The Second Face

This afternoon I was strolling down Park Avenue talking to my older brother, who is in town for the week. We’ve walked all over the city in the past few days. In fact, if I were to keep up this kind of trekking, I would probably go through several pairs of walking shoes every month.


While we have been walking the last couple of days my brother and I have briefly discussed the topic of shoes- not for longer than five minutes at a time of course. Any longer than five minutes and any guy risks entering the danger zone. Even over the summer, when I was working construction, my coworkers and I never talked about work boots for more than three minutes.


While men are not allowed to discuss footwear in detail, it is necessary for every man to knowledgeable about shoes. Shoes are a very important part of any first impression, and they can communicate quite a lot of information.


EXAMPLE: While my brother and I were walking back from Central Park today there was a man who came toward us on the sidewalk. He was in a group of young professional men. The whole group was totally homogeneous. Every guy looked like all the others. Except this one guy, let’s call him “Keith.” With every stride Keith put forward a light brown lace-up. The leather was polished and clean. The shoe was nicely stitched but not ostentatious. In an instant, this man, Keith, was set apart from the rest of his group.


Your shoes are your “second face.” They are the place a person pauses when looking you up, down, and then up again. A shabby pair of lace-ups can ruin the nicest suit. However, the opposite is also true. As our friend Keith demonstrated, your shoes can set you apart. In fact, the only things that set Keith apart were his shoes.


In closing, do not confuse my intentions in this post. I am by no means advocating expanding your shoe collection or turning into some fashion-crazed metro. God forbid. All I am trying to say is that shoes shouldn’t be ignored. All the men that read this blog now have immunity to go shoe shopping- in a manly and brief fashion. It’s okay. Go buy yourself a good pair of wingtips.


HISTORICAL NOTE: In ancient Rome, the soldiers wore very distinctive sandals. They had to be very well constructed for long marches, but they also served another purpose. Every soldier’s sandals had nails driven through the sole to provide traction on treacherous terrain, but the nails also made a loud clicking noise when the soldiers marched on paved roads or rocky terrain. As legions of soldiers marched on a city the nails would strike the ground in unison. Each soldier’s sandals clicking as he marched. All the soldiers marching together would create a thunderous noise with each step. Shoes were a part of Roman warfare. They matter.