"Lingerie for Men"

While in college, I had a fun summer internship at a Target store with another friend from GT. We were essentially store management in training, helping with everything from HR interviews and hiring, stock room management, and employee morale.

One thing I learned quickly at Target and retail life is management supports the staff in everything. It is one big team. It didn't matter who you are; whoever is closest if something gets spilled, or stock needs tending, or a customer has a question, helps out. To the customer, it does not matter if you are a new employee or the shift manager -- they just want you to assist them. This was a clutch lesson for me to learn even though I am not in retail anymore. You come out of Target as a team-player ready for anything -- or at least they hope you do!

If you have worked in retail, you know all of this means lots of hours on your feet. You walk the store checking on things. You walk to/from issues. You stand at the registers helping if there is a surge of people ready to check-out (confession: I loved the register. A lot. Sometimes I'd volunteer even if it wasn't busy.) So while closed-toe shoes are a requirement, comfortable shoes are even more so.  But for this girl, it is a question -- fashion PLUS comfort in a closed toe shoe?

That summer, I fell in love with Sperry topsiders. Or as my friend Meg so brilliantly named them, "lingerie for men." (We are weird. No surprise.)

Every girl and guy that goes to college in the South has owned at least one pair of Sperrys, it seems. They are even more trendy now, I noticed while on GT's campus as an alum last week. They are extremely comfortable, and mold their shape to your feet. Most people love the basic pair, always good for rainy days since they are waterproof leather.

Other girls love the preppy canvas pairs, like ones in plaid or colors...

But right now, I am mostly in love with these awesome new tie-dye pairs, they are just so preppy-extreme!



I saw these on a cute blog I discovered last week, Monograms and Martinis. Mostly, I can't get over how fab the yellow ones would be for Game Day. I mean, come on, you can't get any more White and Gold spirit than with white and gold topsiders! The blue ones rock too, and the hot pink ones scream preppy with a kick (haha!).

The readers on that blog were overall unimpressed with the style. My guess is that those girls stick to the more traditional plaid or plain styles, which is fine. But I think that these shoes are for the preppy fashionistas unafraid to take a social risk. And at only $55, I know what this Betty is saving up for the next time I need a Sperry fix!