Shoes

I was on campus today talking to a friend and waiting for some photocopies to be done when a very peculiar thing happened. A girl I'd never met came up to me and asked about my shoes.

"Hi. Where are you from?"

"Texas"

"But your shoes are from Argentina. Where did you get them?"

"Uh... I bought them in Austin"

"They're not from Argentina?"

"Might be based on an Argentine design, but they're definitely from the states. I think the company's based in California. You can find them online. They're called TOMS."

"Oh okay, thank you. I'll look for them."

I had noticed that no one wore TOMS over here, which wasn't that surprising as I got here in winter. However, now that it's springtime, I thought I might see a few pairs at least since they're so popular among college students in the states and a lot of the fashion here follows American fashion (Abercrombie & Fitch, GAP, etc.). Apparently TOMS haven't made it to Istanbul yet. I've seen one other person wearing them, but she was also an exchange student.

Converses are still the shoe of choice here. Asics are probably a close second as far as daily shoes go. I had debated about bringing my Converses but thought they'd be impractical over here. Not so at all. I ended up buying Turkish-made knockoffs of Converses anyway and wear them most days. They're gray and cheap, but as long as you don't look at the back label, you can't tell they're not chucks.

You might be wondering why nicer shoes, like heels, aren't as popular. I can think of one reason off the top of my head: pavement. The sidewalks here are brick mostly, and about a foot above the road. I think the height of the curb is to discourage drivers from parking with half the car on the sidewalk. I have become quite adept at hopping on and off of the sidewalks to get around people who are walking slower or to simply get out of their way. It's difficult to do if you're in anything with a heel. I know that when I was wearing my boots, which have a slight heel, walking on these uneven sidewalks was a real pain. I went out in them one night and swore to never do it again. I haven't quite figured out why ballet flats aren't as common here. People wear them, they're sold everywhere, and they can be pretty cheap if you know where to go, but they aren't nearly as common as in Austin.

It's one thing that I have yet to understand: students dress well to go to class here, but still wear very casual shoes. It's the exact opposite of the case in the states: casual clothes and nice shoes (here I cite the sorority uniform of Sperries, Nike shorts, Ray-Bans, and a highlighter yellow greek t-shirt). Who knows, perhaps I'll start a TOMS trend over here.