Do Sneakers Really Need to Be High Tech Or Made By Designers?

Whoever said that running was a cheap exercise has not seen the receipts for my running shoes.

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I know they’re not called sneakers anymore; now they’re walkers, trainers or runners and there’s a shoe specific to any and every sport. And that’s not all. There are shoes actually constructed for different gaits. How many of you know if you overpronate or supinate (which is actually underpronation)? Or do you need a neutral runner (which means that you don’t over or under pronate)? You now need extensive medical training to understand what type of sneakers to buy and a big wallet because high tech sneakers don't come cheap.

When I was a kid we all had a pair of sneakers, usually white which we made dirty as quickly as possible. I can’t remember why but we never wanted our sneakers to look new. They certainly weren’t expensive and we wore them during gym class or out playing so we wouldn’t ruin our good (and expensive) shoes that we wore to school.

Sneakers are now a fashion item and all of the designers are in the game. They don’t care if you overpronate or supinate. They only care that you’ll spend hundreds of dollars to make what they consider to be a fashion statement in designer sneakers; and the prices will make your head spin!

• Maison Margiela: $1,256.00
• Valentino: $1,060.00
• Guiseppe Zanotti: $983.00
• Givenchy: $895.00
• Fendi: $700.00
• Prada: $595.00
• Alexander McQueen: $575.00
• Stella McCartney: $565.00

I have to confess to how unfashionable I really am. I was recently away on my annual golf holiday with my friend Sue and we went outlet shopping at the Birch Run Outlet Mall in Michigan. At the Easy Spirit store in the clearance section I found great sneakers for $14.95, and they’re cute too! I was so excited that I bought 2 pairs. Last Saturday I was out walking in my new $14.95 sneakers for 2.5 hours and I can honestly tell you that I’ve never worn anything more comfortable in my life. Every year on my annual pilgrimage to Michigan I'll be visiting the Easy Spirit store to stock up on sneakers. I can say with a great deal of certainty that designer sneakers will never be in my future.

Dudes can’t afford to take their girl on $200 dates cuz they buy $200 sneakers every weekend to impress other men.

oliviabosschick

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Canada Has a Lot to Learn About Outlet Shopping from the U.S.

Two things that women love to hear:

1.   I love you

2.   That’s on sale

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Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m a dyed-in-the-wool bargain shopper. If something’s not at least 50% off I won’t even waste my time looking at it. Even at 50% off I’m not likely to buy it; more often than not that’s my starting point. My late father Joe was the ultimate bargain shopper and no one loved a deal more than he did. His level of bargain shopping skill is hard to live up to and whenever I’m out shopping I guarantee you Joe’s circling overhead to see how I’m doing. After I’ve paid I can usually hear him say, “I could have got a better deal” and he’d no doubt be right. But, there are times he’d smile.

My friend Sue and I were recently in Michigan on our annual girls’ golf week at www.boyne.com in Northern Michigan. We drive to Boyne and on route there is the mother of all outlet malls - Birch Run, the likes of which you just can’t find in Canada. Sadly in Canada outlet malls are typically no more than a collection of big box stores. The deals aren’t any better than you’d find anywhere else. Their only advantage I suppose is that there are a bunch of them in one place. The reality is that I can do better at the Bay, so why bother? But, at Birch Run, Michigan the deals are amazing, regardless of the exchange on the Canadian dollar! If the exchange rate was 50% the deals that Sue and I got would still be worth it.

So why can’t Canadian (so called) outlet malls be more like their American cousins? I’d prefer to spend my dollars in Canada if all things were equal. But, they’re not. The reality is that the deals are in the U.S. and next year on our way to Boyne Sue and I will again stop at Birch Run and spend the better part of half a day scooping up the bargains that we can’t possibly find at home. And these are bargains that Joe would be proud of!

You had me at clearance.

Unknown

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Why Don’t We Demand Truth in Advertising?

Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have for something they don't need.

Will Rogers

My mother has been asking me to take her to a particular outlet mall and today was the day; so off we went. We spent several hours wandering around the mall and went into most of the stores. I want to know why this mall is called an outlet mall. When I go to an outlet mall I expect DEEP discounts, not regular mall prices! I won’t even look at an item unless it’s 50% and at an outlet mall I expect better than that. There were very few items in the entire mall that were marked down by more than 30%. Why on earth should I schlepp out to this supposed outlet mall when I could do better at the Bay or the Eaton Centre?

Who decides what mall can be called an outlet mall? Shouldn’t there be some kind of criteria? Or can anyone call their establishment an outlet mall for the sole purpose of duping the public? Is this a Canadian issue? I ask this question because I have never encountered an outlet mall in the U.S. that wasn’t a legitimate outlet mall. Perhaps this is why Canadians still go to the U.S. to shop, even though the Canadian dollar is very weak. Lineups at the border attest to that.

Every summer my friend Sue and I make our annual pilgrimage to an incredible golf resort in northern Michigan called Boyne (I’ll tell you about it in another blog). Directly in our path is the Birch Run Outlet Mall and let me tell you, this is the mother of all outlet malls. This enormous discount shopping Mecca is surrounded by motels because it’s actually a destination. People arrive and shop for the weekend. Sue and I shop ‘til we drop and we get amazing deals! There’s none of this 30% crap. We buy top quality merchandise at incredibly discounted prices; typically 60% - 80% off. This is legitimate outlet shopping.

As a society we’ve come to expect that there is no truth in advertising. We’ve become so accustomed to the lies and manipulation that when we come across it, as was the case today, we’re momentarily pissed off and then we move on. Our complacency is the reason that there is no truth in advertising. Shame on us!

Advertising: the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it.

Stephen Leacock

Make someone smile today.

Geri