ok, so it seems as though this blog may be dangerously close to becoming a shoeblog, but there is nothing wrong with that, is there? That aside, let's get to it!

I heard that there was a French's Shoes in Franklin. Seems as though I knew that, but forgot that I did until a co-worker reminded me. Seems as though they had lots of Uggs in stock and I kind of want some.

Now, let's get this out of the way. Uggs are hideous, especially when pants are tucked into them or when worn with ridiculously short skirts. You know what, though? They're lined with sheep fleece. They're WARM. Granted, we get very few days with weather THAT cold, but with my trip to Iowa next month I thought I'd invest. Unfortunately, the pairs I saw were either ugly colors, ripped in odd places, or just looked too worn for the price I'd pay for them (one of the things about French's is that you have to accept that shoes may be gently worn). I'm going back next week, so we shall see.

While I'm browsing I hear an interesting tidbit: they get shoes in on Tuesdays and Thursdays and they get most of them in size seven. With my shrinking feet (But growing waistline) I can fit in sevens on occasion. In fact, after this comment was made I did notice that the seven section was much larger than the rest.

There was also shoe drama: during my considerable time there a woman was trying to find her own, personal shoe that she'd come in with. She had one of the shoes, the other was nowhere to be found. Wow, can't believe people just put their shoes down whereever in a rack store like this--seems as though you'd want to keep track of that sort of thing. I know mine are always nearby as I tend to buy shoes at these rack stores and since the price tags are sometimes difficult to remove I live in fear that my own shoes will be purchased by some bargain shopper. This is just me.

So, having found a nice pair of Merrell t-strap mary janes I checked out with a nice 30% discount and headed to the thrift store next door where I BEAT A RECORD! Now, I had once bought a nice pair of Doc Martens for about $10. At this store I bought a pair of two-tone wingtip docs AND a packfilm polaroid for $3.33. Amazing! But I was told that the camera probably didn't work and was asked if I'd return it. No, thank you though.

So I had long looked forward to conveyor belt sushi. I'd tried to go many times but it never worked out; add to this my insatiable craving for sushi on Sundays when most sushi joints are closed (understandable, given that the fish is probably left from Friday). Ugh. I ended up ordering fresh off the menu because the items on the belt looked a little funky.

These are the things I do. This is all. Throw me some fun and you'll see more exciting entries!

Besides, I never did mention my trip to a real live working commune, a stop at Marti and Liz (another rack shoe store), and my discovery of Steve and Barry's. mmm.

Labels: shoes

I offer no good explanation for my absence only to say that I'm going to try and come here rather than myspace. With that, let's discuss my shoes.

I don't know why it started, but several months ago I decided I needed new cowboy boots. This meant stopping at western wear shops whenever I could. I had bad luck, and the only "discount" western wear shops had very slim discounts on the good stuff and the boots with deep discounts were mostly crap with nary an organic element in its makeup.

Just a scant few months ago I was on my way up to Knoxville to watch a derby bout. I stopped at a couple of places, mostly crappy pleather boots that would fall apart at the first step. I made note of a few billboards on the way up as I needed to get to my destination. On my way back I decided to stop at a few places. The first had rows and rows of Clarks, but not being a fan I decided to move on. Moving on I discovered French's Shoes in Crossville.

French's is wonderful. You walk in and see a normal, respectable shoe/western store with extremely attentive employees. This can be off-putting but you simply tell them you're just looking and they'll give you room (you may have to do this more than once, as there are many employees and they're all very attentive). You may peruse the regular priced shoes but the prices aren't exactly wonderful, so you wonder why you stopped in the first place, then you see the sign indicating that there are more shoes this a way--it may be upstairs, it may be tucked off to the side. You walk in and see racks and racks of boots and shoes. You look at the prices and the quality of the shoes and think you're in a footwear speakeasy, but this is delightfully legal. An hour later and you're broke but well shod.

French's Shoes is nothing unique, I'm sure there's a nice locally owned rack shoe store near you wher ethe prices are written on the soles in china marker. We have another local place called Marti and Liz that tends to be a little more upscale and little less work- and cowboy-boot oriented. I mean, TJ Marshalls for Less has good shoes, but not like these stores. These are the GOOD shoes. Sometimes they're a little slightly worn or have some other imperfection but they're GOOD. Beyond the valley of 9 West.

My first experience was weird. I saw a sign that said it was a western wear and boot outlet, so I go and find sandals and oxfords. Just all right, but nothing exciting. I mean, good shoes, but I wanted boots, not Clarks. Some how, whether it was a sign in the shop or my eagle eyes (not likely), I learned that the western store was catty-cornered to where I was. Heaven! I found a nice pair of Tony Lamas for a good price.

I knew there were other French's Shoes but wasn't terribly sure where they were. WEll, this past weekend I was on ny way to Chattanooga to visit the grandparents and saw a sign. There was a French's in Murfreesboro right there on the way! I was running late so I knew that it would have to wait, and all I could hope was that it would be open when I was on my way home.

This one also had the rack room though it was hardly as impressive as the one in Crossville but they were giving a $15 discount with the purchase of three pairs. I saw some steel toed Docs that I had to pass by but oh, they were only $69.99. It was difficult. There were Ugg boots which are ugly as sin and NOT MEANT FOR WEAR OUTSIDE OF WINTER but which look really warm. Anyway, now I'm going to share. Forgive the pictures, I don't care for the camera on my new phone. Click on the pic for a larger version.


These are the black shoes I got for work. These wingtips were a little pricy at 39.99 before discount but still cute, so I had to pick them up. I looked online and found them, they typically run $130 on zappos.com. I wore them to work today, very comfy!


You may think these are a little too Little House for me but I like them. They're suede, they're brownish, and the price couldn't be beat. Plus that shoe soul patch is removable.


Ah. Laredo boots! the picture does NOT do them justice. they're colorful, cute, and fun.

Let me know if you have a place like this locally. I'm always interested. They do fly below the radar.

Labels: shoes