Nov 17, 2003 - Cold Toes on Lower State

Congratulations to C3 (93109) whose guess of 27% came the closest to the actual percentage (25.6%) of women wearing open-toed shoes on State Street on Friday night.

The diligent staff of edhat.com took to the Street (State Street, that is) last Friday night to check out the fashion scene at ground level, and to marvel at the dedication of some Santa Barbarbarians (and others) to the toe-tal shoewear look. The night was chilly, and the edhat.com staff was cozy in socks and sensible shoes.

While keeping our eyes to the ground, we noticed that the fully clad shoe of choice was the ever popular black pant-boot, with the occasional local favorite, the Ugg, thrown in for extra warmth.  The exposed toes sported the sandal world gamut, from rubber flip-flops to the teetering spike heeled strappies.

But, alas, no Manolos in sight.  In case you don't know what Manolos are (like ..  you are a man for instance), they are 460 bucks a pop, but as Madonna says, they "are as good as sex...and they last longer." So, the chances are if you own a pair, you would be protecting your investment and not walking around lower State Street.

Shoe choice, like other fashion statements, tends to be consistent among groups of friends.  On the edhat shoe watch, we saw many groups of all-toes and many groups of no-toes.  Some of the toe exposure level seemed to correlate with youth. Particularly those hanging out in front of Club 634.  Youngsters these days are more likely to let their digits brave the harsh elements.