Kinky boots

Carmen parties with John Fluevog

By Carmen Jones on January 24, 2008

I’m overflowing with excitement right now because tonight I’ll have a chance to meet and party with one of my all-time heroes, and if you don’t know this guy, please allow me to introduce you: John Fluevog.



Fluevog is a shoe designer from Vancouver, British Columbia, who has an amazing cult following filled with people like me. I’ve noticed over the years that he attracts quite an eclectic, urban following like rockabilly folks, affluent women, metrosexual and gay men. I love it!



I first started buying Fluevog shoes more than a decade ago. Best Friend Ashley took me into his shop in downtown Seattle because she thought his style was a perfect match for my personality. She was SO right!



I’ve been addicted to those shoes ever since for so many different reasons, and outside of a pair of flip-flops and some sneakers, they’re the only shoes I wear.



All my life I’ve struggled to find attractive shoes in a size 11 (are there no other tall women in the world?), but Fluevog creates plenty of them, and, surprisingly, after all these years, they’ve ALWAYS had my size. That’s incredible!



Fluevog started out as an artist, and then he realized that he could parlay that art into shoes. Fittingly, so many of the shoes he makes are absolutely beautiful, they’re one-of-a-kind with their individual flair, often with an art deco inspiration. Since they have a cult following, there’s a good chance that no one else will have them. Yah!



I have several pairs of his unique knee-high boots, stilettos that will make your mouth drool, three pairs of urban cowboy boots and practical, comfortable, everyday heels. All in all, I’d guess that my personal collection exceeds the 40 mark.



Most of his shoes contain inspiring and occasionally humorous messages that are scripted on the heel, like “Take the road less traveled,” and “Fight the good fight.” “Let freedom and justice prevail.” Also, he lets his fans upload pictures of them in their fancy shoes to his Web site. Of course, those pics are called Flueshots.



As an excellent business practice, when you order Fluevogs online, they come with a hand-written note from the shop that shipped them, AND Dum Dum Pops. However, I recently learned that they’re going to upgrade from Dum Dums to Blow Pops. So cool.



What I love even more is that the folks who work for Fluevog in the Seattle location (there are other shops in major metros like Vancouver, New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Montreal and Chicago) are more than just the people who offer me great shoes, they’re personal friends of mine: Shawn, Stevenson, Vanny, Leah and Michael are awesome!

All of the above are reasons why it’s going to be such an amazing honor to finally meet Fluevog after all of these years.



It’s all going down at the Alibi Room. I’ll be joining the Seattle shop crew and 100 fellow fans in consuming discounted drinks if we’re wearing Fluevogs, tasty appetizers, an awesome DJ and a surprise John Fluevog catalog that’ll be a sneak peek of his yet-to-be-released new season of shoes, and his personal autograph. YEA!



Of course, all of my friends have been asking about which shoes I’ll wear, and I think my mind has been made up. Each shoe comes from a family, and they have individual names. I’ll be donning the Romance family Blancas, which are knee-high red boots made with stamped and antiqued cordova leather. I also have the matching purse (Fluevog just started making purses a couple of years ago).



I made that choice because I want to share my gratitude to Fluevog for creating them. Three men, who were complete strangers, have licked those boots, and one other stranger took a bite out of my quad (I was completely clothed during all instances) because they thought these boots were so hot.



I can’t wait to rock this party (let’s just say that I took the next day off from work). Be sure to check out my column next week to hear the stories of how the event went and check Fluevog’s kicks out for yourself through www.fluevog.com or www.myspace.com/fluevogseattle.  





I’m Carmen, your new chameleon.  Drop me your favorite parties at permanentlipstick@hotmail.com