OMG SHOEZ

Listen, the news is tough, and we all need moments of escape from the horror to recuperate and prepare for the next onslaught, and I can talk about shoes all the livelong day, so welcome to the OMG SHOEZ thread.

Got a favorite pair of shoes you want to share? Bought a new pair about which you're super excited? Have a recommendation to make, or want to caution us away from a purchase you regret? Want to solicit suggestions for a specific event, a foot issue, an elusive something for which you've been hunting? Having trouble finding something particular on a budget? Have at it in comments!

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OMG VANS
I love Vans, although I haven't owned a pair in awhile. They really take me back to the days of crushing on boys wearing classic black and white Vans, sweatpants pulled up to the knees, black jelly bracelets, and sweatshirts worn inside out.

(Yes, young people, that was really A LOOK in the mid-80s, lol. Look, we were all running around totally unsupervised, riding bikes with nary a helmet in sight, watching Taxicab Confessions in wood-paneled basements, being taught to take shelter under our desks in case of nuclear warfare, and considered Bill Cosby "America's Dad." It was a weird time.)

Anyway!

Iain and I had ended up at a local mall in pursuit of something I wanted to purchase for a friend, and his feet were hurting from his falling-apart sneakers and my knees were hurting from my falling-apart runaround shoes, and we passed a store with a prominent Vans display, and the rest is history. Including those old shoes.

I've been wearing these Vans ever since. I love the colors, which comport with one of my most deeply held personal fashion rules: If something matches nothing, then it matches everything!

So, that's what up with me! What's up with you?

(As always: I am not affiliated with nor am I receiving compensation from any of the brands or shoe retailers mentioned in this thread. Any shoes and/or retailers I recommend is just because I really like 'em!)