Gothic Preppy

Maybe it's because I've lived in Florida my entire life, or because Florida only has one season (hot), or because my combo of flat and wide feet conspires to keep me out of enclosed footwear for longer than a couple hours, I pretty much only wear flip flops. The only shoes that can daily grace my Cinderella-like piggies, besides my scant few pairs of Ferragamos (seriously, the only high-end shoe worth the money--but mine are all from thrift stores), are Keds. Keds don't get nearly as much love as their scruffy, meth-addicted sibling the Converse All-Star. But Keds are wholesome, Dean's List, apple pie sneaks that add just a touch of innocence to the most hard-boiled ensemble. Here are a few reasons why Keds should be your shoe of choice:

1. They are only $20 a pair at Sears
2. Not owned by a multinational syndicate (yet)
3. When they get dirty, you can write Korn lyrics all over them
3a. Or put them in the washing machine
4. You can design your own, and put pictures of your dog, your friend's dog, the Jonas Brothers, or even the Bonus Jonas on them
5. Much lower profile; make your feet look petite as opposed to the massive sole of a Vans slip on.

That's it really. You know I couldn't find any pictures of outfits con Keds on Flickr (though to be fair I didn't search too deeply), only Mischa Barton ads, and sketchy, stomach-turning fetish shots. So I went with the former


I picked this one mainly because I felt Tillman was robbed!

Of course if you want to go really old school (1830s in fact), you can get yourself a pair of Plimsolls, the idea of which we apparently ripped off from the Mother Country. But I don't like that rubber toe cap on there.