Shoe blog

Can you judge a man by his shoes?

They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but can you judge a man by his shoes?  Shoeologist Donna Sozio, author of the book Never Trust a Man in Alligator Loafers (and one of the items in our holiday giveaway that you can enter right here), says that you can.

Naturally, I thought it would be fun to put Donna up to a little shoe challenge.  It was a blind shoe test. I sent Donna a picture of a man’s shoes but neglected to tell her the shoes belonged to my hubby (henceforth called DH for darling husband).

Here was her reading and I’ll tell you how she did afterwards:

Interesting. These shoes are very functional. We have the obligatory black loafers for work and/or dress events. Running shoes for well, running and other athletics. The more hip, young and fun lace-up hybrid bowler-ish kicks satisfy just about all other moments in-between work and sport. With these three shoes, he’s covered just about everything. Except himself.

Each of his shoes seems to do something for someone else. They fit a role to play and a part to be. I feel like he would do best having in his repertoire a shoe that is uniquely him. A shoe that doesn’t necessarily serve a function. One that he owns because it he likes it… not because “It’ll work” or “It’ll do”.

Above all, he’s a casual guy. The black dress shoes are about as casual as you get away with in that department. And he’s probably not used to thinking that he can do something just to please himself. I mean, men aren’t prone to bubble baths or pedicures. He’s not even close to being a metrosexual. But that doesn’t mean he can’t break rank once in a while and go for style. In fact, it would be an interesting experiment for him to go for the unexpected and learn that nothing catastrophic will happen.

What does all this mean for his love potential?

Most likely he’s a good provider, even if adolescent at times. He’ll let himself get run down doing things for others. So don’t be surprised if he suddenly has to “go camping” or disappear into the garage for the weekend to regroup.

It’s best to remind him that he doesn’t always have to follow the rules other people put before him. He can make his own rules, do things his own way and be equally successful, if not more.

If you want flowers more often than just on your birthday, find unexpected off-beat reasons to celebrate. At first he might resist, but secretly he’ll appreciate you, once he realizes just how fun life is when you’re living for yourself rather than under other people’s expectations.

Verdict:  I’m impressed. Just by looking at the condition, shape, material, etc. of the shoes Donna gave a pretty accurate read.   My DH truly is the most manly, laid back guy that I know.  Who else would love me despite my OCD habits, picky food habits, strict household habits, corny humor, etc?   DH is also very loving, generous, helpful, and thoughtful when it comes to family and dear friends. Lucky me!’

I do disagree with Donna’s evaluation that the hubby gets worn down from helping people and doesn’t do something for himself though.  The numerous technie gadgets, video games, and motorized toys say otherwise.  However,  I have to be fair and mention that I only sent the top three shoes the hubby wears. So maybe I should have sent the entire shoe collection to Donna to give her a more complete picture.

This is a book which I think would be fun and hopefully helpful for my single friends and maybe even my married ones too.   I figure that, if you take the book with a grain of salt, it will at least be a good conversation piece, especially when you get to excerpts of the book like this one.   This is Donna’s list of “10 Reasons Why Shoes Are Better Than Men”:

1. They come in pairs
2. We pick their size
3. They prefer to be fixed
4. They always compliment us
5. They wait right where we left them
6. They’re returnable
7. They don’t mind being cleaned up
8. They like it when we “step on them”
9. They always know how to make us feel better
10. They don’t get jealous if we’ve had multiple shoe experiences

Still not convinced or need Donna’s help to weigh in?  You can submit your man’s shoe pictures on the forums here and Donna will do her best to give you her predictions.  Not all posts will be answered, but maybe the rest of us can chime in too.