I have been wearing the same crap pair of shoes to work for over two years. I bought them at Payless in 2009 and then a few months after that I bought some insoles to try to make them more comfortable. The "leather" on them has peeled off, they are cracked and the laces are more frayed than my nerves on a brunch shift. I only wear them at work so I didn't really care. It's not that I couldn't afford a new pair of shoes, it's just that I resent buying clothing and shoes that I will only wear when I am serving food. It pisses me off. A few weeks ago I was approached by Shoes For Crews and was told they would give me a free pair of work shoes in exchange for a review. You know my cheap-ass ears pricked up when the word "free" made itself known. I also knew Shoes For Crews from having bought my first pair many chicken fried steaks ago when I worked at Black Eyed Pea. I am also going to be giving out FOUR FREE PAIR for you, readers. Details on that later.My Review of Shoes For Crews
I ordered a pair of Vibe II Shoes in a size 7 1/2. I went to the Shoes For Crews website and looked at all my options but I chose them because they looked comfortable, I liked the lace up kind of shoe versus a slip on and how could I resist the name of Vibe II? They showed up at my door one week later and the next day I wore them to work. First off, let me say, they are very comfortable. I practically floated to work because they are as light as homemade meringue unlike my Payless shoes that were so heavy they made me walk like I had a case of the clubfoot. All Shoes For Crews are slip resistant which is oh so very important in a restaurant. There are a lot of good reasons to wear slip resistant shoes at work, the number one reason being that you won't slip and bust your ass on the hard tile floor. I've done it when I worked at Bennigan's and they encouraged us to wear shitty Converse high tops. Those shoes have no support and they practically invite you to slide across a walk-in floor that is covered with Ranch dressing. Falling once into a pile of disgusting and getting your uniform dirty will make you forever praise the value of non-slip work shoes. My new Vibe II shoes do not slip!
When I put them on, the corn on my right foot gave me a look that said, "Aww, man! I can't stay here anymore, it's too roomy." These new shoes give my toes some room to breath which is a welcome relief. They fit my foot well without giving too much room so my heel slips out. Another thing I like about the shoes is that they came with a little scraper that I can use to get all the crap off the bottom. You know what I mean? Say you accidentally stepped on some old rotten cherry tomatoes that you dropped in the sidestand and were too lazy to pick up (it happens) and you didn't realize it until that night when you took your shoes off and saw all this gunk dried in the tread of the shoes. Before, I would have had to use a butter knife or an espresso spoon to scrape that shit out of the there, but Shoes For Crews gives you a handy dandy scarper for just that purpose. It's freakin' genius. The only thing more I could ask of these shoes is that they do my sidework for me. You should totally get a pair for yourself!
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