Cicciabella Cowgirl Slippers: A Confession

So, I have a confession to make. I love these slippers. I’m head-over-heels in love with a slightly ridiculous pair of shoes that shouldn’t even leave the house and are, in fact, shaped and designed like a pair of cowboy boots.

I often tell shoe companies not to bother sending me a sample if I don’t think I want an item. It collects dust in my closet and they wonder why I haven’t written about them. Somehow, though, despite that feeling, I agreed to accept a pair of the Cicciabella Cowgirl Slippers.

Maybe it was because I thought they wouldn’t leave the house. Maybe I knew that secretly, I wanted to wear cowboy boot shaped slippers. Maybe I was just feeling lazy and didn’t say no.

Either way, they came, they saw, they conquered. The timeline went something like this:

Day 1: Shoes arrive. I put them on, snap pictures and make fun of them on Twitter
Day 4: Realize I’ve now worn said slippers three days in a row
Day 7: Start tweeting embarrassingly, that I’ve started to sort of like them
Day 11: Wear them to walk to the pet store, 3 blocks away. Get compliments from the sales girl.
Day 12: Ponder if the sales girl was being sarcastic. Decide I don’t care.
Day 20: Give up the ghost, start raving about them
Day 25: Wear them at my own holiday party. Wake up with them still on.

So. What’s the lesson here? Clearly, that cowboy boot shaped slippers, as ridiculous as they might seem, are awesome. Also, perhaps, that I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

Either way, you can find a pair of slippers for yourself or a friend on Amazon. And the next time you see a girl wearing them while waiting in line to buy dog food? Don’t make fun.

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Blisters the size of small rodents start occupying your heel like the 99 percent on Wall Street. Laces break, sending you into a confused daze, until you’re pulling a Tonya Harding and crying to the judges.

Only there’s no re-skates on vacation. You can’t go back and hike the pyramids with less blister. When you’re having a once in a lifetime experience, you’re going to have to power through whatever problems your shoe might be causing.

Photo of “Sad Shoe” via Moonrat42 on flickr

A hole warn in a well-loved shoe can cause sudden giant blister onset. A pair of flip-flops that have held steady through thousands of beach walks lose their straps. A heel pops off those ‘great value’ boots you picked up in a street market in China. Yes, these have all happened to me, while traveling. I’ve never let these incidents slow me down, and you shouldn’t either.

You can thank me later for not actually posting a picture of the rodent-sized blister from my recent trip to Mexico, but I will vouch for it’s size by pointing out that I had to eventually pop it before its time had come because it grew large enough that I no longer fit into my shoes. I was a size bigger, what with the puss-filled extension on my heel.

Three tools to fix shoe and foot problems while traveling

1) Duct Tape As a former ski racer, I live and die by the motto that duct tape fixes everything, but one spot it really excels at is blisters. Not only can you duct tape over holes in the shoe or hold together loose pieces with the sticky substance, it is the single best cure for hot spots and blisters.

The adhesive is strong enough that it is actually sweat-proof, meaning it won’t slide around in your stinky shoe, even when you’re hoofing it across town or up a mountain. The shiny side on the outside minimizes any friction, sliding in your shoes, instead of rubbing.

The sooner you get that duct tape on, the less likely it is to get to the stage I let mine get to—resulting in blister popping with an earring and antibacterial gel in a Mexico City hotel room. If you’re wondering, the Spanish word for duct tape is ‘cinta de ducta.’ and it can be found for 36 pesos (about $2.50).

2) A hairband Unless you’re one of those people with adorable pixie cuts that they never need to touch, you probably already have a hairband with you when traveling. What you might not have known is that it can solve any number of shoe-related problems. It was past 11pm on the streets of Rome when my friend’s flip-flop busted. We had a 5am train to catch and six hours of red bull and vodka ahead of us (we were 20, okay?). With the strap pulled out of the bottom of his flip-flop and our gear already checked at the train station, we needed to fix it. Hairband to the rescue. By doubling it round the strap, then slipping it over the sole, the sandal was, while not perfect, at least wearable for the evening.

A more common problem (you’re not often roaming Rome at midnight?) is the broken lace. The stretch of a ponytail holder is perfect for tying an entire shoe together. Cut it, lace it through the lace around the middle to top of the shoe, then tie it on. You’ll be golden until you locate the next shoelace store (or, in the case of much of the third world, a large general market).

3) A good pair of insoles Ok, I’ve told you about this before. A good pair of insoles can make any pair of shoes instantly more comfortable. It makes buying $7 boots at a Chinese street market way less risky. If, like me, you run an 0-7 record of spraining your ankle on cobblestone streets, having a solid insole can keep you much steadier. If you do start to develop a blister, changing the insoles can change how your foot sits in the shoe or boot and keep the hot spot from worsening. I’m not going to say that insoles fix everything, but they’re a little like the bacon of the shoe world. Everything’s better with insole. Not quite the same ring, but you get the idea.

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Now that you’ve read my stories and heard my tips, I want to hear from you! What’s your worst shoe disaster? How did you fix it? What’s your top tip?

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I made three mistakes in my running shoe management in the last few months.

1) I tried to test the LOWA S-Cruise WS with Gore-tex in the middle of summer, when they first arrived. They were warm. Very, very warm.

2) I forgot to remove my expensive Superfeet insoles when donating my last pair of running shoes to Goodwill. Somebody is getting a ridiculous deal when they buy those.

3) I waited way too long to re-test those LOWA runners!

It’s November now, the rainiest of months in the notoriously damp Northwest. After my first few tries to test the LOWA waterproof trail running shoes, I shoved them into the back of the closet and forgot them. I get sent a lot of shoes and another pair of running shoes came in and I was distracted.

Then the leaves fell with the rain and I realized this pair of running shoes I had on had absolutely no traction in the rain. Rendered useless in Seattle, I threw the pair aside (you won’t see any review of that in these parts—YUCK!). Haunted by the sliding, I dug through my collection to find a shoe that would be better suited for the rain.

What, I thought, could be better for the rain than a waterproof shoe? Right, I was! Each step was comfortably landed, stable and sturdy. That warmth that was ridiculous on a hot July day cuddled my feet and kept them cozy as I splashed down a mud-covered trail. I was surprised at how light the shoe was, given the support it offered both my foot as a whole and my arches—for the first time since losing my Superfeet, I felt like I was running long distances in complete comfort.

While it’s billed as a trail runner, I’ve got to be honest, on wet days, I’ve been pounding pavement in the S-Cruise as well. It’s not overly heavy and given the trade off of excellent support and traction, these make for a good all around running shoe.

These would make the perfect packer for any trips that might involve hiking in damp or wet conditions, or even long walks in variable weather. I first envisioned taking these on a trip to the Hoh Rainforest on Washington’s Olympic peninsula, but then I had a flashback to standing, drenched, in a rainstorm, skipping over and around puddles and slush in Time Square. I definitely wish I’d had them on for that day.

Want to get a pair of your own? Buy LOWA here.

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