FOOTWEAR FOCUS ROAD TEST
Emma Cooke, discovers that her Earth Spirit Reno sandals are blessed with brains, as well as beauty!
B
efore I start my review of the Earth Spirit shoes I recently received, I need to issue a warning first: these shoes will bring you unprecedented amounts of compliments
when worn. This may not sound like something to be wary of, but unfortunately being raised in England seems to have rendered me completely unable to take a compliment. I either go bright red, start giggling nervously,
or, most embarrassing of all, start stuttering, ‘yes, yes, they are lovely shoes, but look! Look at the terrible condition of my feet! I’m so sorry that my pretty shoes have drawn your eyes to my feet, and you have now glimpsed my un-manicured toes!’ So really, the compliments are more bother than they’re worth. Now you are sufficiently warned, let me
continue. I was recently sent the Earth Spirit Reno sandals to road test. Between you and me, when Earth Spirit shoes were first mentioned, all I could think was, ‘Oh dear. Hippie shoes. Like what mum used to wear back in the seventies,’ (I’ve seen the pictures mum, you can’t deny you went through that phase). But after having a look at the catalogue, I started to feel the first stirrings of excitement. These were…pretty! Summery! Dare I say…stylish! So upon arrival I unwrapped the sandals with a
fair amount of glee. And by glee, I mean tore open like a child at Christmas – it was carnage, there was duct tape and ‘earth-friendly’ packaging everywhere. After dismantling the package, and breaking a nail in the process (I hope the Footwear Today editor appreciates the casualties sustained in the grueling reviewing process) my new shoes were ready to wear.
12 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • SEPTEMBER 2012 Too bad the English weather foiled my plans.
Rain, rain and more rain. Even when I escaped to Germany, determined to wear my sandals there, the bad weather followed me! Luckily, the sandals were comfortable enough to wear around the house as slippers, but oh how I yearned for some sunshine to properly show them off! Until, at last, a miracle happened – a glorious bout of sunshine just as May was ending. I always find it funny how whenever the UK
gets a little good weather, we think we’re the new Caribbean of Europe. Newspapers were suddenly informing us that we were not only hot, but hotter than the rest of Europe! Hotter than Egypt! Hotter than Australia! It seems we conveniently forgot that Australia is currently having its winter… So, reveling in the tropical British sunshine (a
paradox if ever I heard one), I finally stepped out in my Earth Spirit sandals. They were just made for the sunshine. While the shade is called ‘Platinum’, the colour of these is definitely more of a beautiful pale gold that is not only a perfect summer colour, but the perfect compliment to the gorgeous turquoise stones used in the beaded design. Whether we were on a par with the Caribbean or not, in these, I felt like I was treading on white sandy beaches. At this point I should probably mention the
comfort of the shoes, as they were designed for comfort, with an, ‘over-padded anatomic arch and impact-absorbing cushioning’. However, whenever I start to reflect the comfort of these sandals, I will inevitably become distracted by just how pretty they are. Like a magpie, or a small toddler, I’ll end up wiggling my legs and watching how the beading glints in the sunlight.
So unfortunately I don’t really have anything profound to say on the sandals’ orthopedic technology, other than that they are comfortable! I can say this though: anyone who has
previously assumed orthopedic footwear could not and would not be attractive, think again! I’ll admit, I have, on occasion, gloated to friends about being able to road test shoes, only to say, ‘ah yes, and Footwear Today really cares about foot health too, so most of the shoes I’ve been sent are orthopedic!’, and have my previously agog friends lose interest, assuming comfortable shoes could never be nice-looking shoes. So after waltzing about in these to multiple
compliments from said friends about my ‘beautiful new sandals’ (and after recovering from the aforementioned reactions this brought on), it was with some pleasure that I announced that my sandals had brains as well as beauty – they were orthopedic!
Details:
Reno sandal. Available in Platinum, Black and White. Pig skin leather upper, Gelron 2000 insole. TPR flexible sole. Highly recommended.
Cost £16.95. - RRP £49.95.
West Midland Shoe Company Tel: 01889 561 790
Email:
enquiries@wmsc.co.uk Web:
www.wmsc.co.uk
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