Shoes for shoes

I continue to fail at the Compact challenge as each week passes by. In the past two weeks I have bought two shirts. However, they were in support of Asian Pacific Culture week and The Imaginary Zebra's new line of tees. I couldn't resist, they were all too cute. I would have bought more but I remembered the challenge and didn't have enough money. But in my case, a shirt a week isn't bad compared to my normal shopping spree. Though I have failed, I'm getting better at how much I spend per week now. But I am tempted everywhere I go.

Recently, my roommate introduced me to TOMS shoes because she knows how much of a shoe whore I am. I looked through the site and, to be honest, I was not fond of their selection, they were definitely NOT my style of shoes. Though the fact that the shoes were not attractive didn't matter, there were no kid sizes available thus I couldn't buy anything anyway. But I noticed that their tag line was "one for one" and I didn't understand why. You know how Nike's tag line is "Just Do It" and it's so ambiguous that there are a multitude of meanings behind it. Well, turns out TOMS shoes has a motive. My roommate then told me that for every TOMS shoes you buy, TOMS shoes will give a pair of shoes for a child in need. I thought "wow, how awesome is that... it's the best of both worlds! You get shoes and a person in need gets shoes too! Maybe I should get some when the have kids sizes up!"

Wait a minute, didn't I just say that I thought they were ugly? Perhaps a few of my "fashion forward" friends won't understand my reasoning for wanting these shoes now, but they are special. I guess it is true what Leshkowich says, even though "objects in theory do not possess intrinsic significance and instead acquire their meaning from people and the uses they make of those objects, in reality is that in a global flow of people, ideas, and objects, the vast majority of things that we encounter in daily life are already saturated with meaning" (Re-orienting Fashion 84). Before knowing the history behind TOMS shoes, I was quick to judge the style... maybe the way they designed their shoes is not just for aesthetics but for function since they do give their shoes to children in need. These shoes have totally different meanings for the kids who NEED shoes than the kids who just WANT shoes. For kids who need them, it is a source of protection. Kids who already have shoes (like me), really have no use for them.

They even have VEGAN shoes, though I still do not know what that means. It must be good since it is vegan and everyone is trying to be eco-friendly now-a-days.

CLICK for more information about WHY they chose shoes to give instead of food, other types of clothing, etc. Or you can just watch the video below. ^^;;

Resources:
Video: TOMS shoes YouTube
TOMS shoes website
Niessen, Sandra, Anne Marie Leskowich, Carla Jones. The Globalization of Asian Dress: Re-Orienting Fashion.

Christine Erfe blog #2