About a year ago, I was staying at a hotel on the lower east side of Manhattan.
After finishing work slightly late, I was absolutely starving and wandering the streets looking for that perfect little restaurant in which to park myself for a feed and perhaps some people watching.
Nothing really pulled at my salivary glands and so I wandered into an old faithful… Whole Foods. I have had many healthy and delicious meals here and felt that I ought to give this new location, at Bowery and Chrystie, an investigation.
This is where I found them. The "ethical, earth friendly section" on the second floor. (Nowhere near the food section which is where I should have been headed with the growls and grumbles from my tummy becoming loud enough now to elicit concerned looks from my fellow shoppers- I guess sometimes shopping trumps hunger.)
TOMS shoes makes really cool shoes. Cool because they are simple in their rugged design and can thus be worn with almost anything. Cool because they are made by a man who wants to help people and actually donates one pair of shoes for every pair that he sells! Blake Mycoskie started TOMS to help kids in Argentina who had no shoes and could not go to school. By walking barefoot, feet are prone to cuts which then become infected and cause disease and pain. Since starting his company, he has given away over 150,000 pairs and plans to give another 300,000 by then end of this year. He now does his "shoe drop offs" all over the world.
The shoes I found were not my size. But I bought them anyways. The whole idea of "One to One" (which is the company’s motto) appealed to me so much and the shoes were a perfect alternative to the usual flip flops of summer that I had been flopping around in. The light canvas shoe can be worn from spring to fall. The insole is actually inspired by a flip flop (but with more support). I put them right on and flopped down to the food section to quell the monster in my belly.
But now they are here. They have made their way to Toronto and have arrived in a rainbow of colors, styles and, yes, sizes as well! I love the charcoal and the tan canvas. My daughter looooves her red sparkly pair. I plan to keep my family in TOMS for as long as is practical. I love that they now make adorable and stylish kid sizes as well!! I know it’s a bit early, but why not pick up a pair for everyone on your Christmas gift list this year? I plan to give at least a few pairs to the feet of a few lucky friends.
TOMS is sold in Toronto at:
- Get Outside – 3456 Yonge Street
- Sporting Life
- Heel Boy – 682 Queen St.
- Lileo – 55 Mill St.
- Pre-Loved – 24 Ryerson Ave
- Canopy Blue – 2582 Yonge St.
- Cat Tilt – 1-198 Walnut Ave.
Go to the Toms shoes website for more information on the cause and a very inspirational video.
Liisa Winkler is one of Canada’s biggest supermodels and mother of two beautiful children. Her blog appears bi-monthly at Postcity.com.