Shoes for Industry!

How many people got that reference?

I bought house slippers a while back.  I got them at Sears, it was difficult to get my size, and I wasn't

my new slippers

crazy about them anyway.  They are navy blue fabric and they have a low back.  I like shoes that stay on my feet.  I do wear some regular shoes without heel support, but they're never my first choice.

I do wear slippers when walking around the apartment, and I walk a lot.  The slippers didn't last as long as I would have hoped.

So I started shopping for new slippers.  It turns out there are two basic types of house slippers: open back and not my size.  I found a couple of pair that would work.  One was leather (really?  Leather house slippers?  I might as well keep my shoes on!) and the other was purchased.  They're a Mary Jane style, with a cute furry lining and sequins.  That's OK.  I don't wear them out of the apartment (much).

By the way, I  messed up yesterday and didn't publish until late at night.  If you missed it (and choose to) keep reading!

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"So Anyway, Meg, What Did You Buy?"

Oh yeah.  House slippers.

Well, I looked at many but most were not in my size.  I had a few options left.

Daniel Green "Nikki"

I liked the Daniel Green "Nikki".  They had only this colour in my size.  Black, chocolate, rust ~ not in 11.  I was tempted, but I wasn't sure about that little rivet pattern on the front.  I mean, I wasn't sure how my wife would react, so I left them in the store.

Minnetonka Kitty Suede Moc

I also liked the Minnetonka Kilty Suede Moc.  I like the fringe, and it kind of related back to my past life regression episode.  I wasn't crazy about the colour (medium grey suede) though.  And even though they had eleven colours, that was the only one in my size.

Daniel Green "Meg"

They had the Daniel Green Meg in gold leather in my size.  But I had two problems with this slipper: one, I didn't think leather slippers would be really comfortable, and two, they are hideous.  But I liked the name :D .

I like the fact that sometimes, women's clothing (and wigs) are named as if they're your friends, instead of your wardrobe.

Minnetonka Cally Slipper

I went with the Minnetonka Cally Slipper.  It's a fairly traditional moccasin, and this is the only colour (cinnamon suede) they had in my size.

But instead of ordering it from Zappos, I went to Amazon where I found it a bit cheaper and if you buy it (or anything else) there by following this link, I get a rupee, or something.  But the real reason I bought it from Amazon is, I bought Meg a couple of other items at the same time.

Six days until the clothing swap.  Eight days until Meg hits the road again.

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Even the Easy Stuff Isn't Easy

The poll is still open.  Please take it ~ it'll only take a minute.  Don't worry about nuances ('it was only once.  Is that still always, or...')  There will be more polls that I hope will clarify the results.  I do want to learn more about you (us).

Even the Easy Stuff Isn't Easy

I need house slippers.  My wife usually gets them for me for a holiday gift.  A year is about all they last, so that works out well.

Last winter, she decided to get me women's slippers.  She picked them up at Marshalls.  I was pleased ~ that was very thoughtful (and maybe she's opening her mind a bit more) of her.

They were too small.  I told her I couldn't wear them and she brought them back.  It is now seven months, my slippers are in awful shape, and no replacement is in sight.

Lacking time to look in stores right now, I went to Zappos and started looking at slippers.  This should not be difficult.  I want basic slippers, something unisex (but from the female side of the store).  This meant a neutral colour and style.  I don't like shoes without a back; I don't like my foot flapping about as I walk.  Around the house, I want quiet shoes.

A search for women's slippers on Zappos reported "We found 633 items!"

Oh.  My.  God.

The fact that there are, for instance, five different Ugg "Ansley" in different colours helped whittle down the choices.  But if each style came in five colours and they were all listed separately, that was 120 or so slippers to look at.

They do sort by styles, among other things.

If it was up to me, I'd probably go with the Ballerina style, or maybe the Mary Janes.  They're quite pretty and defintely girly.  There were almost 200 "Scuff" and I have no idea what they have in common.  Slides and flip-flops, I knew I wasn't interested in.  Moccasins were a definite possible.  Booties ~ no.  I want a slipper I can just kick off.

Then there was an "Other" category (111 styles).

I went through them all.

You can also sort by size and width, but I didn't realise I could choose multiples of each.  I was afraid if I chose 10-1/2 W I'd find nothing, when 11 M might work, and do I choose W or WW or C or D or E?

When I picked both 10-1/2 and 11, and all of the wide sizes I was left with 80 pair only(!).  If I added in mediums (they often work with an 11) there were 290 pair.  131 pair were under $50, which is more than I want to spend for slippers.  Next time I'll know.  This time I went through HUNDREDS of house slippers.

Just to show girls are more interesting than boys, I did a comparison.  (I know you knew that, especially the GGs who are reading).

Styles: six men's, nine women's (add ballerina, mary jane, and slouch for women)

Colours: 28 for women's, two for men.  OK, I'm kidding.  There are actually 15 men's colours, but there are more brown and black (147) than all the other colours added up.  Really, it's about 36% black, 27% brown, and 36% all other colours combined.  No pink, metallic, yellow, mahogany, silver, purple....

Personality: 26 to 18, women win again.  Even in this made up category, they made up more for women than men.  Women have novelty, elegant, 50's retro, athleisure, snowboarding.  Men ~ I think "action sports" is the only one I didn't see in women's style.  Interestingly, both had "Feminine" as a personality!  The men had three styles (all the same UGG in different colours and not particularly feminine).  The women had 265 listed as "Feminine".

Materials: sheepskin or suede were all of the choices for men.  Women have a choice of 29 materials: everything but wood and steel wool.  Want latex or velvet or silk slippers?  Sorry, dude.  Go to the ladies' side.

Pattern: seven for men.  22 for women.  What?  No floral or paisley or embroidery or leopard print for guys?  Bo-ring!

Accents: nine for men.  Contrast stitching was most popular.  Contrast stitching is a pattern?  Come on guys!  You're grasping.  That was followed by bows (little manly laces bows, not little packagy bows).  Women have a couple of dozen accents.  Bows is number one, and there are little laces bows, like the mens' shoes have.  But wait!  There's more!  Laces that match the pink slipper bows.  Big floppy bows.  Little dainty bows.  Bows on the side, bows in the back, bows on the bow.

Heel Height: for men?  HA!

These are house slippers!  HOUSE SLIPPERS!

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