Crazy about Shoes: Senior with shoe obsession owns over 35 pairs of kicks

By Honor Heindl 2009

A tennis shoe, by definition, is an athletic sneaker with a rubber sole and a stitched canvas upper that laces over the instep. To some, shoes are mere accessories that are worn only
because they are required, but for Jordan Galles (’07), they have a completely different meaning.

“I have always been very into athletics, and so, along with a lot of sports, comes a lot of shoes. My parents kind of spoiled me and got me new shoes for every sport that I did, and I always really took my time picking out shoes when I went school shopping. When I started to get my own money, it really spiraled out of control. They were my first loves,” Galles
said.

The average person owns about three pairs of tennis shoes at a time; Galles owns over 30. You could say foot apparel is her trademark.

She said she enjoys having shoes that nobody else does, in fact she said it’s rather annoying when she does see one of her many pairs of shoes on someone else’s feet.

“I think Nike would be my favorite brand. I don’t run in Nike’s because they honestly hurt my feet to work out in, but I think they look the coolest.

“Shox are my true weakness. I would say that of my 30-35 pairs, about 15 of those are Shox.

“My all time favorite shoes are probably the ones that I personalized with my name on them. I think it’s because I know that they are exactly what I wanted, and I know that no one else has them,” Galles said.

Matching her shoes to the rest of her outfits, Galles tries to find different colors every time she purchases a new pair.

“To some people, especially my parents, it seems like a really stupid thing to spend money on, but I don’t need a lot of things, and so when I get some extra money in my pocket, that’s what I really love to buy,” Galles said.

Galles gets a new pair every three to four months and definitely puts them to good use, wearing them a majority of the week. Shoe companies are constantly coming out with new styles and designs, and Galles doesn’t miss a single update; she’s quite savvy when it comes to the world of kicks.

“My friends all ask me to go shoe shopping with them when they go, such as Abby Long (’07), because they say that it’s a science to me. I am making a mad rush to stock up now before I go to college because I know I will be too poor to buy any there.”