Minnetonka calf-high suede boot

[cimorene]

Comments

[twistedchick]

Minnetonkas are pretty, but they usually don't have any inside support.

Suggest you check out the boots at http://mukluks.com/. These are the real thing that Minnetonkas imitate.

[cimorene]

I'm familiar with mukluks and I would never wear them (for reasons of cultural appropriation) or moccasins (for reasons of climate inappropriateness and unsuitability for the places I generally walk) personally. I just think they're cute. :)

[twistedchick]

So the mass-produced imitation -- the Minnetonkas -- that is badly made and falls apart in a year or so is all right to post about and wear but the genuine handmade article that is better for your feet, will last a decade and keeps small business alive isn't? Hmm. I have found their moccasins comfortable and useful for years, suitable to everything but midsummer.

[cimorene]

I didn't mean to imply that it would somehow not be okay to post about them or that other people shouldn't wear them, merely that 1) I was already aware of their existence and 2) their lack of inner footbed support doesn't concern me, since I have no plans to purchase them personally, and I don't refrain from posting shoes on that basis alone: I consider it a comparatively minor flaw since simple flats are still perfectly suitable for short periods of time.

The issue of cultural appropriation surrounding moccasins is also complicated by the fact that they were first widely appropriated at least fifty years ago, and mainstream, world-wide spinoffs of them have proliferated to the point where they're about as common as, say, gladiator sandals. This isn't true of the more classic (and warm and comfortable) styles of mukluks, where a version made and marketed by white people, for white people would be incontrovertibly offensive, instead of complicated (and a long-lost cause). The fact that I'd have a problem with seeing them appropriated by the fashion industry wouldn't prevent me from posting about them, in theory, at some point, but I do for the most part post widely-available, mass-produced shoes that are relatively easy to find and obtain. Small businesses are great, but in the world of shoes sold via the internet, less easily found, browsed, and purchased. Therefore, you're unlikely to ever find them particularly prominently represented in my shoe posts.

And I hardly think there's any logical reason why imitations of anything should not be okay to post about. I mean, they're not as good, but they usually also cost less, and the global economy and human nature demands that cheap imitations exist.