Feet in fashion

Staying cool and looking cooler with summer shoe stylin'.

By GEMMA HUGHES

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 17, 2000

Dorothy wore ruby ones, Elvis favored blue suede. Imelda Marcos, former first lady of the Philippines, owned 1,060 pairs.

From the beginning of time, humans have worn things on their feet, at first merely for protection or warmth in those caves, not to be fashionable or to have the edge on a track or tennis court. (You'll find cool historic footnotes at http://www.centuryinshoes.com.)

Fast forward to now, when it's got to be the shoes! What we put on our feet says a lot about our personal style.

Xpress toured local malls to see what is hot on feet. We talked to shoe wearers from the Tampa Bay area as well as those whose feet normally tread on distant soil but were here on vacation.

Ashley Nicholson, 15, Palm Harbor University High School, chooses 9 West low platform sandals. She likes the straps on the back and likes that they're not too tall.

Susan Salem, 14, Academy of Holy Names in Tampa, likes her cow print slides with the cool wooden soles because "They are funky."

Justin McDonald, 12, St. Lawrence Central High School, Winthrop, N.Y., bought his heavy brown sandals "because I like them."

Stephan Alexiev, 10, of Blanton Elementary School in St. Petersburg goes for Velcro strap sandals because his feet don't get hot in them.

Sheka Eason, 15, Northeast High School in St. Petersburg, praises her sneakers with turquoise accents: "I like the colors of them. They're tight."

Amanda Goodbread, 15, Largo High School, likes the look of work boots, but "Docs are to expensive." She adds her own touch on these suede numbers with the shoelaces.

Al Bullard, 10, Redon Elementary, Lithiona, Georgia, wears meticulously kept Etonics. To keep them white, Al cleans them often.

Raegon Gillette, 11, Country Day Academy, Largo, likes Adidas, a lot! These slip-on laceless sneakers are really popular.

Dan Stellato, 16, Notre Dame High School, West Haven, Conn., got his white K-Swiss sneakers as a gift.

Ryan Walden, 14, Bloomingdale High School, Brandon, bought white Converse so he could put in any color laces and have them look good.

Victor J. Randle, Jr., 15, Durant High School, Plant City, wears black and red And 1 brand basketball shoes with a cool streamline white stripe down the center.

Juanita Perry, 10, Rogers Middle School, Riverview, likes the colors on her multicolored, shimmering sandals, which were a gift from her mom.

Jason Revels, 15, Lake Region High School, Winterhaven, chose his multi-blue shaded athletic shoes because "They looked cool because they fade out from dark to light."

Amanda Charisma, 14, Durant High School, Plant City, got her light straw look sandals from Payless: "I got them half off."

Kelly Hanaghan, 14, Durant High School, Plant City, got her shell-toed tennis shoes because she wanted a pair of white shoes that were cute.

Carlos Rosa, 12, McLane Middle School, Brandon, sported brown leather Timberland boots.

Jennifer Pagano, 15, Riverview High School, Brandon, got her sandals with the New York Yankees emblem from a friend.

Natalie Ross, 13, Turkey Creek Middle School, Dover, has on brown leather lace-up shoes from American Eagle Outfitters. Why did she pick them? "I got good taste."

Melissa Morris, 13, Eisenhower Middle School, Riverview, got her brown sandals from Payless "because everyone else is wearing them!"

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