Like most women find it difficult to understand the appeal of international strongmen competitions, military history documentaries and fly fishing (actually I'm not too sure about that last one) most men completely fail to understand the appeal of dedicated shoe shopping. They will spend hours looking at luridly coloured limited edition trainers but when it comes to proper leather shoes they will shy away from looking - a cursory trip to the shoe rack of their favourite menswear shop or maybe a branch of Clark's is about as much as they can handle. All that brown and black leather it does something to the eyes after a while, I swear.
So it's hardly a surprise that I haven't been able to get very excited by Aldo. Once inside this branch though I found myself impressed by the layout spacious and bright - a contrast to the usual dark narrow Aldo stores I've visited in the Trafford and Arndale Centres. The range of men's shoes though did little to spark my already failing interests; the soft leather and narrow fit (a few too many winklepickers) were not really to my tastes. The prices were reasonable enough though (with a great pair of brown brogues for £70) and the staff were very friendly and helpful; offering to order in a size of shoe that they didn't have with no obligation to buy them once they arrived in.
And women's shoes are quite another matter - As I left I could see hordes of women frothing over heels, boots and handbags. Good luck to them I thought, I'm off to watch World's Strongest Man. read more