Live-Blog: Footwear Choices of Cornell Students

5:26 PM: Thinking back on what I have observed, I am still surprised that the largest group of students I observed was two. As a result, I could not tell if friends wear similar shoes. I also am thinking that Cornell students are not very social. However, it could be that it is the end of the semester and students are loaded with work. Also, interestingly there is a wide variety in shoe types, open-toed to winter boots, yet most Cornell students, male or female make similar choices. Perhaps despite their separation, Cornell students are similar. I find it interesting how I started out observing footwear choices and am now more observing behavior. This suggests that although shoes may often seem trivial, perhaps they can help us to understand the world around us.

5:21 PM: Another girl wears flats, a shoe type I have seen few of today. She was wearing tights with her flats. Tights are usually considered more acceptable than socks. Her legs and feet are probably still a bit chilly.

5:19 PM: A girl and a guy just walked by both in sneakers. Perhaps gender does not have a large affect on shoe choice.

5:18 PM: A girl is now walking by with bright silver metallic rain boots on.  They instantly grab my attention. In some ways they may be over the top, but it is nice to stand out and be different.

5:16 PM: More people have begun to walk by outside, yet there is little to note. Most students seem to be wearing sneaker-type comfortable shoes in basic colors. I guess this make sense since getting to classes requires a lot of walking and the campus is hilly. I find that I need comfortable shoes. Dark colors also do not show mud, a common issue around campus.

5:14 PM: Looking out from inside, the sky is blue with some fluffy clouds. Trees have begun budding and are slowly becoming greener. It seems like a warm beautiful day. It’s hard to even imagine it snowed earlier.

5:13 PM: A girl just walked by in bright red converse sneakers. Yay! Someone who did not let the gloomy day relegate her to wearing drab colors.

5:10 PM: A girl just walked by in black rubber flip-flops. Even those in summery shoes did not add color to their outfits.

5:09 PM: Girl walks by in black boots. Interestingly, I have seen almost no bright colors today. Most shoes have been black or a similar dark neutral color. Perhaps the gloominess of the weather is affecting shoe choices besides type of shoe.

5:07 PM: Still oddly only single students walking by outside. Perhaps Cornell students are less social than I realized.

5:03 PM: At the table next to me, two girls are wearing leather type boots. One guy is wearing flip-flops, while another wears athletic sneakers. A third girl at the table wears Converse sneakers. From my limited sample (none of my observations seem very scientific) the shoe choices inside seem similar to those outside. They include a wide range from winter boots to summer flip-flops.

5:01 PM: A girl walking inside the library was wearing winter-style boot with a fur-type lining. She must have realized that Ithaca can surprise you with cold even in spring time and kept her winter boots with her. I may not have been so smart sending my winter boots home recently.

5:00 PM: The girl next to me is also wearing rain boots. Yay! She must have been thinking of rain this morning like I was.

4:58 PM: The flow of people walking outside has considerably slowed down. I wonder what types of shoes people in the library are wearing. They may be similar or different to those that people are wearing outside. If they came to the library earlier they may be wearing shoes chosen when there were flurries outside.

4:56 PM: A girl just walked by in ballet flats without socks. The traditional way to wear them is without socks. However, because they are so open, they offer little warmth. She is probably not much warmer than the girl in the open-toed shoes.

4:55 PM: A girl just walked by wearing open-toed shoes that looked like Birkenstocks. I hope her toes aren't freezing. It seems that often once the weather gets warm, people stay in warm-weather clothing even if it’s not appropriate that day.

4:52 PM: A girl outside is wearing in Ugg-type boots. Uggs seem like a poor choice today because they usually do not hold up well in rain or snow. Luckily, the snow melted as fast as it came.

4:50 PM: Surprisingly, it has been mostly students walking by alone, not in groups, making it difficult to tell if friends wear similar shoes.

4:49 PM: Another girl just walked by wearing converse sneakers, shoes made for heavy use, but which have also become a fashion statement.

4:48 PM: A girl is now walking by in leather high-heeled boots. With the hills in Ithaca, you need to give her credit for wearing heels.

4:46 PM: Interestingly, I have not yet observed any students outside wearing rain boots. When I choose my footwear this morning I was expecting rain, so I wore them. Perhaps now that the sun has come out, students have changed out of rain boots.

4:45 PM: Another male student walked by wearing athletic style sneakers. I am sensing a male trend towards wearing sneakers today.

4:44 PM: Now, two male friends are walking by, both wearing similar black sneakers.

4:43 PM: A male student just walked by on his cell phone. He is wearing athletic sneakers. Another male student walked by wearing leather loafers.

4:41 PM: I am sitting in the library near the windows to observe and live-blog about the footwear choices of my fellow students. On an unusually cold day that has included snow and wind gusts, and a high only in the 40s (weather.com), it will be interesting to note if students have stuck to shoes for warmer weather, such as flip-flops and sandals, or reverted back to winter shoes, such as heavy boots. It will also be interesting to note if groups of students have similar shoe choices.