To close out 2008 and herald the new year, I would like to give one final reminder to enter the ShoeBlog holiday giveaway, which ends TODAY.  To enter, simply submit a comment and leave your email address over on the original shoe post here.

Although I know you’ll find great uses with the $100 Gift Certificate we are giving away, one of the items I’m most excited about in the holiday giveaway are these sturdy and easy to organize shoeboxes. We’re giving you a whole set of boxes for you to start the New Year right and proudly display your favorite shoes.

To show you how functional I found these shoeboxes, I used the shoeboxes on  part of my shoe collection.  These are some of my nicer (i.e. more expensive so that I don’t wear them often) shoes and/or the party/evening shoes.

Here’s the before picture.  It was incredibly difficult for me to figure out what was in many of the shoe boxes. I would usually have to open them all, which I have to admit wasn’t always a bad thing because it was nice to find a pair of shoes I totally forgot about.  Of course, when time is an issue, not having a complete shoe inventory was a problem.   To further make my life more complicated, whenever I needed my Stuart Weitzmans nude pumps (bottom right corner, purple box)  I felt that I had to do a mini excavation in order to reach the shoes since they were piled under a bunch of other shoes and boxes.

Now here’s the after picture.   There were a ton of ways to go about organizing this part of the shoe wardrobe using the clear shoeboxes however this is the one I liked the best.   For shoes that I really wanted to see displayed, I used the larger men’s clear shoeboxes (lower left corner) .  Aren’t the Dries Van Notens and lace Stuart Weitzman’s lovely?  I also found the side door openings quite handy for easy access to the shoes (even shoes on the bottom of the pile!).  As an added bonus, the shoe boxes were easily closed so I could protect the shoes from getting dusty but they are also well ventilated too.  Now, while I preferred to use the larger men’s shoe boxes, space is an issue for me.  That’s where the smaller women’s clear shoeboxes came in.  Like the men’s shoe boxes, these were sturdy (meaning you can stack lots of things on top of them), had the easy to access side opening, and transparent for me to see what shoes were in the box.

In the end, I still kept a few old shoe boxes lying around.  But you’ll find that I kept those boxes on the topof my pile since they lacked the side opening for easy access.

A few of our readers asked where they could purchase the clear shoeboxes just in case they didn’t win the contest.  The shoeboxes I used and the ones in our giveaway are from Diva’s Emporium.   Depending on the quantity and type of boxes you order plus the strength of the US dollar, the price for each box runs between $3-$5. For me, it’s a price worth paying to protect and display my shoes.  Plus, the time I saved from having to rummage through a shoe pile was priceless for me.

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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.

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For all of you who have been nice this year, it’s time for ShoeBlog’s annual holiday giveaway.  We’re very appreciative of the support you’ve shown our shoe blog and wanted to send you a little love back.   Plus, I’m sure you’re frazzled from all the gift shopping you’ve been doing for beloved friends and family so this is your chance to reward yourself.

One lucky ShoeBlog reader will receive:

(1) $100 E-Certificate to your choice of online shoe store and

(1) Set of Clear Shoe Boxes from Diva Emporium to proudly display and store 14 of your favorite shoes and

(1) Copy of the Never Trust a Man in Alligator Loafers book by Donna Sozio and

(1) Shoes Gallery 2009 Calendar, which as we’ve learned from Galligator are true collector’s items

It’s hard to pick just one winner, so let’s increase the odds a bit shall we?  Two runner up shoe winners will each receive a $25 gift certificate to their choice of online shoe stores.

Ready to enter the giveaway?  You know the drill - leave a comment on this blog post with your email address.  All entries much be submitted by Wednesday, December 31st.   Happy Shoe-lidays!

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Congratulations to Bushra!  As contestant #35, she is our winner of the JB and Me Contest Giveaway.  We know she’ll really enjoy spending her gift certificate on all the wonderful things at their store.

And for those that didn’t win, be sure to signup for their email newsletter.  Today and tomorrow only, they are having a private sale for newsletter subscribers which you will not want to miss.

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Thanksgiving is this week! Finally - it means the holidays are upon us! And I can’t think of a better way to start spreading holiday cheer than to let you know about all the contests we’ll be doing on ShoeBlog. We’ve got a bunch of goodies in store for you, so do check back often and see what fun things we’re giving away.

With that, why don’t we kick off our first holiday contest, shall we? Maribeth VanZalen and Jamie Grasman, a mother and daughter dynamic duo, created the shop JB And Me to showcase their keen eye for fashion. Their retail stores have been around for 10+ years but thanks to the miracle of the internet, they’ve recently launched an online version of their store at JBAndMe.com. They’ve also graciously donated a hand wrapped $75 gift certificate for one lucky ShoeBlogger to spend on their website.

If I were the winner of the JB And Me contest (which I can’t be because sadly I can’t enter), I would use the gift certificate to purchase these warm Ipanema boots. There would still be spare change left to boot too.

Now, if you have enough shoes (but I can’t imagine that you do), there are a number of other products you could also use the gift certificate one, including 7 for all Mankind jeans,

Or Hollywood tape to leave you safe and less exposed in your holiday dress,

or scented candles to keep your home sweet and well light. You get the drift, there are a ton of things you could use the gift certificate on.

So now I’m sure you’re dying to know how to enter. Well, it’s pretty simple actually. Regular ShoeBlog readers already know the drill. If you are a US resident, simply leave a comment on this blog post telling us why you want to win. Your entry needs to be submitted by midnight Tuesday December 2nd. Good luck!

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