FOOTWEAR FOCUS ROAD TEST
T
he problem is that scribbling isn’t what it used to be. The decline of printed newspapers and the rise of social media where everybody
considers themselves to be scribbler nowadays means there is less work to go around.
One of the jobs that I have taken on recently is helping a friend of mine who runs wine merchants and catering business. The businesses are in a posh part of the world and include my working behind the counter in the wine shop and listening to the babblings of self-proclaimed wine experts deciding not on which bottle of plonk they will have with their supper, but how many cases of this “estate” or that “terroir” they will lay down, not to drink, but in which to invest and sell as a vast profit in time to come.
The other part of the job is much harder graft. It involves serving
tables at events that organised for the prosperous inhabitants of this shire. The weddings, silver, ruby, gold wedding anniversaries, 21sts, Christenings and funerals are generally conducted in well-appointed marquees.
To give you an insight into how posh these people are, one family paid not
to have my friend’s wine served, but for us to serve jeroboams of their own wine imported from their New Zealand wine estate. Blimey was that tiring! A Jeroboam is equivalent to six standard bottles of wine. It’s not as heavy as a Solomon (24 bottles)! But, you can imagine trying to pour wine from such large bottles over the heads (and not on the heads) of animated people enjoying some festivity or other!
The worst part of the job is the hours on one’s feet coupled with the often
very uneven surfaces on which the marquees matting is laid – not unusually in a pony paddock or cow meadow close to the country pile. So, after a night serving wine and clearing up the detritus of the celebration or commemoration it can take a day for my feet the return to normal.
The Skechers Ultra Flex Statements are designed as a lightweight, sporty shoe one might wear when you know you are going to do a bit of walking in a shopping mall or on the promenade by the sea. They fall into the category of ‘trainers’, but I see them more as a casual shoe, as well as something one would exercise in, well, more than going to for a brisk walk.
12 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • FEBRUARY 2019 Now, strictly speaking, the Skechers Ultra Flex Statements I was given to
road test are not ‘working shoes’. But, the conditions in which I wore and tested them might be seen as beyond the call of duty for such a shoe, a bit of a trial by fire. However, I have to say that they came up trumps! They underwent a year of normal wear in events at which I worked. Not only were they truly comfortable, they were truly comfortable after several hours on my feet and the next day I did not experience a ‘foot hangover’ from which I normally suffer after such tiring events.
Some of the ‘do’s’ work, even in the winter, can get quite warm: all the body heat of the people enjoying themselves and me rushing hither and thither serving the wine. The materials from which the Ultra Flex Statements are constructed, include the Skech Knit Mesh, the nearly one-piece fabric upper with a slip-
on-laced front, interwoven ventilating panels, stretch knit collar panel, the stitching accents and soft stretch collar, all
designed with lasting comfort and flexibility in mind. But, these features are complemented by the additional, air-cooled memory foam of the cushioned comfort insole and the soft fabric shoe lining that, to coin a phrase, go the extra mile in providing comfortable footwear.
Product details: Ultra Flex - Statements
Show off your increased flexiblity in sporty style and comfort with the SKECHERS Ultra Flex - Statements shoe. Skech Knit Mesh fabric upper in a slip on laced front sporty comfort walking and training sneaker with interwoven texture designs. Air Cooled Memory Foam insole, highly flexible comfort midsole. Materials: Skech Knit Mesh nearly one piece fabric upper, Interwoven ventilating panels, Stretch knit collar panel, Stitching accents, Soft stretch collar, Air Cooled Memory Foam cushioned comfort insole, Soft fabric shoe lining. Trade price: £28.00 - RRP: £59.00
Contact: T: 01707 655 955 W:
www.skechers.com
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