How I love shoe sales!

[Cynthia]

So, my husband has been needing to get some shoes for a while. Athletic shoes for walking and working out (gotta crank up the workouts in January to burn off the December calories, not to mention Highland Games throwing practices will start up again for us sometime in January too). He needs to get new work shoes, too, but we were on a limited budget.

Anyway, so he'd found a pair and was pleased enough. They were on sale (seems a lot of things are at the moment, but I've always loved shopping during sales anyway... a month or two ago I found a great pair of boots to wear with my kilted skirt at this place as well as new athletic shoes). We decided to wander around and see what else there was -- not that we could buy much more, but you never know what else you can find (or consider for later purchases).

So we see the clearance section, and I glanced and gasped at what I saw. Athletic shoes in the brand he likes... in his size!!!! I grabbed them and he tried them on -- they fit even nicer than the more expensive shoes he'd originally tried on. Then I went back and saw something else! Some chunky, casual -- but still very nice -- black shoes in his size too! What on earth! He usually doesn't find many shoes in his size to start with, much less on clearance! They wouldn't really pass for work shoes (he works in an office environment), but he has been wanting something casual to wear with the kilt. They fit... but here is the kicker.

They were $10!!!!!!! $10 for a pair of shoes in his size. We grabbed both pairs and put the original shoes back. Then we found out they were having a special on socks and he got 4 pairs of socks (for work -- they won't work with the kilt). So for *under* the price of the original shoes (by about a dollar, but still!), he came out with four pairs of socks and two new pairs of shoes!

We actually got these a week ago or so and he hasn't had a chance to try them on yet. Tonight I finally remembered them and I asked him to put the kilt on to see how they go together. I'd love to get him some charcoal hose that are a little thicker, but still... I think it would be a nice outfit for a casual outing at a pub or something else like that.

I might see if he'll be up for a photo. He has started pairing his Black Stewart tartan SWK Standard up with a brown t-shirt and I love them together.

I still want to get him a pair of dark (preferably black) hiking boots so he can do a little hiking in his kilt. Not to mention another sporran (I love the looks of some of the Rob Roy sporrans). It's just nice to finally start getting him more options to play with since we've both been so limited with wardrobe stuff (we'd both lost a lot of weight over the years and it's been difficult to catch up, much less buy anything specific that we like for kilt-related wear).

It really is amazing what you can find for a good deal when you least expect it, though! Even if you usually don't have much luck finding something in your size

[Bugbear]

Congratulations on finding those deals!

Ok, I'll confess... I kind of have a thing for shopping for shoes too. If you count the sandals and slides, I have a whole bunch... Like many more than I need...

[Cynthia]

Thanks! I should also point out that my boot victory was amazing, too. I have muscular calves and most boots don't fit my legs, sadly Sometimes just shy of fitting, which is even more frustrating. The boots I found were not only on sale (the most affordable of the type I was interested in), but they fit my calves comfortably!! I think I have a new favorite store There were some other nice shoes there that Christopher liked that would look nice with a suit, casual office wear, or a kilt! Man! I really hope I can get a job soon (c'mon New Year)!

[Bugbear]

Then good luck, Cynthia, and have fun.

[Highlander31]

Congratulations on finding such a great deal.

[Finn]

Excellent!
May I ask the store? Local or chain?

[Cynthia]

Finn it was Famous Footwear in Grapevine, Texas. Since it was the clearance section, it could just be that they couldn't sell some of the larger sizes in some of these styles. My husband wears a size 13 and has flat feet which bother him depending on shoe styles. I also saw size 14's in different widths, too. Maybe we've just never looked for him before at a place like that, but he was incredibly happy to find two pairs of shoes that fit him for such great deals.

I took some photos last night but haven't seen them yet (I really should go look). I'm not sure you can see the shoe enough for it to matter as far as how they look with the kilt worn casually. I'm not sure if he wants me to post them yet so we might get around to it when we have a chance. They were Skechers and looked a lot like this (that might be what they are, actually -- I can't find them to double-check at the moment). Like I said, I would love to get him some thicker hose in charcoal, but that's also regardless of the shoes he'd be wearing with the kilt. He currently only has some offwhite hose from SWK, but we haven't really had the chance to get him anything else since we're not sure how most hose will fit his legs yet.

[Finn]

Thanks!
I've had good luck at DSW.

[Cynthia]

Very cool I've meant to go check out DSW -- I believe we have some close to where I live, but I've never had the chance to go look.

[Bugbear]

Gees! I'm just size eight and a half; I usually get size nine, though.

I think if the Stillwater hose fit him, the Lewis hose would do fine; those are the two I can directly compare. I've heard that the Gaelic Themes hose do not have a lot of stretch to them.