Shoes, sensible shoes!

*Notice the air vents for cooling comfort and the thick, wedge-shaped orthopaedic heel. "Stylish" is the brand. What a misnomer! lol*

A'salaamu alaikum. This is just a short post on the fun time we had searching for APPROPRIATE shoes for me.

I should have brought more with me. I did not. The ones I brought, while cute, are not so comfortable and not really modest enough by modest (not hoochie wear) Gulf (and my husband's) standards. They are like the little ballerina flats, with an open top and open back and small strap. Really popular in the US but unless you wear black stockings with them, not appropriate for UAE.

Also there is the comfort factor to consider. They are flat. FLAT. And my feet have been killing me after looong days in the classroom. So hubby said time to go shoe shopping.

Now normally I loooove to buy shoes. Stereotypical or not. They always fit and you can find them in all price ranges and colors. Look fabulous on you. Almost fail-safe shopping. Looking for shoes overseas is a different story.

First and foremost is the quality. I ended up just buying some "pleather" shoes because the real leather ones were, in my opinion, astronomically priced. OK to be fair they aren't really "pleather" because they wouldn't fool anyone! lol

I buy shoes on clearance in the US usually or at a discount place like Wal-Mart or Shoe Show on sale. So it was a shock for me to find what is considered the higher quality shoes to be such a poor value.

We settled (between my need for comfort and my husband's need for me to be dressed more modestly) on a pair of black rubber heeled shoes that would be the envy of every lunch lady from Topeka to Tallahassee. Really no idea where those locales came from in my brain but I was adamant to use Topeka. lol

These are a MASTERPIECE of modesty, a serenade to sensibility. "Oh y hee" as a friend's young daughter used to say, oh y hee. I like nice shoes. Pretty shoes. I dress very modestly, some would say plainly, and I like my shoes to have a bit of personality. So it was a bitter pill to realize this is really what is best for my job and my way of dressing here in UAE.

If only I had bought some Earth Shoes before I came... if only. :-)

Ma salaam,

Umm Aaminah of the sensible shoe (tm)