Garden Chic

I didn't wear shoes often during the summer when I was growing up. Instead, I prefered to run barefoot through the woods. My feet were like concrete pavers by the end of the summer in both color and texture. I wasn't a tomboy. It was just what we did. Eventually, though I got tired of digging stickers out of my arches and burning my feet on the pavement. I went to the other extreme and now I am an advocate of protecting my feet from all manner of hazards.

I'll get a summer pedicure in case there is a fashion emergency that requires me to wear sandals, but for working around the yard I still need to cover my feet. My wonderful black paisley Nomad boots have been great for digging in the spring mud and taking the dogs out in the snow; however they don't look good with capris. Perhaps you would recommend tennis shoes as an alternative garden shoe. Alas, as I explained in Happy Feet, I really don't like tennis shoes. "Crocs are great for gardening," you might suggest. Crocs don't look good with capris either. In fact, I don't think they look good with anything or on anyone. Upon reflection, I believe they are actually ranked below tennis shoes on my list of likely-to-wear foot coverings.

Crocs do bring to mind clogs with their dowdy rounded toes and lack of heal protection. For those very reasons I'm not crazy about clogs, but I have compromised in favor of finding something suitable to gardening. Oh my... what wonderful clog-crossovers I found. The unassumingly named brand Sloggers makes a very comfortable, beautiful garden shoe in a variety of colors and patterns with some protection for the heal. They won't exactly be the shoe paired with capris on Milan runways next October, but they are not awful and they are not tennis shoes. Thank Goodness!

The real advantage, I think, of having these funky patterned shoes is that I can wear them with anything I might wear in the garden for a whimsical statement. There is a fine line between being lighthearted and being a joke. So long as the rest of my ensemble coordinates, these zany, but practical shoes make it possible for me to get muddy in a way that says "I meant to do that." The key to any style is knowing how to strategically break the rules.