can be sufficiently waterproofed with waterproofing spray. I went up half a size to accommodate my long toes, an insole and thicker sock, but you might be fine ordering your regular footwear size. I hope they work out as well for you as they did for me.

“Do you think you could explain the difference between loafers, brogues and oxfords? I get these styles mixed up a lot”.

Descriptions vary across the globe and around the Internet, but here is the way I would define these three styles and the differences between them.

Loafers

Loafers are lace-less, slip on shoes with a moccasin type construction. For the most part they’re casual shoes especially when the soles are chunky and rubberized. But they can look smarter when the styles are more refined and the leather is dressy. The vamps and the heels of the shoe can be either high or low.

Above are three styles of loafer: casual and flat, dressy and flat, dressy and heeled.

Oxfords

Oxfords are high vamped shoes with enclosed lace-up detailing. They can either be casual or dressy depending on the style.

Above are three styles of oxford: casual and flat, dressy and low heeled, dressy and high heeled.

Brogues

Brogues (or “wing tips”) are oxfords with brogue design detailing. “Broguing” refers to perforated patterns along the seams and outer layers of the shoe uppers. Brogues often have a distinctive “W” shape on the toe cap of the shoe (the “W” looks like a bird spreading it’s wings, hence the name). There is a difference between “a brogue” and “brogue detailing” (broguing). Brogues are oxfords with brogue detailing, but brogue detailing needn’t be restricted to the style of an oxford shoe. You’ll find loafers, boots and pumps with brogue detailing too.

The style above left is an oxford brogue, while the other two styles are actually pumps with brogue detailing.

One significant common denominator of loafers, oxfords and brogues is that all three styles are available in versions for both men and women. You’ll find loafers, oxfords and brogues in the lasses and gents footwear selections. I hope that clears up the confusion.

Loafers tend to look a little more masculine than ballet flats, which makes them the more arty and edgy choice. I’ve always liked the look of loafers and now more than ever, view them as the “new look ballet flat” . So I’m slowly but surely adding fun loafers to my flat shoe collection.

When purchasing loafers, be mindful of the style detailing and think about how you will wear them with other items in your wardrobe. Here are some guidelines that may help:

• Low vs. high vamps: Generally, both high and low-vamped loafers work best with boot cuts, straight leg slacks or jeans. But loafers with low vamps can be worn with skirts, dresses and cropped pants as well. Add fun hosiery into the mix for an eclectic look.
• Sporty vs. retro styles: Styles with chunky rubber soles look more casual and aren’t quite as versatile as retro styles with refined rubber or leather soles. But if you’re after a completely casual look like the ones I got at the Tsonga Factory, then stick to wearing them with jeans.
• Interesting colour or texture: Loafers tend to look extra classic in a flat black and brown leather. This is ideal for those with a classic sense of style. But if you’re after a trendier vibe, choose loafers in a fun colour and interesting texture like the styles you see below.
• Add the attitude: It’s how you wear the ped that counts. One of my favourite ways of wearing the cream Tsonga loafers is with boot cut or straight leg jeans, a black top, scarf and belted burnt orange 70’s style vintage leather jacket with faux fur trim. The drama of the scarf and the edginess of the jacket offsets the classic integrity of the loafers. I dig that type of contrast.

Loafers are also great to wear with trouser socks or thin wool socks, which makes them a super alternative to booties, ankle boots, ballet flats or fashion sneakers. A nice closed shoe option for nippy weather.

An assortment of fun loafers. All the vamps are high except for those on the pewter and purple pairs, so those are the types of styles that you could pair with skirts, dresses and hose.

My favourite heel height is between one and two inches, but I have one pair of cream booties that measured more than three and a quarter inches, making them a mere 2-hour shoe. With a cushioning foot bed, sufficient support and a very stable stacked heel, they were comfortable in every other respect. If it weren’t for the towering heel height, we’d have been be a match made in heaven.

I took the two year old lovelies to Nordstrom’s footwear department, where I have all my shoes and handbags fixed and spruced up. I couldn’t have the heels cut down to two inches without distorting the entire shape of the shoe. A third of an inch was the most they could do. Not quite the reduction that I had hoped for, but I decided to take what I could get.

I was worried that the shoes would feel odd and imbalanced after the heels were trimmed, but they actually felt really good once I’d put them through their paces. The front of the shoe has lifted ever so slightly, but the balls of my feet are much relieved as a result of a less steep arch. Overall, this was a worthwhile exercise for $18 and I’ll definitely consider doing it again. I now have “new” 4-hour shoes. Fabulous.

• Heels help: Heeled styles make you look taller and leaner. I wish this wasn’t the case, but unfortunately it’s a fact. However, low heels are fine and flat styles will also work if you follow some of the tips below.
• Slouch styles are forgiving: Calf length boots that slouch are often more flattering because they add volume to the lower leg thereby balancing out proportions. Without the volume, you might look like you’ll topple over. Slouch boot volume bulks up a narrow calf, and can also flatten out a wider calf if the volume occurs underneath the widest part of the calf.
• Find your sweet spot: Calf length boots vary in shaft height. Some styles work better when the tops finish under the calf, while others are best a little higher on the calf. Generally, wider calves look best when the shaft finishes under the widest part of the calf.
• Raise the hemline: Exposing the knee cap is a must when wearing skirts and dresses. Going a little shorter is an option, but not a necessity.
• Keep the boots tonal: Wear boots that are a similar colour to your legs, your hose or your tights. Wear skinnies and boots of a similar colour intensity. For example, the lighter wash jeans worn with grey boots below creates a continuous flowing line because the colour intensity of the two is similar. Pairing black calf length boots with black skinnies is a no-brainer.
• Raise the waistline: add an empire cut dress or top, cinch in the smallest part of the waist with a belt, or tuck a top into high rise bottoms.

You won’t need to follow all of the tips at once to achieve a flattering leg line. I’m happy to keep calf length boots flat and a contrasting colour to my legs as long as my hemlines are raised.

It sounds like a lot of effort to get calf length boots to work, but I’m encouraging the style because they’re easier to fit around the lower leg than knee-high boots. No calf circumference challenges or shaft height concerns. So if you fancy the look, don’t give up yet!

At first, you might not fancy the slouchy volume around the calf and ankle, but it has its advantages. It tends to balance out ensemble proportions so that you don’t look like you’re going to topple over (boot cut pants achieve a similar sense of proportion with their wider hem). Slouch boots are often easier to fit than regular knee-high boots because they don’t need to fit precisely around the calf area. They can either gape on narrow calves, of fit snugly under a wider calf. And slouch boots do a great job of dressing down a dressy outfit.

You can wear slouch boots over skinnies and cigarette pants, with skirts and shorts, or under dresses. Paired with shorter frocks, with or without hose, is my favourite way of wearing them at the moment because the outfit transitions into Autumn so perfectly, especially if your weather is mild.

Click pictures to enlarge

It’s important to raise the hemline of the skirt or dress with slouch boots. Somehow the proportions are off when the hemline finishes on or below the knee making you look dumpy and short-legged. Wearing my frocks this short is one of the ways I’ve evolved my style this season. I haven’t exposed my knee caps and the top part of my thighs for fifteen years! But the boots provide extra coverage and hose helps too.

I’ve paired the look with sleeveless dresses because that’s my style preference, but most frocks and skirts will work with slouch boots as long as the hemline is shorter. I add a boyfriend jacket, cascading cardigan, biker jacket, denim jacket or boxy Chanel-esque jacket on top when it’s chilly, and peel off that layer when it’s warm. You don’t have to stick to heeled styles with this look either. Both my grey and black boots are flat because I also love to wear frocks with flats.

Remember that you can substitute dress and slouch boot styles that are more to your taste to make this look work for you. Lasses of all ages and sizes are wearing this combination in downtown Seattle recently and it’s fun to see different takes on the same outfit formula. So do you think you’ll wear frocks with slouch boots?

But I’m surprised that so many lasses don’t like to wear mid-calf and knee-high boots with skirts and frocks unless they pair the look with tights or hose. In other words, boots with bare legs is a no-no. Why is that? It’s the perfect transitional outfit when it’s still too hot for hose, but cool enough for boots. It’s a great way to get more mileage from your boot collection before you have to wear hose to keep warm. Also, this is your boot solution for mild Winter weather.

I’ve heard one explanation: “when it’s cold enough to wear boots, it’s cold enough to wear hose and tights”. In my book this simply isn’t so. I take full advantage of in-between weather so that I can wear my boots more frequently. And trust me. I have plenty of unsightly varicose veins all over my lily white legs. This won’t stop me from showing bare skin because I moved on from being bothered about that long, long ago.

What am I missing, ladies? Will you sport boots and bare legs? If not, why not?

And here we were, in the middle of rural nowhere in South Africa, driving past their factory. Can you believe it. Hah! Intrigued and excited, I dragged Greg and his parents off to see what Tsonga was all about.

We followed the sign along a narrow dirt road to get to the Tsonga premises, which are situated at the foot of the Drakensberg mountain range in Kwazulu-Natal (South Africa). Tsonga looks more like a farm than a factory. So, so beautiful. We parked the car outside the entrance and walked into the factory shop, a small retail space attached to their factory that sells their products at lower prices. It’s always worth looking at factory shops if you’re bargain minded.

The shop was pretty fancy and I was impressed. While my parents-in-law and I were fitting on numerous pairs of shoes, I couldn’t help but notice that the windows and doors of the shop opened out onto a lovely grassy courtyard. It was filled with rural African women sitting on benches singing, yakking and laughing as they skillfully hand stitched shoes. Wow. I was blown away. The entire setting and ambiance at Tsonga was moving. Serene, friendly, productive, and professional. A highly unusual set-up for any production line.

There is a lot of poverty in the rural areas of South Africa. Basic needs, such as housing, food, healthcare and education, are scarce and heart breakingly below par. In the light of these socio-economic conditions, the Tsonga story is especially heartwarming because the brand was established to empower women in the nearby rural village by creating jobs:

“Using their meticulous skills, a community of women are uplifting themselves by crafting Tsonga shoes, turning their abilities into a real future for their children. They are not only stitching a spirit of our African heritage, but the very essence of hope into each Tsonga shoe they sew”.

Back in the shop, my eye caught a pair of creamy, bone-coloured driving shoes, or loafers. They fit perfectly, provide ample support and are as soft as my slippers. Very classic, flat and not everyone’s cup of tea, but they’ll make an excellent pair of transitional weather shoes that can be worn with or without socks. These shoes are about the colour, not the design. They weren’t nearly as appealing in black or brown, but the red was cute too.

Don’t write them off quite yet if you think the style is too classic for your tastes.  Loafers can be worn with spunk if the rest of the ensemble is right, and next month I will write a post on how to make traditional shoes look hip.

Like most comfort shoe brands, Tsonga peds are not fashion forward, but they are superbly made and extremely comfortable. I was never drawn to the ultra classic and somewhat casual styles the brand offers in retail America, but with the best selection on home ground, I was able to support the Tsonga cause and bring home a pair that I love (and have already put through their paces).

You can read more online about the current facts and future plans of the Tsonga Thread of Hope Farm. In addition to hand crafted shoes, Tsonga grows fruit and vegetables for the children of the community day care center and has plans to construct a training college. A thread of hope indeed. Watch out for the Tsonga brand when you next shop for shoes and try on a pair of their peds. They might not be fashion forward, but your foot will love the way they feel while your heart remembers the Tsonga story.

Things look different on the street. During the day I mostly see women putting flats and low heels though their paces. There are far fewer super high heels. Understandably, the high heels are more popular at night, but for the most part, they are a rare daytime phenomenon. Even in cities like NY, Paris, London and Hong Kong, you will occasionally see super high heels during the day, but flats and lower heels are definitely more common.

So who’s wearing these sky scraping heels? It’s a mystery. They must be selling at retail because buyers wouldn’t be putting them into stores every season if women weren’t purchasing them. But the retail supply of super high heels does not seem to reflect what’s being worn in the real world.

Perhaps women purchase sky scraping heels for night time use only. Perhaps they swap out their comfortable shoes for heels when they get to the office. Perhaps there’s an epidemic of four inch heeled closet orphans. What’s it like in your neck of the woods? Can you solve the mystery of the missing heels?