Foot Washing Mission

The AIDS Orphan Rescue units are small portable buildings set up near the orphans’ own villages in Malawi, Zambie and Cameroon, Africa. There participants wash the feet of impoverished children and present them with new socks and new shoes. Wearing new socks and new shoes allows children to go to schools. Children without socks and shoes are not permitted to attend because of the potential to spread blood borne infection through open cuts and scrapes caused by walking on their bare feet. The socks and shoes are donated to Teen Missions by individuals, groups and organizations from across North America. The young missionaries on their way to the rescue units cram their luggage full of socks and shoe donations.

Disco feet light up the place

Time was a disco was a darkly lit dance club filled with smoke and the smell of booze. Nothing particularly eco-friendly about that but now new age dance clubs are green and proud of it. The more planet friendly power the establishment though the punters feet dancing on special floors. Springs and power generating blocks are embedded in the dance floor and these create electricity when stepped on. The power is then saved into nearby batteries and the power is sent through-out the club. The concept works on the principle of piezoelectricity, where crystals and ceramics create a charge to generate electricity. The vibration of clubbers dancing provides approx. 60 percent of the club's energy needs according to the inventor Andrew Charalambous, aka Dr Earth. The 'world's first ecological nightclub' is Sustainable Dance Club (SDC) in Holland and the first eco-friendly night club in London is at Bar Surya in Pentonville Road.

Crocs on the mend?

Earlier this month Crocs reported a loss of $22.4million US in the first quarter (last year they only lost $4.5 million in that period). The company, now under the new directorship of John Duerden as president and CEO are poised to recover their losses by laying off employees and refining the Crocs's signature injection-molded technology. The company will continue to expand their global markets in Japan and Southeast Asia but have shelved the introduction of a new line of Crocs apparel and the higher-end You by Crocs line of shoes are also on hold.

Right start with Start-right

Start-rite continues to extend their range of kids shoes every season that appeal to the more fashion conscious parent and child, while still maintaining superior quality, fit and durability. The new ‘Jamboree’, ‘Saharan Trail’ and ‘South Bank’ range are already proving popular according to reports. Start-rite’s updated collection of canvas plimsoll styles include a ‘space man’ theme for boys and ‘pop art’ them for girls. The sandal range includes ‘Pit Lane’ a navy sandal perfect for beach wear for boys, and ‘Saffron’ a sorbet pink leather girls sandal. The footwear company offer six width fittings available in half and whole sizes and there is also a free downloadable foot measure gauge to help. In 2008 Start-rite was given the annual ‘Best Children’s Brand’ by the Independent Footwear Retailers Association.

EUREKA Project E! 2923 DIASHOE

Professor Petr Hlavacek is the Head of the Institute of Proteins and Leather Technology at the Tomas Bata University in the Czech Republic. He approached Czech footwear manufacturer and retailer Bata to suggest collaborating on developing a new generation of affordable prophylactic footwear for diabetics. The four-year project gathered together the expertise of university researchers, diabetes experts and orthopedic footwear specialists from the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany and Italy. The team designed and developed a prototype DIASHOE, shoe last based upon thousands of meticulous measurements. The team also experimented with different materials to formulate soles with varying degrees of flexibility and support for differing degrees of foot impairment, and protecting specific pressure points when walking. New upper designs in synthetic fabrics were also developed and the team spent time developing and testing insoles and antibacterial treatment for shoe lining materials. Extensive controlled clinical trials were undertaken before the shoes were marketed under the brand name MEDI through Bata stores, pharmacies and orthotic shops selling medical devices in the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. MEDI footwear is manufactured in the Czech Republic and the future hope is the shoes will become available world wide. Diabetes rates have risen sharply in developed countries in the wake of the obesity epidemic, and an estimated 30 million Europeans live with the condition. Foot problems are the most common cause of admission to hospital for diabetics, who are at risk of serious complications such as nerve damage and problems with the blood supply to their feet. Both conditions can lead to slow-healing wounds and foot ulcers which, if they get infected and become gangrenous, can lead to amputation. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), most cases of foot ulcers and amputations can be prevented by good foot care and wearing appropriate, properly fitting shoes that don’t rub the feet or create pressure spots. Studies show that unsuitable footwear contributes to a significant increase in foot complications and is linked to 60-80% of all cases of foot damage.

Hiking shoes are selling like hot cakes

Apparently hiking boots are the new hot seller in ath-leisure. Hiking boots are after all the ultimate in four wheel drive shoes and consumers are turning their attention to the new range of outdoor shoes because they incorporate all the latest technologies as well as looking sleek enough to wear on the flat. Not only do they feature the latest lightweight elements and cushioning but they also retail at a fraction of the cost of leading fashion shoes. When the designers of hiking shoes moved to incorporate features of runners there was an initial increase in sales and has exponentially increased as more people look out for better value for money and longer lasting footwear. Brasher, Hi-Tec and New Balance are already ahead of the game, joining successful American brand Merrell Chameleon range in providing a wide range of stylish outdoor shoes designed for comfort, style and all manner of activities as multipurpose footwear.

Make a wish and Purchase for Purpose

pediped™ Footwear are hosting Purchases with Purpose fundraiser to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation (May 27 until June 10). During this time select styles of both Originals and Flex shoes will be marked down. Fifty percent of sales from this fundraiser will be donated to the charity to help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. pediped™ will host several different fundraisers throughout the year to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 2008, the company raised more than $111,000 to help grant 15 wishes and has aspirations of surpassing that figure in 2009. Make-A-Wish Foundation was founded in 1980 when a group of caring volunteers helped a young boy fulfil his dream of becoming a police officer, the Foundation is now the largest wish-granting charity in the world.

Made to skate and Art and sole: Thrashing good reads

Made for Skate by J. Blumlein (2009) is a new book which tells the story of skateboard footwear as seen through the eyes of those who lived it. This book provides an exhaustive overview of the history and styles of skate shoes and is based on the collection of the Museum of Skateboard History in Stuttgart, Germany. Along with the classics by companies such as Vans, Airwalk, Etnies, and Duffs it features hard-to-find and one-of-a-kind shoes that emerged throughout five decades of skate history. The book is well illustrated throughout. Another cracker is Art & Sole: Contemporary Sneaker Art & Design by Intercity (2008). This explores the creative side of sneaker culture showing the best and most original rarities/collaborations and previewing the latest art and design. The book also highlights how creative advances on-the-scene have been furthered by a growing number of artists who base their work on sneakers—from sculptures made from dissected shoes to oil paintings on canvas and even the customization of the shoes themselves. There is now a huge crossover between sneaker culture and the worlds of art and design.

Sneaker Pimps: On the road again

Sneaker Pimps road show has been touring the US of late with Big Boi sporting a pair of “Bugs Bunny” Nike Air Jordan VIIIs . Big Boi is a sneakerhead and has a personal collection of over 400pairs many of which he was given.

Move more kids: Big Shoe is in town

Melissa Gaspar is the director of the Skowhegan Free Public Library, Maine and recently unveiled a giant shoe statue outside her library. The metal sculpture of an athletic shoe in motion was created by artist Barry Norling. He was commissioned by the library to fashion a 6-foot-tall, 2-foot-wide sculpture of an athletic shoe as part of the library's Community Art and Heritage Project. The work was paid for through a $3,000 grant from the Maine Community Foundation. The statue is a tribute to all the men and women who over the years have worked in the shoe industry. Skowhegan was once the centre of shoe manufacture and had seven factories in the local area. Now only New Balance remains. The shoe was formed from buffed and welded aluminium and weighs approx., 60-80 pounds. It is mounted on a 70-pound steel base, with wheels so it can be moved easily and has a leaded toe to prevent tipping over if children climb inside it. The shoe in action pose is to represent the "Move More Kids" initiative sponsored by the New Balance Foundation to help prevent childhood obesity. The shoe sculpture was also designed to bring attention to local walking tours. New Balance remains the only company that still manufactures athletic shoes domestically in the US with the rest made off-shore. The US currently is the world’s largest importer of footwear.

Allegations of underage workers in Nike factories

Recent reports from China indicate workers at the Longfa Shoe Factory in China’s south eastern Guangdong province are underage. Further it has been alleged officials switched their identification papers to make them seem older when members of China’s largely Muslim Uyghur ethnic group were sent to work in a shoe factory thousands of miles from home. The facility currently employs 660 workers through a program known as “Transfer Surplus Workforce Outwards.” More than half of the workers are female, and some 300 are under the age of 18. Longfa Shoe Factory is owned by Taiwan-based Dean Shoes Co. Ltd., which supplies Oregon-based U.S. footwear giant Nike, Inc. The legal working age in China is 16 but according to Nike’s code of conduct, their contractors do not “employ any person below the age of 18 to produce footwear” and to hire underage workers would violate company policies. Both companies have denied the allegations.

The sparkling Amy Hogan

US shoe designer Amy Hogan of Fort Myers started a very popular shoe line called Daffodils Footwear which features women's sandals, flip-flops and casual shoes. She also designs boots, heels, stilettos and mules for Kippys Kicks. The trademark of her design is Italian leather decorated with dozens of Swarovski crystals. No two pairs of Kippys Kicks are exactly alike, even those with the same design. The boots carry a special K logo in the leather (just above the heel) and each Swarovski crystal is placed by hand in a rim set (i.e. a tiny round frame with teeth). Kippys Kicks range from $200 to $2,000, with ropers about $600, cowboy boots costing around $9000 and stillettos ranging from $900 to $1,250. A stiletto clog boot with Tibetan lamb cuffs, a custom order, would cost $2,000 US. The boots are assembled in China.

Must have kicks: Niche marketing is a hedge against recession

Chicago hip hop is the champion of fashion-heavy lyrics thanks mainly to local rappers like Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco. The propensity among Echo Boomers to look retro has seen a return to 90s colourful clothing and “old-school” Nikes and Reeboks. The same trend is being followed by other kids in other cities who clamber for nice clothes at good prices. When the duderific Nike Air Yeezy hit the street last month sneakerheads sat all night outside a Chicago store (St Alfred Inc.) for the privilege of being the first to own a pair of Kanye West’s designed shoes. There were 18 pairs available and a few more hip hoppers waiting in expectation. Needless to say the new shoes which retail at a suggested $215 sold for a lot more. ‘Shoe happenings’ like this are not uncommon as hardcore sneaker freekers clamber to own the limited editions and hard-to-find kicks. Indeed experts believe this footwear fanaticism is helping niche stores hedge against inflation. Clothing retail sales generally in the US fell 6.5 percent in April compared with the same month last year, according to data released by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce. St Alfred Inc. like other hip shoe stores around the globe encourage shoe happenings because of the publicity it brings. The Chicago store also carries many highly valued out of stock items no longer found in other stores. The buying trend is people want vintage merchandise and are quite willing to pay top dollar for it. Cash or credit these are ‘must have’ items for the collector and shoe fashionista alike.

Nike's Reuse-a-shoe

Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe program collects old, worn-out athletic shoes for recycling, and transforms them into Nike Grind, a material used in creating athletic and playground surfaces. Nike Reuse-a-Shoe incorporates the three main principles of living a green life i.e. reduce, reuse and recycle and was the brainwave of Steve Potter who envisioned shedding old Nike shoes into a reusable material. To date Nike has recycled 23,175,241 pairs of old athletic shoes. Reuse-a-Shoe bins are available at 300 locations in the US and once the shoes are collected and sent to a recycling plant in Wilsonville, Oregon. Each shoe is cut into three slices, and then fed through grinders and purified. There are three materials produced form the process. Nike Grind Rubber is used for track surfaces, interlocking gym flooring tiles, playground surfaces and consumer products. Nike Grind Foam is used as a cushion for outdoor basketball and tennis courts. Nike Grind Upper is used for cushioning pads for indoor basketball, volleyball courts and equestrian surfacing products.The Reuse-a-Shoe program has provided Nike Grind recycled material to nearly 300 sport and playground surfacing projects around the world.

Shoeologist

Never Trust a Man in Alligator Loafers by ‘shoeologist,’ Donna Sonzi.

Shoe Fleur: A Footwear Fantasy

Michel Tcherevkoff is a photographer/artist who has a brilliant book entitled "Shoe Fleur: A Footwear Fantasy" now the Shoe Fleur collection will be included in an exhibition entitled 'In Her Shoes' at the Fashion Museum in Hasselt, Belgium. The artist will attend the openning night of the exhibition on May 29 to personally introduce his designs and share his perspective with guests. The exhibition is dedicated to the historic development of women's shoes from 1900 until today. The Shoe Fleur exhibition will also be shown this coming August and September at the Luton Museum, Stockwood Discovery Centre in Luton, England.

International Foot Health Awareness Month

May is the International Foot Health Awareness Month and a new survey from the UK found consumers feel comfort is four times more important than price and six times more important than fashion when it comes to shoes. The research was conducted on behalf of British footwear brand Hotter by YouGov with a total sample of 2182 adults. The findings are similar to other shoe satisfaction surveys which concur comfort is singularly the most important factor when it comes to judging footwear.

SoleRebels: Eco ethical fashion from Ethiopia

SoleRebels is the first IFAT certified fair trade company in Ethiopa to produce shoes. SoleRebels is as an ethical company committed to creating world-class footwear and apparel products and great community-based jobs while utilizing the immense, diverse, sustainable and eco-sensible materials and cultural arts of Ethiopia that are by their very nature “green.” SoleRebels products are created using hand-spun organic cotton and artisan hand-loomed fabric. Tyres are also recycled and used for soles. The end result is environmental friendly, vegan footwear. SoleRebels footwear is available for purchase on several online shopping sites including Amazon and Endless.com

Stepping Out

"Stepping Out, Footwear From Around the World’ is an exhibition at the University of California, Davis, Design Museum. The focus of the exhibition is the language of soles. "Stepping Out," is running through July 12 and features nearly 70 pairs of shoes culled from UC Davis's extensive textile holdings that range from functional to fabulous. On display will be ornately beaded Native American moccasins, Japanese straw snow boots, and an artist’s rendering of a shoe in barbed wire. Men's shoes are also represented, from a sensible pair of lace-ups to a fabulous pair of boots, part of a Bolivian dance costume, that are decorated with bells down the side. A poignant item in the collection is a tiny, ornate shoe designed to be worn by a Chinese woman who'd undergone the painful and deforming practice of foot-binding.

The sports foot au naturelle?

The idea for greater freedom for the foot originated from the training techniques of Australian coach Percy Cerutty who trained Herb Elliot. Cerutty trained his athletes running barefoot over sand dunes and grass with a diet of fruits and vegetables. Now the major move in sport shoe design there is to have the foot free to move in an unrestricted and natural way but at the same time be protect within a casing to prevent serendipitous injury. One of the new shoes styles which purports to achieve this is the Nike Free with a waffle fill sole which allows greater flexibility in any direction. No longer restricted to sagittal plane propulsion sports shoes are designed to include greater frontal plane motion too. Over the last four decades sport shoes have gone through several developments determined mainly by biomechanics and gait analysis. In the 70s and 80s designers embraced the theory that sub talar joint pronation and supination was harmful, and sport shoes were designed with features to prevent the inward or outward rolling of the foot. Later with the availability of new polymers in the 80s and 90s shock absorption (aka cushioning) became the major focus and sport shoes etc., became sleeker and more comfortable. More recently acceptance feet were not standard shapes led to incorporation of straight lasted shoes which would accommodate more feet comfortably. The combination of these ideas has neither resulted in improved times in competition at the elite level nor seen significant reduction in sport related injuries and quite the opposite in fact. Something which has always been rather an enigma in modern sport has been the barefoot competitor; indeed in the sport shoe dominated arena barefoot competitors have been an anathema. Now it appears there has been a complete circle in thinking and researchers and designers are now attempting to facilitate optimal foot function with shoes which merely encase the foot. It is unlikely this is anything more than a fad but like the phenomena for ‘wellness shoes’ likely to prevail.

The Sole of the People: Northampton Carnival

The organisers of the Northampton's Carnival have announced the event will go ahead this year, despite fears it would have to be called off due to a decrease in funding. The theme for the event is "The Sole of the People" which is aiming to reflect the history of shoe production in the town. It is hoped that the carnival parade will feature up to 40 floats.

Wellness shoe

The new breed of footwear is shoes designed to improve posture, well that is according to manufacturers, anyway. Mephisto have a new collection of walking shoes called Sano which appear to be turning heads. The overarching goal of wellness shoes is to ease instability in the foot, counter balance weight and tone the muscles of the leg and gluteal region (butt). Sano soles contain both a multi-vibration system and a shock absorber that helps return energy to the foot and as it propels it forward. Sano join Fit Flops and MBTs in a very competitive market which according to experts will not be a passing fad. In previous recession times the walking shoe was glamorised and became a fashion item.

Why do people collect sneakers?

Having an appreciation for designer trainers apparently puts you in a category of people who appreciate one-off's and like to collect limited editions and exclusives. The shoes although seldom worn give their owners great pleasure as well as something to talk about and be proud that they are the 'only' one who has that particular pair. Ask any self-respecting sneakerhead and they will tell you that the usual fashion rules do not apply in regards to canvas footwear. Being smart does not mean being ostentatious and the whole function of decks is to allow the wearer to stand apart from the rest of establishment. The leisure end of sports footwear manufacturers have always worked hard at marketing their anti-mainstream credentials. Converse, a division of Nike, has been especially successful at selling itself as the outsider's footwear of choice. Originally designed for pro-basketballers Converse's Chuck Taylor sneakers soon became the footwear of choice for the delincquint. From the time James Dean was photographed wearing his Jack Purcells in the 50s to Kurt Cobain’s Chucks in the 90s the Allstar shoes are a badge of youth and a lucrative youth culture brand with some 750 million pairs thought to be in existence worldwide. So where do chic sneakers come from? The answer is the hip hop culture and its fetish with sleek footwear. Rap Royalty like Run DMC immortalised their favourite runners in their song “My adidas” and made it clear to all chic sneaks were important to street credability. This started a landslide of interest with The Beastie Boys are among others designing their own range of footwear. When hip-hop stars such as Tupac Shakur and Puff Daddy modelled Nike Air Max in the mid-90s, kids across the globe had to have pimped up over-pumped shoes. Hip hop impresario Jay-Z once claimed he wore a fresh pair of Adidas sneakers every day now the urban fashion mogul recently seen sporting Nike Air Yeezys designed by fellow rapper Kanye West wants to design his own kicks. Jay-Z and his Rocawear team have plans to introduce the Rocawear R+ Evolution in June 2009. Critics believe the new range are rather too similar to the shoes designed by Kanye West which may mean the quarrelsome Jay-Z may have more trouble ahead.

Pian-Toe

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RSole: now there is a name for a sneaker shop

RSole was opened in 2006 and is an up-scale shoe boutique in University City, Mo. The storefront which consists of a wall of frosted glass sits on a busy street near Washington University in St. Louis. Products are displayed in a smattering of square peepholes and the door front is almost invisible. The shop caters for sneakerheads which are typically aged between 18 to 34 year old men willing to spend anywhere from $80 to more than $500 (US) a pair on footwear made by companies such as Nike, Puma and Adidas. Sneakerheads buy several pairs of shoes a year or even at a time but may rarely wear them preferring to keep them as ‘blue chip’ investments. The inspiration for the unique shop came from an experience the designer had whilst walking near her offices in lower Manhattan. She noticed a line forming on the sidewalk. Unable to see where it led, she made inquiries and learned that a crowd of shoe fanatics had waited all night for a sneaker debut. The shoe store bore no sign but as she learned later all the shoes sold out overnight. The presence of the storefront has a classic Islam appearance and at the same time reminded me of the wall on Rowan and Martin Laugh In., where literally anything can happen. The inside of the store is set out like a gallery space in black with lighting to display the shoes as works of art. In the floor are embedded LED squares to define merchandise areas as well as create an active visual environment particularly since staff can control the colour and intensity of the light. Now well established with sneakerheads the shop also attracts local celebrities, including Ted Ginn Jr. of the Miami Dolphins and hip-hop star Murphy Lee. The shop was designed by New York designers Tobin + Parnes.

PinkGhost Custom Chucks Show

On display at Fort Lauderdale's Pink Ghost this Staurday (16th May) is a custom collection of One Stars. (Converse). On display are 30 pairs plus of arted-up kicks submitted by folks from as far away as the UK. Most of the sneakers are still wearable, and can be bought for as little as $50 (US).

Doilies and Pearls, Oysters and Shells

Esme Timbery (Russell) is a celebrated indigenous shell artist whose works are exhibited throughout Australia. She is a Bidjigal woman and lives and works in La Perouse near Botany Bay, Sydney. She began collecting and sorting shells according to size and colour in 1936 at the age of five. She learnt the names of shells and the times of the year she was most likely to find them from her near family. By the age of seven she began creating shellworked brooches, shellworking cane baskets, picture frames, baby's booties and harbour bridges made of fabric covered cardboard. In the early 1950s she and her sister Rose started selling her work and until the mid-1990s her shellworks were sold only to weekend tourists to The Loop at La Perouse or through Laddie Timbery's shop in Huskisson, Jervis Bay. In 2007 Esme featured in an ABC TV documentary titled, 'She Sells Sea Shells.' More recently two Australian designers,
Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales from Romance was born were introduced to Esme’s work and became so knocked out by it they invited her to decorate their shoes for the Australian Fashion Week collection titled ‘Doilies and Pearls, Oysters and Shells.’

Diabetic feet: Marvels of wearable technology

Researchers have developed a wireless electronic foot orthosis composed of lightweight embedded systems and non-invasive sensors which help detect breakdown areas in diabetic patients suffering from peripheral neuropathy. The prototype monitors foot motion and pressure distribution beneath the feet in real-time and classifies the state of the patient. The proposed system detects the conditions that could potentially cause a foot ulcer. This system enables a continuous feedback mechanism to the patient and the patient's caregiver, thereby alerting them to any potential problems.

Reference
Dabiri F, Vahdatpour A, Noshadi H, Hagopian H, Sarrafzadeh M. 2008 Electronic orthotics shoe: preventing ulceration in diabetic patients.
Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2008;2008:771-4.

Shoes: All Things Art

At the end of each decade and century the world becomes transfixed with shoes with many of the significant shoe exhibitions being held at that time. Seems no change then in the 21st Century, because currently there are several shoe exhibitions on the go across the globe.
“Kicking Off Our Shoes”, is an exhibition at the Ontario County Arts Council. On display at the Canandaigua gallery NY are paintings and prints of shoes, sculptures of shoes, mixed-media pieces incorporating shoes. The exhibit runs throughout May.

The Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton MA will present “The Perfect Fit – Shoes Tell Stories,” in June. This is a new exhibition and explores the cultural meanings of shoes. On display are 120 objects created by 100 artists from the United States, Canada and Israel. After its premiere at Fuller Craft, this show will travel to other cities. Brockton was the largest U.S. producer of shoes during the Civil War and until the mi-1900s was consideredthe shoe capital of the world.

Skin and Bone: Would you Adam and Eve it ?

Skins is a new shoe concept consisting of a two part shoe. The Bone is a base sole and inner support section moulded in polyurethane; and the Skin is a flexible upper. The design allows consumers to purchase one inner section, the Bone, and numerous outer Skins, resulting in multiple style variations from the same pair of quality Bones, always with the same feel and fit no matter which Skin is being worn. Currently Skins Footwear offer 20 plus outer shells made from quality leathers, cashmere suedes, exotic skins and other hi tech fabrics. The add on upper allows the wearer to choose the style of shoe they wish to wear and these currently range from slip ons to ballet flats to hi tech trainers. The Spring collection went on sale recently and the company reported brisk sales. Skins Footwear is available in selected outlets throughout the US.

Hang 'em high, Debbie

Recently Debbie Stallard was convicted of a bad driving offenses and sentenced to do 80 hours of community service. The newsagent from Paignton. Devon turned up for her punishment wearing shiny black leather boots with four-inch heels. Officials patiently tried to explain her footwear was not suitable for the sort of manual work she was expected to take part in. Depsite this Stallard maintained she wore heels for medical reasons and when no compromise could be found Debbie went back to court to explain her predicament. Apparently Sallard has an equinus deformity (toe walker) and needs the support of higher heels. Flat heels cause tension on the tendo achilles making walking both tiring and in some cases painful. The health and safety requirement for protected shoes in the work area is a dress code which in the interests of injury prevention and constitutes a duty of care of the employer. Although Ms Stallard was offered protective footwear at the time but she refused to comply. Now the court magistrates have to resentence the offender.

The Designer Dictionary: The Budget Fashionista

Cool site

the budget fashionista with a great resource the Designer Dictionary.

Topless flip flops: Sole suckers or downunders

Topless flip-flops are flats without the thong attachment through the toes. They stay anchored to the sole via a water-based, sticky adhesive. No tell tale residue of adhesive remains on the skin after removal and all that is required to reactivate the non irritant adhesive is an occassional wash with warm soapy water. The sticky adhesive has a one year guaranteed and sole suckers retail at $12.00 (US) per pair.

Heely injuries increase?

It appears there is a significant increase in the number of people presenting at emergency departments with "Heely"-related injuries. A recent published study tried to assess the number of school days lost as a result of related injuries as a secondary measure of the impact on education and lifestyle. Medical staff working in the emergency department completed proformas for all children attending the department with "Heely"-related injuries between 26 December and 26 April 2007. Data collected included age, sex, mechanism of injury, diagnosis and number of days off school as a result of the injury. The results indicated 35 patients with "Heely"-related injuries of mean age 9.6 years (range 6-15) were identified during the study period. The most common mechanism of injury was a fall onto an outstretched hand (20/35, 57%). Other mechanisms of injury identified were lateral upper limb injury (7/35), traumatic lower limb injury (2/35), rotational lower limb injury (2/35), head injury (2/35) and back injury (2/35). The most common diagnosis was fracture of the distal radius (10/35), two of which had an associated distal ulna fracture. Two tibial fractures and one nasal fracture were also seen. The average number of days off school was 4.5 days (range 0-20). None of the children included in this study were using safety equipment at the time of the injury. The researchers concluded the number of "Heely"-related injuries seen in one department over a 4-month period suggests a much higher incidence of injuries than the 46/100,000 found by the manufacturers based on Consumer Product Safety Commission data in the USA. The discrepancy is almost certainly due to the reluctance of UK children to use safety equipment and to follow the manufacturer's safety advice.

Reference
Thing J, Wade D, and Clark H. 2008 "Heely"-related injuries in children. Emerg Med J. 2008 Sep;25(9):572-4.

Commercial trainers: You're in the Army now

In the history of things one of the main easons we all ended up wearing colourful trainers was because after World War II, the sandshoes issued to the forces found their way into Civvy Street. Which was a fortunate conincidence since canvas topped rubber soled shoes were the badge of rebellion and in the absence of US ‘Chucks’ in the UK came as an appropraite replacement for many rationed teenagers in the UK. Seems fitting that the trainer revolution aside the British Army took until 2004 to produce their own extreme sports footwear for public consumption. ukgear.com is a commercial branch of the Army which retails its own brand of luxury trainers. Following a Treasury order in 1998 indicating all government departments must use “irreducible spare capacity” i.e. underused land, personnel and skillsto make money or enhance public relations, the Army have set too becoming entrepeneurial and amaong other things developed their set of trainers for sale. The original sportshoes were designed and developed by David Hinde, who runs UK Gear and the Army provided subjects for testing and development of the product. The UK Gear PT-03 range of runners which are sold under the cross sword logo of the British Army are all tested to extreme wear and climatic conditions and available in male and female sizes. The shoes are hardy, made in Vietnam but not necessarily the cheapest avialable retailing from approx. £79 a pair. Currenty miltary personnel are not issued with the new commercial trainers and receive either the more basic Hi-Tec Silver Shadow or an unbranded pair of trainers in their kit.

Tommy Cooper’s shoes: Just like that!

Tommy Cooper was a big man standing 6’ 4” foot tall in his stocking feet, all size 14 of them. As he was the night he generously donated his shoes to a local publican in Cornwall. The comedian's size 14 shoes are now on display at the Railway Inn in St Agnes. Tommy Cooper frequently drank in the pub and according to one story donated his shoes to the pub’s shoe collection before walking home barefoot in the rain one evening. The pub have over a hundred pairs of shoes donated by patrons including a pair of Lillian Board’s running shoes once she wore when she won a silver medal in the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games. Tommy died in 1984 after collapsing on stage in London. Now if you go to Caerphilly, Wales there you will find overlooking Caerphilly’s castle a nine foot high bronzed statue of Tommy Cooper.

Michelle Obama: Let them eat cake

First Lady, Michelle Obama attended a Feeding America event in Washington wearing kicks, made by French fashion label Lanvin. The shoes retail at $540 US. Her eye catching suede sneakers with grosgrain ribbon laces and metallic pink toe caps complemented her smart but casual outfit perfectly, except for the price. Critics have labelled the fashion faux pas rather indiscrete. The owner of Lanvin footwear is Ikram Goldman who has been a fashion adviser to the first lady but he has refused to say whether Obama bought the shoes at her store. Michelle does love her designer shoes however she may have scored them for nothing, being who she is. If that is the case then all she can be accused of is wearing something from the Op Shop which happens to be designer shoes. At the Presidential Inauguration, the First Lady wore a pair of green Jimmy Choo "Glacier" pumps and at at the groundbreaking of the White House Kitchen Garden, Michelle was in a pair of black Jimmy Choo biker boots ($775. All of which means is she is either incredibly lucky in scoring freebees or has a rather large budget allocation for clothing.

Footnote
During the Great Depression many people were forced through ecomonic necessity to wear the same pair of shoes until there were holes in their soles. These became known as Hoover shoes which was a satirical reference to the then President Herbert Hoover who had promised the US electorate all would be well.