Style is in a Man's shoes

What should a man consider when purchasing a pair of shoes?

Laura Stead had this to say in the Courier Mail:

Style is in a man’s shoes

WHEN men go to the wardrobe to get dressed, theoptions will likely consist of some kind of pants orjeans combination. Little wonder then, that mostwill choose to channel their creative expressioninto their shoes.

Admired is the man that will sport a well-chosenshoe to express his style, but there’s a fine linebetween fashion and frivolity, says shoe designerChris McCallum.

McCallum, who owns and designs Vein shoes, inthe TCB Arcade, Fortitude Valley, says the key toguys expressing themselves through their shoeslies in understanding their own style.

‘‘Girls look down at a man’s shoes and what yousee, you make judgments on and they’re oftenaccurate, because what a guy decides to wearreflects his personality. If he’s wearing the samenothing style, it shows he’s not really willing toextend himself and try new things, but if he goestoo far and make too much of a statement, that canbe a turn-off too,’’ McCallum says.

‘‘I think the key is to match the shoe to thepersonality of the person and to just push theirboundaries a tiny little bit.

‘‘That’s general because most guys could do witha tiny push out of their comfort zone and still feelcomfortable and confident.’’

Unlike women, who are more likely to buy shoeson a whim, there are two main purposes guys havein mind when shoe shopping, McCallum says.

‘‘One is purpose and then there’s fashion,’’ hesays. ‘‘There used to be a fair bit of talk about toeshapes and things, but the fashion cycle has spedup so much now, it’s like every three months itchanges, so I think it’s irrelevant to men.

‘‘If you feel comfortable in a slightly chiselledtoe, then great, but a boldish round toe is greatas well.’’

Quality should be high on a man’s list ofpriorities in a shoe, McCallum says.

‘‘There are guys who’ve come to the realisationthat buying something that is quality and originaland interesting does matter,’’ he says.

‘‘And original doesn’t mean it has to be far out oranything. If you wear something that’s goodquality and well made, you just feel differentin yourself.’’