All posts in shoes of brown

The Post-Spring Weekend Shoes of Brown University

By: / April 24, 2015 / No Comments /

Shoes of Brown may have the pristine, everyday shoe game on lock, but there’s often a new kind of shoe treading the paths of campus in the days immediately following Spring Weekend: the dirt-caked, once perfect shoes that you made the poor decision to wear to a concert at which Wacka Flocka–and all his crowd-consuming energy–was performing.

The good news? If you’re panicking about the soggy brown rags that only marginally resemble the white kicks you used to own, you’re not alone. Below is a collection of Spring Weekend damaged shoes belonging to Brown students that may never see the mud of the Main Green scrubbed fully from them:

Katie's Shoes

Jackson's Shoes 2

Caitlin's Shoes

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Let’s talk about people who take off their shoes during class

By: / October 8, 2014 / 2 Comments /

barefootPaxson

At Brown, we do have one binary: to take one’s shoes off during class. There is no “sometimes I do,” and there is no, “well, I slide my feet out halfway.” No, no, no. Let’s not be silly. You might think that halfway insertion of foot into shoe doesn’t count because no one can see it, no one’s paying attention, and no one can tell. Well, everyone can see it, everyone is paying attention, everyone can tell, and, most importantly, everyone can smell it. You either are the person who takes his shoes off during class or you aren’t.

Brown is a safe space where students are encouraged to feel comfortable in all situations. I appreciate that, and I appreciate the fact that our 9a.m. seminar makes you feel at home. However, I still struggle to comprehend why you need to take your shoes off, and how you ever so casually do it and feel okay with it. You don’t see me taking my bra off in the middle of class because it would be more comfortable for the ensuing hour and twenty minutes of sedentary discussion about 16th century Russian political philosophy.

Is there a difference in severity between those who unleash a bare foot and those who wear socks? I’m not quite sure. Sometimes, the bare foot means the shoes smell horrific. The socks usually smell like shit by themselves. So I suppose it’s a lose-lose.

A quick question I’ve been longing to ask: If you do take your shoes off, why do you rub your feet against each other? I’ve never really had a compulsion to do that before.

While being one of the people who take off their shoes during class is a binary, the severity of each specific shoes-off situation does, actually, fall on a spectrum.

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Shoes of Brown: The Facebook page with soles

By: / March 10, 2014 / No Comments /

1904148_271240356374927_159885156_nBefore this week, we’re sure you never thought that shoes could be a window into the sole soul. Since its recent launch, however, Shoes of Brown—Brown’s latest community Facebook page—has created a space for Brown students to think critically about the sheer profundity of shoes: as a commodity, as a means of self-expression, and, perhaps most importantly, as a tie to other Brown students. These themes appear to resonate with members of the Brown Community; the page has earned 400+ “likes” in its first few days of existing on the interwebz.

Like the several other pages that “showcase” members of the Brunonian sphere (i.e. Humans, Jews), Shoes of Brown promises to give shoes a voice by “showcasing your favorite shoes at your favorite university.” Below, we include some posts of your favorite shoes at Brown. We also sit down with the page’s creator, who has chosen to remain anonymous, to gain further insight into the impact that shoes have at Brown. We hope that such a feature will allow you to walk a mile in these Brunonians’ shoes. These are their stories. Continue Reading