Brown and Blue

4/18/2006 shoe picture added. Since you can't see the label, it says Reaction Kenneth Cole, made in Italy (kinda cool, there are R's on the heel section, my initial, you know). I paid $65.

Recently I had a shoe catastrophe. Out for a walk, in the rain, I perceived that the bottom of my foot was wet. Where'd that crack come from? Because my husband and I walk together nearly every lunch hour, I couldn't go long without replacing these shoes.

I have some serious criteria for my everyday shoes: I need to be able to walk three miles in them, I need to be able to tighten them across the instep, and they need to fit in the casual lifestyle segment. In addition, I prefer to have at least two pairs to alternate between, usually black and brown.

As you can clearly see, the kind of shoes I was looking for are not the easiest to find. No stilettos, no mules, no preppy whites. Eventually I found myself at Nordstrom Rack, in the men's shoe aisle. (Now I know where to go first!) I tried on a few brown pairs which might have been options, but then I spotted them ... but they were blue. Would that work?

Yes, for a few reasons. One, I would be wearing them with jeans for the most part, and that works well with the whole length-balancing thing. Two, blue and brown are color complements. Brown, you see, is a shade of orange. A curious idea, with many applications.

Now I am off to test-drive my new shoes. The other great thing about The Rack is that if I don't like them, they will still take them back.