Sometimes Simple is Cool Too

Despite all the flashy shoes out there, there is a pair of shoes that are well done.  The colours are right, look nice, and doesn't draw too much attention to the wearer.  Here are the women's Asics Gel-Fortitude 3.

This images are from Konzar.com

I think the reason this simple design works is because there's a lot of colour separation and the overall grey tones work in harmony with one another.  There's also a good usage of colour balance.  I think the black is a smart choice to provide that accent colour, but to also "neutralize" some of the femininity.  Don't get me wrong.  It would look good on a woman.  Oh, and I think the mint is THE trendy colour amongst women right now.  The one tweak I'd make is to make the laces mint green with the black strike through to match the colour scheme of the Asics logo.  That would make the shoe a little more elegant.

On the other hand, this particular design has some drawbacks.  Because the shoe relies heavily and the mint colour and the mint is the trim colour, the shoes' glam is taken away even if the shoe is a little dirty.

Check out the photos from eBayer:  Apparel Save:

As you can see, there's something about the grey that make the shoe more susceptible to dirtiness than others.  Had the mint green been a little more dominant and the grey meshing done a better job repelling dirt, I think this shoe wouldn't look more worn than it really is.  I think these should be worn indoors as gym shoes on the treadmill or on the bike.

Overall, I'd have to say, "yes", they're still worthy enough to add to my shoe collection, but only if they're fairly clean.  Apparel Save wants $35 for the dirty shoes b/c of the mint colour, I reckon.  I personally couldn't see myself paying more than C$10 for those.