Shoes are supposedly one of the most important hurdles of judgement men've got to jump over. A pair of old grungy converse all stars and horrify one woman yet excite another. A close friend of mine constantly begs of me, "Wear some damn sneakers for once! You try too hard in the way you dress." I'll admit I have an issue with dressing down; I adorn a shirt at least 60% of the time in public no matter the occasion. But, one of the real reasons I can't steer clear of a good pair of dress shoes is short man's syndrome.
God gave me false hopes. In the first few years of high school I was one of the biggest kids, in the right ways, in my year level of 150 boys. My final year came and friends were asking if I'd shrunk over summer. Back from my Gap year in England and again, "Matt, have you shrunk?" My answer was always, "No, everyone else has just finally grown!"
Don't get me wrong, I love a good pair of dress shoes. You can't wear a nice jacket with a pair of sneakers and I love a good jacket, but we'll leave that for another time. What I've realised is that as much as my love for them resides in their fashion credit, it's that extra inch lift under the heel that really wins me over. Girls, don't judge me for it.
