My shoes in repose.
More info about my Italy trip:
Before leaving, it crossed my mind that I might not stand out as much in Italy since the people look more Caucasian and I would be wearing black shirts, which I heard the Italians are prone to do. I could not have begun to fathom the depths of my ignorance.
First of all, Italians (in the regions I visited) are a people who have adapted to the sun by developing more melanin in their skin, giving it a nice tan color. I, in contrast, am of Northern European descent where people are still actively debating whether or not the sun exists more than 3 months a year. I was the pale needle in a bronzed haystack.
Second of all, mimicking Italian fashion requires more than wearing a black shirt purchased at TJ Maxx. The first problem was the fact it was just a frilly black shirt and not a tight tank top. The second problem is that I paired it either with jeans or business casual slacks (Old Navy) instead of shorts, skinny jeans, or leggings. My backpack was also problematic, since it indicated I was either an elementary school student or a dirty hippy backpacker. Yet despite all these flagrant violations of well known fashion rules, the real deal breaker in my quest to blend in was my adventure sandals, also known as Chacos, that are so supportive the arch that can be seen from the moon. Only a sloppy tourist would dare be seen wearing something close to practical footwear, not including elderly people that have a prescription for their shoes and can’t fight off their nurse.
I proudly admit without shame that I am such a sloppy tourist, and I spent almost my entire European adventure in Chaco’s. These shoes, unlike humans, have never let me down. They lift me 1.5 inches above mysterious ground moisture. They keep my feet comfortable even after walking for hours on ancient Roman streets. They dry quickly should they become wet. They don’t bill me for therapy sessions. I am so dedicated to these shoes that I even wore them when I knew the occasion might call for something more formal, such a fancy dinner with my Italian host’s family. She donned an elegant coral dress and gold jewelry, her sister sparkled in a well tailored black cocktail number and fancy black flats, and I stood out in my wrinkled purple sundress and adventure sandals. I’m almost certain a group of Italian men was mocking me on my way to the bathroom, but I harbor no regrets especially because of what followed.
After dinner, we visited a medieval city full of steep pathways and slippery cobblestone lanes and aimed to climb to the highest point in order see yet another breathtaking view of the Italian countryside. While the others were inching gingerly along in their chic but impractical footware, I sprinted past them and left little puffs of adventure sandal dust in their faces. That night, I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt to myself and the entire world that fashion is never a substitute for functionality. A rib might break, and an ankle might roll, but my arches will forever remain supported. I don’t care what anyone else says; I love my adventure sandals.
Snotting black 
Who cares if they aren’t stylish, Chacos are great. Have you checked out the London Fly line? They actually have style and you can walk miles in them.
I completely agree with you, and no I have not checked out London Fly line but I am in the process of doing so as we speak. New favorite shoe? New blog post? We shall see….
I think it’s OK if your feet are comfy if what you wear above your feet deflects attention from your fashion faux pas down below :p
Well sometimes I struggle with the upper portion as well, but I agree. And if you’re in a crowd, people literally can’t see your feet, so why go through the pain of trying to make them conform to a societally constructed idea of beauty. But yeah, comfort is important.
I envy your adventure. I’m not sure about sandals but I’m so there in a paid of comfy shoes!
I myself was a closed toed shoe person or a barefoot person for decades. Only in the last few months have I discovered sandal-me. But I’ve always been about comfort. That hasn’t and won’t change.
OMG! I LIVE and LOVE my Chacos! I lived in Arizona before moving to the South of France and I just know people look at my shoes and think I am some sort of tourist. But, after I lost my job, I don’t think I even wore another pair of shoes – and that was over a year and a half ago! When I head back to the states this winter for a visit, I will buy another pair of Z1’s and I love them! Plus, I buy the men’s version – fits my female feet even better. Chacos rule!
Woot woot! Chaco love is unstoppable, international, and contagious!
I found this statement the funniest of all, “I, in contrast, am of Northern European descent where people are still actively debating whether or not the sun exists more than 3 months a year.”
I am from Western Africa where the Sun should be a part of our middle names, to show much it is with us 🙂
This is one of the best Freshly Pressed i’ve read so far. Congratulations.
Thanks! Seriously, though, the sun and I have issues. At least I can eat dairy without problems.
Nothin’ like adventure sandals! Nice post. I love Italy.
Thanks! Italy was amazing…hard to leave. All food tastes like ash in my mouth.
I would be the one inching my way up and you’d be the one running past me. Show off. hahaha. Congrats on being freshly pressed.
Thanks!
Really my opportunities to shine are limited considering the fashion level of my footwear, so I’m sure in all other respects you would have me beat.
‘adventure sandal dust’ – love it!
Thanks! Adventure clothes are underrated by travellers trying to look cool.
Came here from Freshly Pressed 🙂
Travel and heels are a strict NO NO for me! I try to carry a day foot wear and a night time one… but all flats always!
Amen sister. In some countries, I’m abnormally tall so I don’t need to be adding height and pain.
As someone who did a lot of walking in Europe back in the day, fashion is definetely over-rated! After walking in Venice in my 4 inch heels, I opted out of that idea quickly. I wanted to blend in and look good in my European photos, but it was winter & snowing some of the times I was there so I bought a great looking pair of Aerosole boots (2 in fact) that I wouldn’t have traded for a pair of Jimmy Choo’s.
If all you can remember when looking at your photos is how much you used to love being able to feel your toes which have now frozen off because of frostbite, it’s not worth it. Comfort all the way.
LOL!! I hear you. When not in my bare Zorro-striped feet, I live in those same black Chacos, which were the only shoes in REI that fit my width, and only in Men’s. In and out of puddles, to a concert or photography exhibit, up and down a mountain, they never let me down! When we went to Italy I was not yet married to my Chacos, but I’m sure they would have made a much more bella figura than the Crocs I was wearing at the time ( and have since dumped).
I can sprint up mountains in Chacos as well as sit down in restaurants. Do I need anything else.
Congrats on being Freshly Pressed! Laughed out loud when I read this one!
Thanks Jen! I’m glad to put more laughter into the world. There’s not enough…never enough!
Wow, nice post. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
Thanks! Someone at the big wordpress office in the sky must like what I’m doing.
I totally agree! Besides, if you’re a traveller, who has space to be bringing all the necessities AND the fancy clothes? I’m here for six months and I have one pair of mocassins (work), one pair of walking boots (tourism), one pair of stilettos (duh) and one pair of tennis shoes (everything else). So every so often I look out of place; whatever, I haven’t had a single blister in the two months I’ve been here. To me, that’s way sexier than the stilettos I’ve only worn once. 😛
Toes over bros!
Amen. Life’s too short to be wearing uncomfortable footwear.
It was a tragic moment when I recently broke my favorite sandals beyond repair and they had to be retired. I’ve not yet been able to find the exact same thing… How dare they stop selling my perfect shoes?!? I’m glad you didn’t let them intimidate you into less than comfy footwear!
Never, friend. Comfort is my refuge. God forbid I’m caught in something uncomfortable.
كل عام وانتم بخير
عيدكم مبارك
و انت بخير
الله يبارك فيك
Holy Crap! You got Freshly Pressed as well!
Congrats…
It’s weird…isn’t it?
I’ve literally never been more terrified in my entire life. I’m about to tweet that same sentiment.
I LOVE my Chacos, too! And I think I’ll take your advice about “functionality over fashion.” If I ever get the chance to tour Italy, I guarantee I’ll be wearing them 🙂
Wear them loud and wear them proud. Just know everyone else is more uncomfortable than you and it makes the stylishness factor just disappear.
haha, YES! Arch support is key. 😉
Never ever ever underestimate those arches. They’re there for a reason. Am I right?
Ah, that’s okay, wear it loud and wear it proud! Better to be the comfy one in the sandals, than the girl hobbling down the street in painful stiletto heels.
aparnanairphotograpy.wordpress.com
I should start a charity giving comfortable shoes to the hobbly girls.
I want Chacos!
Go out and get yo’self some! They’re slightly expensive and ridiculous looking, but totes worth it.
I love chacos, but it’s true, footwear wuch as those are always the dead giveaway of a tourist.
There comes a point in each journey when I give up the delusion of trying to blend in. Then I can really start to have fun, tacky tourist that I am.
I spend every day in my chacos that it’s above 60 degrees and I’m not required to dress in formal wear. Enjoyed your post 🙂
I’m waiting for Chacos to come out with a formal style so I’ll never have to be without.
Chacos FTW! I love my Chacos and try to get a Chaco tan each summer 🙂
Chaco tans are one of the most sublime forms of beauty, if I do say so myself. I have a very faint chaco tan, due to my rather fair complexion itself, but I regularly get dirt patterns in the shape of my chaco straps, which is just as awesome.
I admire your dedication haha. Loved this post!
Congratulations on being FP
http://pjmgfashionn11.wordpress.com/
Thanks for reading! I’ll never stop—–Chacos better pay me or something.
your title made me giggle – loved this
One giggle means my work here is done. Thanks for reading!
Sounds like me when I went to Italy! Chaco are the best!
Come rain, and shine, my chacos are on me all the time. Except for in the shower, because that would be weird. But I could wear them in there if I wanted to, and especially in public showers it’s not a bad idea since they lift me up off the ground.
Everything is better in Chacos!
Preach Preach!
My travel , no, my every day, no matter what, shoes are Danskos. Clogs, sandals, pumps.
Check out their outlet store. They’ve discontinued many great styles that I have – mostly in sandals– which made me very angry with the company. But still love, love, love the shoes.
I have heard about the Dansko, yet have thus far shied away. Should I need to get a closed toes pair of non-tennis shoe adventure footwear, then they shall certainly be among the first ones I consider.
Oooh maybe I need a pair of adventure sandals! They look super comfy.
You shan’t regret it. Do yourself and your feet a favor. They last forever too, unlike Sperry’s boat shoes, which wear down every 6 months practically.
We would love to post this at toemail if you do not mind? 🙂
We’d just need confirmation of what city you’d like us to post and we’d be good to go!
http://toemail.wordpress.com
Hey! You could post to Rome, Italy, if you so desire. Thanks for featuring my feet!
Wow! 😀 Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed!
Thanks dude!
Those shoes are a travesty! I am not the fashion police by any means but…few things are worse than those…Birkenstocks and Tevas are worse — but that’s about it! lol
Glad you got to experience Italy – stylish or not! 🙂
Thank you for your comment. You are not the first person, nor will you be the last to mock me for these shoes nor for continuing to wear open toed shoes in Cairo where my feet are slowly turning into sandpaper. Nevertheless, this is the life I have chosen.
“Funcshion” is a practical woman’s guide to being comfortably stylish. It’s a fashion faux pas to wear cute shoes that make you cringe in pain with every step.
Preach it sister! Why should I sacrifice my comfort in order to wear shoes designed to make me look better for men folk.
“My backpack was also problematic, since it indicated I was either an elementary school student or a dirty hippy backpacker.” ~ I love how you can only fall into one of these 2 categories if you wear a backpack…haha. So funny!
Great post and don’t worry about being a sloppy tourist…in my opinion, the sloppier, the better. 😉
Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed!
Thanks for the congrats and I also agree about the sloppy-awesomeness ratio. So many people out there are confused….it’s depressing, really. That’s why we need chaco warriors.
Fuckin’ A, sister! I wear my Birkenstocks (with fashionable upper straps and a sensible base) as soon as it’s warm enough to put them on, and don’t take them off for closed shoes until the first frost! I can barely even walk w/out good supportive shoes, now, and although I still love the look of those strappy sandal numbers, the agony they cause me makes me aware that their days are long gone and my yearnings are but a silly, immature memory.
Walk on, girl!
Thanks sister! I think we’re ready for a footwear revolution where fashion and comfort become one. I pray for that day.
Those sandals look super comfy – and when it comes down to it, not worrying about foot pain or blisters makes for a much better trip.
As a salesperson in the oldest second hand clothing store in America once told me, there’s no substitute for comfort. He’s certainly right.
oh i can totally relate! bought (nay, *invested*) in some ‘science’ footwear before I began six months of backpacking and they were worth every dollar spent. They have kept my precious feet supported and painless through scorching deserts, up high mountains paths and through countless dusty city streets.
unfortunately they came to an early end though… the constant humidity of an indian monsoon combined with being stored in an unforgiving plastic bag at the bottom of 20kgs of stuff meant they died an early death and were sacrificed to the bin gods just a few days ago. They did their job well tho
a sad day to be sure, but at least they lived a noble life. may they always be remembered.
Well, despite the flagrant fashion faux pas you evidently committed, I only have one thing to say: I NEED a pair of those shoes!
😉
Don’t wait. Buy today! Your arches will thank you. Give them my name and tell them to read my blog and send me free shoes, if you don’t mind.
Hahaha, the wrinkled purple sundress and adventure sandals! I have been there too. 🙂
All in all, it’s not a bad place to be. I hope to be there again, preferably in Italy.