Women spend more on shoes? Times have changed

By Brenna Eller

Opinion Page Editor

The myth that women buy more shoes than men is out the window now.

Since Michael Jordan’s sneakers, Air Jordans, it seems that guys are inclined to buy more athletic shoes than women are to buying high heels. In fact, the thought of women purchasing pumps is inaccurate in today’s society as well. Many women pay for comfort over fashion now.

A student at Hutchinson Community College is one of many guys that own several pairs of athletic shoes. His name is Taylor James, from Jetmore.

“I started buying shoes senior year of high school,” James said.

He is now up to about 20 pairs. Athletic shoes have also become very expensive lately.

“My favorite brand is Nike,” James said.

Stated on forbes.com, in an article titled: The World’s Most Valuable Sports Brands, Nike shoes are one of the highest athletic brand names, and range from $80 and higher if they are brand new. James bought a pair of Gold Jordan 11’s/ retro shoes for $200. It may sound like a lot, but there is much higher than that, price wise.

Ever seen or heard a guy freak out about his new shoes getting dirty or wet? It is common with high school and college males to get upset when they have a spot of dirt on their brand new Jordans. With shoes being so expensive, it is no wonder men feel the need to take care of them like they are their pride and joy.

However, this isn’t directed to all males in this age range. There are also guys who couldn’t care less and have about two or three decent pair of shoes and for cheap prices.

Another HutchCC student, Dusty Page from Little River, shared his views on buying shoes. Unlike James, he prefers purchasing his shoes via thrift stores and second-hand stores.

“When I buy shoes, I think about the price and don’t normally spend over $50 because I like bargains from Goodwill or discount racks in any shoe store,” Page said.

Women still tend to purchase a large sum of shoes, but not as much as they used to according to executivestyle.com.

The web site states, “Women’s sales are shrinking as men’s continue to rise, in both revenue and number of pairs sold.”

When there are so many new athletic shoes being made, it is hard for some to resist the temptation of buying the newest, coolest thing. Catalogs, magazines, and commercials make new shoes harder to stay away from. There are several categories that shoes fall under, that being said, it is common to have shoes for any kind of sporting event or outdoors activity.

Whether you are the male who pays a good sum of money for a pair of brand new Nike’s and cleans their shoes often, or are the one that has only a few pairs of shoes, but pays less than half of what the other does, shoes are shoes, it just depends on the person wearing the shoes.

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