ISpyShanghai

Starting as a silly throwaway blog title one Tuesday back in 2007, Shoe Tuesday has grown to become a global phenomenon to rival the Bungee Disco, Skittle-Knack Karaoke or even Strawberry Buddhism.

I’d like to say thanks to everyone who enjoyed the wild ride we’ve had, and in particular to those readers from far and wide have joined in the fun by faxing, hand-delivering or psychically transmitting images of quirky shoes. If I didn’t use the images you sent then I’m very sorry about that- it doesn’t mean they weren’t interesting or funny, just that I couldn’t think of anything interesting or funny to say about them.

Whilst I will not be doing Shoe Tuesday any more, this does not mean the end.

No no my friend. For if we all keep Shoe Tuesday in our hearts, it will never truly die.

(Although just to be clear again, I am killing it)

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For this last episode then, let’s all put our ST tie clips on one last time, do the ST hand-jive, wind up the music box and listen one more time to that Shoe Tuesday music.

Emma and I threw a bit of a leaving party at the weekend, and as you can imagine- everyone who is anyone was there (except WoAi, the enormous woofter). Turning out in full effect to support the cause was Jake Newby, resplendent in a tuxedo with genuine satin bowtie…and Feiyue trainers.

Nice work Jake, you terrible, terrible pikey.

It is however, hard to beat H’s (Dingle’s much much better half) contribution.

Check out these ever-so-respectful Michael Jackson tribute bootees.

What more fitting homage could there be to the King of Pop than a pair of Ugg boots plastered with a collage of his photos? Dressed up in a farmboy outfit, photoshopped into an image of Uncle Sam, headlines from the various sexual abuse court cases- it’s all here in glorious colour.

Rumours of similar footwear limited editions featuring Lady Diana, Mother Teresa and victims of the Holocaust could not be confirmed at the time of going to press.

And THAT’s the END OF THAT!

One of the main things I’m looking forward to when I go back to the UK is reasonably priced Guinness, proper cheese, nightclubs with no french people my newest niece Eve.

My brother Andrew is just a few years older than me and we’re very close- hang out together whenever we get the chance, talk on the phone when I get drunk, I was best man at his wedding etc.

Andrew had a baby girl in September last year and I’ve only seen her a handful of times since then, so I’ve missed a lot of stuff.

Apparently she’s walking now, dancing too, so I’m hoping that I’ll get to see her take these bad boys for a test drive.

They’re a kind of shoes I’ve only ever seen in asia- with a squeaker in the bottom that’s triggered when you walk. It’s kind of a safety feature I guess, since the toddler can toddle off on their own and you’ll hear when they’ve gone to far or fallen over. But it’s also just the cutest thing when you hear them walking off:

squeak……squeak……squeak
<Hey look! A bird!>
SQUEAK!SQUEAK!SQUEAK!SQUEAK!
<oh it’s gone>
squeak………squeak……

I think they’re cool anyway.

Hey wait a minute, I hope Eve isn’t reading this though, it’ll ruin the surprise.

Nike have made a few shekels from a minor baseball player called Michael Jordan.

They got him to jump up fancy, took a photo, stuck it on a few pairs of shoes and boom! Mazooma in the bank.

Air Jordan 

If my favourite Chinese trainer- FeiYue ever want to make the leap* from cheap canvas plimsoll to a major sporting brand, they’re going to need similar brand recognition.

Based on the kind of people who wear FeiYue right now, I’d say their main options for a Jordan-style tie-in logo are:

1) Manual labourers digging a ditch

Air Gong Ren

b) ironic indie-rocking hipsters

Air Studied Pose 

or… iii) awesome kung-fu kicking monks from the planet DoubleHard.

Air I’m lying on a bunch of spears and what are you going to do about it?

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I’m leaving Shanghai, and leaving China.

Me and Emma are going to live in Manchester, we leave on December 7th*.

It’s been a great three years, and just feels like the right time to leave for me.

*So that means you’ve got 3 more Shoe Tuesdays

Here on I Spy we devote every Tuesday to shoes. Why? Because it sounds funny- say it with me:

Shoe Tuesday

Shoooooooee Tuuuuuueeeesdayy

See?

Anyway, best crack on.

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Due to a broken thermostat somewhere in Chinese heaven, the temperature recently dropped 8,000 degrees. On Halloween night I was dressed like this and sweating, today I’m in a sheepskin jumpsuit, 8 hats, sat under a hairdryer with my teeth chattering.

It’s so confusing that this morning I saw someone wearing summer shorts, a wifebeater vest and long thermal underwear. I’d show you a photo of him, but this is Tuesday. We look at shoes here on Tuesday, always have.

So here’s a similar confused young lady- riding line 2 in her summer flip-flops but beating the sudden cold snap with wooly socks. 

You might laugh now, but it’s the kind of quick thinking that we’re all going to need when the apocalypse comes.

Every tuesday here on ISpy we take a look into the fascinating world of footwear.

It’s a wild ride my friend, so come with me now, step into my weekly world of shoes….

This week I received a letter through the electronic mail.

Dear Dr Swiss

as we all know, the hot look that’s wowing the fashion world right now is the Shanghainese Street Sweeper.

I’ve got my faded blue coveralls, the hair full of cigarette ash and have grown my little fingernail to the required 3 inches. When it comes to the shoes though, I have hit a major snafu.

Me and Kate Moss were shopping down at Carrefour when we bought what we thought were genuine FeiYue shoes, and yet something doesn’t feel right with them. Have I bought fakes?

Help me Dr Swiss, you’re my only hope.

Mackers.

xx

Well Mackers- firstly, you’ve come to the right place (so that’s good news), however you have bought fakes (so that’s bad news). Do you know what though, when it comes to that funky oppressed Chinese peasant look- what could be more authentic than fakes? They’re probably rarer than the real thing too.

For the best selection of the real thing (including some one-off custom jobs) head down to Culture Matters on Dongping Lu (near Henghsan Lu- opposite Vargas Grill). For the fakes- head down to the docks and look for a guy with a wheelbarrow full of nail clippers, pan scrubbers, and shoes that say “FeiYin”.

Real uns down at Culture Matters

It’s that time again- put on your Shoe Tuesday hat, close the curtains, dance that special dance and lets enjoy another magic moment together.

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