Okay, what the heck is going on with men's shoes?

[woo me with science]

Seriously. I took my husband out shoe shopping, and the stores are full of ELF shoes for men. Practically everything we saw was about four inches longer than his foot and curled up at the end. When did men start wearing elf shoes? Why is this happening?

Look at these. There has to be a reason for this.

[Maddy McCall]

1. Those are some ass-ugly shoes, but I'm glad that pointy toes are coming in style for guys.

Let them deal with the shit we women have been dealing with for centuries.

:)

[woo me with science]

3. He wouldn't buy anything.

We came home, and now he is sulking. :rofl:

[Lasher]

5. Last time I counted my wife had 50 pairs of shoes.

Fifty! I kid you not! And that was years ago. But in her defense, she still has about every pair she's ever bought.

I only need 3 pairs of shoes: One good pair of boots for heavy work and hunting, one pair of dress shoes for job interviews and funerals, and one comfortable pair of sneakers for everything else.

[Crazy Dave]

16. Sounds like the way I pack for vacations

The wife always has to buy a few new outfits every time we go on vacation, with me it's the top three things in my drawer.

[callous taoboy]

13. The 5th pair down is the Schizzle!

Yow, baby.

[Chan790]

18. That's the thing though...

pointy-toes aren't coming into style for men. I really was having a crisis of fashion thought there for a moment...there is a certain demographic market of men who like pointy shoes. I thought perhaps they finally suckered buyers into thinking these shoes were hip.

They tend to be worn (in garish designs as an accent piece with simple suits or that horrible heavily-worn-blue-jeans with an over-dressy jacket thing) by 50-something-year old guys who have ponytails only because they think ponytails make them hip, practice tantra and yoga because they think it makes them sexy to 19 year olds :puke:, and generally try way too hard to be cool/25-again. You know the type...Tim Robbins captured it perfectly in High Fidelity as Ian.

In short, these shoes aren't coming back into style; they'll probably never be in style because they are the shoe of choice for the these lamest of the mid-life crisisers. Fashion is a trendy business driven by style-conscious cool people. Cool people don't care if they're hip or sexy; they just are.

[Lasher]

2. Were you in a store that sells clown costumes?

That's the only logical thing I can figure.

[woo me with science]

4. I swear, they were all over the shopping center!

That's what we get for going to a mall...

[Lil Missy]

6. It's because the gay marriage laws in CA are now ruining marriages and turning all men gay now.

I'm sorry. :cry:

[Rhythm]

19. Can't think of a single gay man i know who would wear ANY of those...

Gay men generally have more sense than this, at least with regards to footwear.

[mduffy31]

7. I've given up

This is all I wear now.

[old mark]

8. Those are the worst shoes I have ever seen.

I have little doubt the "Today" show guyswill be wearing them next week.

I hope men have more sense than to actually buy such shit. I will stick with my Adidas, my deck shoes and my boots.

I have lived nearly 61 years without a "fashion sense", and I hope to live happily for the remainder of my life without one.

I live in jeans, tee shirts, and flannel shirts in cooler weather.

mark

[old mark]

44. second time I have seen these shoes...

...they get worse.

mark

[RebelOne]

9. Actually, I don't think they are half bad, except for the first pair. n/t

[Phillycat]

10. Uh, where the hell were you shopping?

I was just at DSW shopping for my husband last week and they had normal looking men's shoes. :shrug:

[flvegan]

11. Don't shop at Chock Full 'O Ugly Shoes.

or wherever you were. Those are pretty bad.

[hobbit709]

12. That be some UUGLY shoes

They look like they were made for FAD's-Fashion Addicted Dolts-with absolutely no taste whatsoever. You couldn't get shoes like that on my dead body.

[Sanity Claws]

14. Did you guys enter a Pimp store by mistake?

They look like shoes I remember seeing on Pimp wannabes in the 1970s and 1980s.

[undeterred]

15. Disco Elf Pimp wannabes

:shrug:

[TZ]

17. Now I think those in the pictures are ugly

but the pointy toe thing seems to be in. I have a coworker who has several of the pointy toe types..and his are quite spiffy actually..match his outfits quite well...

[yellowdogintexas]

20. my husband with his extra wide foot would run screaming out of the store

before he would even touch those.


Elf Shoes :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Pierre.Suave]

21. There are plenty of places t go to get nice dress shoes

that are not "elf like"

[MissMillie]

22. pointed toe shoes for men?

It's about time! We women have had to put up w/ that shit all by ourselves for too long.

I call them clown shoes. The only people I know who wear shoes w/ a whole section of empty space at the top of the shoe are clowns.

And I'm not buying into the whole "they make your legs look longer" crap. People are not THAT stupid. I'm 5'1". Wearing pointed toe shoes will not make people think my legs are any longer.

[KitchenWitch]

34. And I wear a womens size 12 or 12.5

If I wore pointy toed shoes, the toes of them would be in the next county.

[Blue_Tires]

23. str8 pimpin'

[hedgehog]

24. You think those toes are funny? My husband only wears these:

These are for work:





These are for working on cars or around the house:




These are for maybe 2 times a year at a party:




He buys all his foot wear off the safety shoe truck at work!



On edit: I'm wearing these right now after walking the dogs out back:



It's also what I tend to wear in the garden or while mowing the lawn.

After wearing them at work, I can't wear most women's styles any more. It's those or running shoes except for church and weddings!

[unpossibles]

25. eh, those are ugly and retro

no thanks

[Crabby Appleton]

26. This is what I wear -they haven't changed much for 50 years

Topsiders


http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/18130336/c/240.html

If I get a job as a pimp, I'll get some of those shoes in the OP

[Debi]

31. The only shoes Mr. Debi's worn (at least since I've known him)

(Buys one cordovan pair and one black pair each year)

[Vanje]

27. Men in rural Idaho have been wearing these for YEARS!

Decades, even. Centuries!
They are the apex of Macho, Icon of the American west. The fashion choice for the Marlboro Man. Dont even think of wearing anything else to a Rodeo.
Merl Haggard called them "Manly Footwear" in his epic 'Okie from Muskogie'.

In Idaho, these very popular shoes are high-topped, and made by Tony Lama.

?

[MrCoffee]

30. I was gonna say that unless they've got Tony Lama written on them

you can keep your pointy toes.


:rofl: :thumbsup:

[Debi]

32. Yep, only Tony Lama will do!

(from a girl who lived in Montana for 18 years!) :hi:

[1gobluedem]

28. Not an hour after I read this I saw a guy wearing some very similar to the last pair

I don't understand how they can walk in them.

[Debi]

29. were you at this store?

http://www.internationalmale.com/dept.asp?dept%5Fid=10400

[skypilot]

33. I've been complaining for years...

...about how ugly men's shoes have become. It seems they come in two categories: pointy-toed or ridiculously square-toed. The only place I see men's shoes that I actually like is in the upscale men's clothing stores, but those shoes tend to be a bit dressier than what actually want. About twenty years ago, I used to love going out shopping for shoes. These days I end up coming home empty handed and sulking just like your husband. I completely understand.

[Z_I_Peevey]

35. That CBS show 'Swingtown' has rekindled the desire

for 70s FUGLY?

[Bravo Zulu]

36. A Week In John McCain's Shoes — His $520 Ferragamo Loafers, That Is

Salvatore Ferragamo 'Pregiato' Moccasin
Below, the many occasions on which John McCain has sported his $520 Italian leather loafers:

July 20: John McCain began his week in the $520 Ferragamo "Pregiato Moccasins" in a golf cart with George H.W. Bush in Kennebunkport, Maine.





July 28: McCain wore the shoes again while visiting the Red Ribbon Ranch Oil Lease in Bakersfield, CA. While workmen walked the terrain in hard hats and construction boots, McCain got a tour of the rig in his Italian loafers.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/isabel-wilkinson/a-week-in-john-mccains-sh_b_115692.html

[Sanity Claws]

43. Poor man -- he owns only one pair of shoes

He is always wearing the same pair of Italian loafers. Poor baby.
:sarcasm:

[av8rdave]

37. Those are all pretty hideous

Guess I haven't been dress shoe shopping in a while.

[dropkickpa]

38. Ewww!

Those aren't too nice looking, I've seen much more attractive pointy men's shoes. Of course, I own 8 total pairs of shoes, 4 pairs of converse, a pair of vans, a pair of shit kicker boots, work sneakers, and my snow boots, so my shoe fashion judgement is quite open for ridicule.

[harmonicon]

39. I don't get it either

I have a pair of custom made shoes that are the size of my feet - the shoes stop where my toes stop. People tell me that I have small feet, but I don't - I just have shoes that are the same size as my feet, instead of shoes that are several inches too long. The problem is even worse for me, because I have especially wide feet, so I have to buy shoes that are even longer than they would otherwise be, to get shoes wide enough.

[DarkTirade]

40. We're swinging back towards this kind of decadence among the upper classes.

[SteppingRazor]

41. Blame Mark Nason.

He was at the head of the trend. But I actually think a lot of his shoes look pretty sweet. I'd wear'em myself, if I could afford to drop that much grip on a pair of shoes.

[Steerpike]

42. I live in Alaska

We wear boots...I wear Stanleys, they don't curl at the toes...

[Lorien]

45. Pimp shoes for frogs?

I have no idea why anyone would buy such butt ugly footwear!

[Alexander]

46. Almost as bad as all the squared-off shoes that were popular 5 years ago.

:puke:

[Ahpook]

47. Pick up a pair of Vans and..

call it a day. I have worn them with everything for 20+ years.

They are to cumfy to go anywhere else:)

[Xipe Totec]

48. So? What's wrong with those shoes?

[Alexander]

50. Did that guy just walk out of a Dick Tracy comic?

[Xipe Totec]

52. Maybe....

:evilgrin:

[Redstone]

49. That's truly fucking bizarre. Though not a problem for me, as long as Tony Lama

stays in business. The only shoes I've ever owned as an adult are 1) a pair of cowboy boots for dress-up, and 2) a pair of sneakers for otherwise.

I'd rather walk barefoot in the snow than be caught wearing any of the "elf shoes" in your post.

Redstone

[Orsino]

51. Do not mock our chosen footgear, mortal.

[Schema Thing]

53. Even Clowns need some variety?

[JCMach1]

54. Freakin' European stuff... this is why I can't buy shoes in UAE

I only shop for shoes in America where they actually FIT my foot.

I LOATHE those shoe types.

[FloridaJudy]

55. Weird hormones in the water?

I thought those things were banned by the fashion police after the seventies, along with paisley nylon shirts, pastel tuxedos and ruffles.

Now, if they bring back shag carpeting, I'll really be worried.

[Robeson]

56. 2nd Life is changing everything.