After a week in the heat spent obsessing over how much I can't wait for fall this year, I decided to talk about the transition from summer sandals! to 'summer sandals with socks so you don't have to leave behind your incredibly comfortable favourite footwear'.
Then I took some pictures and remembered why I don't post many pics of my handknit socks in Birkenstocks: it is hard to make either one look flattering. Which is why we are starting with a pic of socks going solo.
Are you braced yet?
Here are my current-oldest pair of Birkenstocks, an Iron Grey pair of Arizonas I bought after my original Arizonas started to look worn and weirdly small.
Here I'm wearing some bed / reading socks I knit with purple alpaca, with wool/mohair scraps for the legs.
Just as a fun fact and so anybody reading this who doesn't already have thirty pairs starts to judge me, I wear Birkies inside, all day every day, and have done since we moved out of the house to renovate it lo these ten or more years ago. First it was the concrete floors under parquet in our temporary quarters, and then, when we came back, aluminum plates (for in-floor heating) under hardwood. My legs were KILLING me, until I waved the magic Birkenstock wand.
So, I loved the Arizonas, but after a few years I got tired of looking at them all day every day and bought these cuties - a pair of taupe Zurichs, with a soft footbed.
Here I'm wearing a pair of mostly-monotone merino sock yarn from Viola, now shuttered as a business, which makes my remaining stash so very precious.
I thought this model would be a little warmer in winter, and more slipper-like, and they are indeed heavenly. However, my toes were freezing in them, and I'd discovered that the world didn't stop turning when I bought the Zurichs despite my Arizonas still being perfectly fine, so I treated myself to these Bostons in Mink suede:
Man, it was so hard to get these to look even this good, and yet Bostons were a fashion darling quite recently and perhaps still? Probably they are better worn barefoot, or with pants. Either way they feel great and that's gotta be enough. I am wearing these with Vesper Sock self-striping beauties.
After the Boston purchase I was very self-disciplined. When you're only wearing a shoe inside, it takes ages for the sole to even hint at the need for repair and mine are definitely not at the hint stage. I wore these three pairs in rotation for many more years, until this summer when it was soooo hot and I couldn't bear any more long walks in socks and running shoes, which had been my solution to the original Arizonas flying off my feet when I took them out to play. So I bought a dressy and more casual pair of Madrids, not pictured, which are basically Arizonas with a backstrap for more security. I did not take pictures of those - you're welcome!
But then I thought, really, my replacement Arizonas are starting to look like they need an upgrade, and a vibrant pink pair (in suede! with a soft footbed!) were on sale, so I succumbed.
I think these are actually purple, don't you? they are not looking very happy with the hot pink stripe in this other pair of Vesper Sock socks.
Anyway: I bought them only to discover that they are too small, as are one of my new pairs of Madrids, which I'm going to wear anyway. Turns out I can't do Birkenstock's narrow footbed any more, which is why my very first pair of Arizonas look and feel so weird these days, and why it's so lucky that all my other pairs (bar that one pair of Madrids) are regular width. I am on the margin between two sizes and the width makes all the difference.
I shared this tragic news with a fellow Birkie obsessive who happens to have feet a half-size smaller than mine, and she sympathized and agreed to take them off my hands, but offered me the swap of a pair of shearling-lined Bostons she'd bought in the next size up, which is what I'm choosing now. Win win! They are also not pictured, as I do not have them in my possession yet. But I am VERY EXCITED.
After all that I moved to a place of acceptance that my feet are no longer happy walking in running shoes, outdoor temperature aside. Just last night I tried again and my feet are still aching as I type this. So, rather than investing in proper weather-friendly purpose-built walking shoes, I used the excuse to look for a pair of Birkenstocks with a closed heel that won't fall off me while I'm walking at pace (lookin at you Arizonas) or let gravel in (turning to every other pair I own) and decided to buy a pair of sale-priced Londons in Stone Coin.
Pictured with my fave Vesper Sock socks! Wish I had more of this colourway, that's for sure.
The Londons, which are seldom stocked in a store and are generally bought online, are often described as Bostons with a closed back. I think there are subtle differences, including more of a clown-shoe effect. But they are super comfy and meet my requirements, and I have already bought a second pair in black oiled leather. It was that or upgrade my hopelessly worn Blundstone boots which have also started to hurt, the last few years.
I will probably not be wearing handknit socks with the black leather Londons, because I fear dye transfer. I think the taupey grey pair would be okay though, don't you?
Whew. Fanning myself a little here over the shame of revealing so much about myself! Not least my ability to deep dive into a rabbit hole. I could be workin in a Birkie store at this point. I was going to write about how important it is to have many many pairs of handknit socks today and instead, it's been all about the shoes.
It's still important to have lots of handknit socks though. And as most of mine are in the mending pile, I have a whoooole lotta work to do.
Hope you're having a lovely weekend and that if it includes a trip to a Birkenstock store or website, it is fruitful. Thanks again for joining me - see you next Saturday, when I promise not to talk about shoes!
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