Before we went to Southeast Asia, I received one of those PR emails I get: “Here’s a bunch of great travel stuff! Tell your readers about this stuff! It’s great stuff for traveling!” And I did what I often do, which is respond as follows: “Hey, that looks like some good stuff. I could test drive some of it – I’m going traveling – and write a review. Here’s the stuff that interests me. Lemme know!” The rep, who promotes stuff from Tommy Hilfiger, Hush Puppies, Esprit, and a bunch of other brands agreed and about a month after we got back from our travels, I got a box of stuff. Oops.
No big deal, of course, we’re always off to somewhere, right? The tricky bit came on seeing the contents of the box. The PR rep may or may not have been able to tell that I am not the kind of person who wears gold ballet flats. Also in the box? A bunch of socks. I have to be honest, I was running out of socks. I needed to go shopping for socks. I am always psyched to get socks. Note to prospective gift givers? Socks. Always good. The socks were low rise footies and medium length patterned things and hey, they’re cute and stretchy and soft and warm and wash up nice. I am not going to say one bad thing about the socks. Did I mention I’m a pushover on the socks thing?
I put the shoes on and walked around the house. They’re comfortable and lightweight, okay, there’s that. But they’re so far removed from anything I’d ever pack in my kit that I don’t feel qualified to say anything, good or bad, about their suitability for your travels. I favor shoes with sturdy soles because they’re easier on your feet when you’re doing lots of walking; these don’t exactly have a hiking sole. Furthermore, here in Seattle, it’s spring, which means rain, rain, rain, so it will probably be until July until I feel like taking a walk in these things.
Even if I do get to stomping around my ‘hood in gold ballet flats (they go great with cargo pants and polar fleece!) they’re not right for my travel style. The company does make some shoes I can see buying, more appropriate to both my personal style and the kind of traveling we do, but I’m not saying one way or the other if it’s really great stuff, I just don’t know. You’ll have to decide for yourself.
My favorite pair of dress up travel shoes is still my Merrell mary-janes, no contest. (I’ve got something like this in leather, I can’t find mine on the Merrell site.) Super comfortable, a neutral color that goes with anything, sturdy sole, not super lightweight, but I’ll compromise on that for comfort. They’re wearing out, I need to replace them.
I’m guessing the PR folks would like it if I’d say that Hush Puppies has some cute new shoes out and some of them are great for travelers. They do have some cute new shoes; I can’t make any recommendations for travelers. As for socks, hey, if you give me socks, I’m your friend forever, I’m just that easy.
Disclaimer: In case it’s not perfectly clear already, I got shoes and socks from Hush Puppies, Tommy Hilfiger, and Esprit, via their PR company. The Merrells, I paid for, several years back, maybe at the Nordstrom Rack, I don’t remember.
[tags]shoes,socks,PR[/tags]
Still thinking about those gold ballet flats, days later … and smiling some, just getting my head round what they were thinking sending them.
It IS funny, isn’t it? I’m sure there are fabulous jet-setting city girls who travel with gold ballet flats, I’m just not one of them.
I did get a nice note from the PR folks thanking me for my “candid review.”