I know many of you fashionistas who follow this blog are going to gasp in horror,choke on your tea or just keel over in disgust when I tell you that my favorite summer shoe used to be (notice the past tense here) my boat shoes.


Image courtesy of Joanna Goddard

When I first came to Spain, I lived in my boat shoes for running errands, jumping on Hubby's Vespa to zoom around the city etc. But I always noticed the look of disdain from other Spanish women!

One day whilst shopping with my Spanish friend Carlotta (translation= Charlotte), who doesn't think twice about running around Carrefour (translation= French hyper-market now found all over Spain) in her Manolos, she looked at my feet decked in boat shoes and this was our conversation:

Carlotta: WHHYYY Van?
Me: Why what?
Carlotta: Why do you wear those 'ORRIBLE shoes?
Me: Don't you like them?
Carlotta: Did you come to the supermarket by boat?
Me: No
Carlotta: Do you own a boat?
Me: No. In fact I am a really bad sailor
Carlotta: Then why are you wearing boat shoes? It's like wearing your bikini to go shopping. Boat shoes should only be seen on a boat or by the beach!

And hence my love affair with my boat shoes was brought to an abrupt end. It wasn't until we had this conversation that I started looking at every woman's feet during the summer, and she was right; Spanish women never wear boat shoes away from the coast. Mediterranean men on the other hand wear them all the time in the city, and even in formal corporate environments during the summer. For men, they are regarded as "dapper" and "smart". But they are a real NO NO for women.

Do you agree with my friend Carlotta?