Athletic (And Other) Shoes

This shoe was tagged as one of the best shoes from the fall 2012 fashion week. I've been wondering ever since they became fashionable, how on earth women walk in stilettos. The highest heel I ever wore was three inches. Most of my working life I wore one and a half to two and a half inch heels or flats. I remember when it became popular to wear your tennies from the parking garage to the office and then put your heels on. What a relief! It was even acceptable to  wear the comfortable shoes through the sky walks on lunch hour - unless, of course, you were having a business lunch in one of the better restaurants.

As my age increased, the heel height of my shoes decreased. My shoe of choice these days is an Avia cross trainer or walking shoe. The high tops on the left are the ones I wore while still walking on gravel in the country. The ones on the right are the shoes I had been wearing for daily walks the past three years. They finally got so worn out that I was having hip and leg aches when I walked. Now I wear them to and from the Y and for short trips to the grocery or library.

I've worn several different brands of athletic shoes over the years. My absolute best fitting, favorite pair ever was the Adidas Country Girl I bought in 1980. They were white leather with three green stripes. When they wore out and I tried to find another pair, Adidas had discontinued that style and none of their new styles fit quite like those.
I've had two or three pair of Nikes, at least one pair of Reeboks, a Saucony pair, I think, a pair of Brooks and many pairs of less expensive store brands. And while I like the Dr. Scholl's casual shoes I buy at Walmart, I've never had a pair of Dr. Scholl's athletic shoes.

I am almost positive I bought that pair of Adidas for the Country Girl name emblazoned on the shoe back. I had recently left the city life to return to my hometown roots. I was living in the country, raising livestock, cutting my own firewood, etc. - everything a country girl would do and very proud of it. So, it was probably just luck that the shoes worked so well for what exercising I did do.

My current walking shoes are the Avia 6152 Cross Trainers on the right. They are lighter than my previous pair. I don't think Kohl's has this model any longer, so I'll just have to see what's available the next time I need new ones.
Bud has always worn New Balance. I think that is what influenced me to buy the New Balance 803 shoes on the left above. I have worn them maybe five times. There just isn't quite enough toe room for my half-size larger left foot. These all terrain running shoes are size 8-1/2. I would like to give them to one of my granddaughters, but I don't think any of them wear the same size I do. I should ask if any of my nieces want them. Someone should get some good out of them - they were the most expensive athletic shoes I ever bought.

These days my 'good' dress shoes are these Comfort Mootsies Tootsies. They really are comfortable, but have very little support so I can't wear them if I'm going to be doing a lot of walking through malls.
For true comfort I wear the house slippers my daughter, Kari, knitted for me. I don't wear shoes in the house and my feet are always cold so these felted wool slippers are perfect. The problem is I've already worn out three pair. I've come up with a solution though. I'm going to cut soles out of that non-slip drawer liner there and either sew or glue them to the bottoms, which is the only place they are wearing through. If it works, they should see me through another winter.