What’s been interesting in putting together this series is that footwear has taken on greater meaning in terms of overall style. In the 1st of our 3-part story on footwear trends from fresh photo reports coming in from across North America, we take a look at just how young people are wearing sneaks, flats, boots, to coordinate with their personal style. So, for example, wearing hightops makes sense if you plan to wear low legwarmers over tapered jeans to create an ’80’s look. Whereas cowboy boots with tube socks isn’t all that uncommon as more people mix up genres such as gym class heroes and the American Apparel girl, with mid-calf cowboy boots (a very American style) to create one’s overall sense of fashion.
What’s interesting by region, is that the Midwest, such as areas like Kansas and St. Louis, as well as parts of Denver moving towards the mountains, have adopted sneaker culture more so, particularly for chunky colorful DC shoes and Nikes. Whereas on the coasts, Converse still rules, particularly in yellow. New looks on the block include metallic ballerina flats among girls, and even SperryTopsiders on both genders among more prep-centric subcultures.
In these photos, we capture the essence of the styles of wearing shoes, including socks and boots, sneakers chosen for their colorways to match specific stovepipe colored jeans, flats to coordinate with solid-colored tights, folded Converse tops to reveal matching colors to one’s sunglasses, matching friendship footwear, and creative selections in shoelaces.
Stay tuned next week for Part 2 of the Footwear Photo Report. 
