Meet the Staff: Bridget!

Meet Bridget, a Sole Food employee for almost 3 years!

Name: Bridget Vinton
Hometown: Portland, Oregon

Primary Role @ Sole Food: Accessories Fashionista (Accessories Buyer)

Favorite brands at Sole Food: Frye, Faryl Robin, Gentle Souls, Pour la Victoire
When I'm not at SF you can find me: At school, studying fashion design.
Favorite Restaurant in Seattle: Cafe Lago

Must have shoe for Spring:

Gentle Souls - Osaka Rama in Fawn

"It's the pefect neutral heel for any occasion, not to mention ridiculously comfortable. A hot color for Spring in my book!"

Tickle Me COLOR!

What do you think of when you hear “spring”? Here at Sole Food, we think warmer temperatures, sunshine and color, color, COLOR! Jump out of winter hibernation and frolic in our new and very bright styles for spring! Here’s a sampling of what we have waiting for you here at Sole Food...

Gee WaWa’s Bold Heel

An all-leather shoe, with a beautiful cherry red and an oh-so-cute t-strap. With just a little bit of lift, this comfy shoe will look great with a floral dress or cropped pants.

Seychelles’ Box Step Pump

Bring sunshine to anywhere you go! In a bright and happy yellow, this pretty little pump has fantastic patterns and a cushion sole.

Miz Mooz’s Haru Heel

Very bold, with great hardware detailing and a platform for that little extra lift! Featured here in a nice green, we also have it in brown.

Camper’s Leia Peep Toe

Stand out with this great turquoise flat! Match it up with our bright pashmina scarves and you’ll be ready for spring.

So what are you waiting for? Come on in and let's get Spring rolling! See you soon :D

Spring is here! Come and get 'em, guys!

Hey there fellas! Spring is just around the corner in Seattle, which means new shoes are on their way. We’ve got a head start on great spring styles for men, and more are coming in every week! Here are some great new shoes that we are excited about:

For the sporty type, Camper has come out with a new twist on their classic Peu Cami shoe. Camper’s style and comfort is unmistakable…the Peu Cami has Camper’s durable, yet flexible rubber sole, soft leathers and continuous elastic lacing…just slip them on and go!

Hey there, Mr. Business! Stand out at your next board meeting with the always unique Cube shoe by Cydwoq. Hand made in Burbank, California, Cydwoq shoes are instantly recognizable, with distinctive cuts of fine leathers and excellent craftsmanship. Not only do they look fantastic, they feel great too. Come in and we’ll help you get sized up!

Want a unique, funky shoe? J Shoes has updated their popular Tumble shoe with new materials and attractive contrasting colors. The Tumble shoe is comfortable, easy to put on, and ready for a day out on the town!

Sole Food is getting more and more styles in every week so stop by and pick out your new favorite pair (or pairs!) for the new spring season. We look forward to seeing you soon!

The Most GORGEOUS Frye Boot.....EVER!

This is quite possibly the prettiest boot from Frye that I've ever seen. Part of the Spring 2010 collection, the Samantha Woven Boot is perfect for that seasonal transition (and just perfect in general). Surprisingly light weight, with beautiful woven detail and a great stacked heel. It measures 15" inches tall in the shaft, very sleek! I think its safe to say that I've fallen in love. We ordered limited quantity in this style...so get it while its hot.

In addition to this beauty, we've newly received 4 other styles from Frye...so come check them out!

Brett's Christmas Wish List

If you didn't catch that in the video, here are Brett's top picks:

Men's Hunter rainboot in Olive

Hush Puppies - Blockade

Ugg slipper - Ascot (in China Tea)

Blundstone - 561 Crazy Horse

Men's Smartwool socks - Barn and Hiker Street socks

Ciao Bella!

That’s what you’ll hear if you walk down the street in our great Gidigio heels and boots! We picked up this fabulous line all the way from Le Marche, Italy! Known as affordable luxury (who doesn’t love the combination of those words?) this line was created by the Bettis family in 1996. It’s a small operation, literally Giorgio DeLasandro, his wife and son, plus eight other employees produce the shoes.

What’s so great about the brand? The shoes are perfect for work, walk and wine! They’re not over the top, surprisingly comfortable and cute enough for a night on the town. They’re also rare because you can’t find them on Zappos and we are the only store that carries them on the west coast. You’ll never see another woman out there with your shoes on! Talk about one of a kind! Another great bonus is that comparable Italian brands on average cost about $100 more. So you’ll get the Italian fashion at a great price!

We have two boots and three shoes in stock by them currently. One boot is a black heel and the other is a grey/brown flat. Both lace up the front, which is a popular trend this year. The three heels are very classic looking and we have them in a black, brown and a grey. Once you put them on you’ll be amazed at how great they feel.

We love supporting other small businesses like us and we really believe in the brand. In the words of an Italian – Arrivaderci! We’ll see you soon!

What's Sole Food All About?!

Here's a little background for all of those inquiring minds.

Sole Food opened in July 2003 as an expansion of the already well known and fabulous Kids Club. The idea behind it was a one stop shop for moms to find great unique shoes for the kids, but also stylish yet comfortable shoes for themselves as well. Since we opened our doors six years ago we have seen our store grow and change.

If any of you remember our first location in U Village you probably remember our tiny little space that you could barely get your stroller into. Some weekends it was like an obstacle course trying to fit in the door! It was exciting for us to outgrow our first location because that meant we could expand into a bigger and better one. We could also offer more great products to our loyal customers! Two and a half years ago we opened our new location, just a few doors down from our old one. We also decided to provide shoes for the often forgotten man!

A few things that make our store unique are we are locally owned and there is only one location! We think of ourselves as a specialty boutique and with fewer than 15 employees we love the small business feel. It allows us to create relationships with those customers that come in every time they need a new shoe. We also carry a lot of great brands such as Camper, Miz Mooz, See Kai Run, El Nautralista, Frye, Cydwoq and Umi. In order to provide you with such a selection of shoes we usually only get one or two of each size in each style. What does that mean? Get ‘em while they’re hot! If you see a shoe in the store that you like you better not hesitate for too long. Many times customers come back and we’re out of their size! Is this a bad thing? We don’t think so. While you may have had your heart set on a certain shoe, most of the time our excellently trained staff can help you find a great substitute that will soon have you falling in love all over again.

Selling shoes to our local community is something we love to do. We hope you the customer can sense that every time you come into the store!

Sole Food taken over by ghosts!

We would like to thank everyone who adopted a ghost during the month of October and helped make our donation drive a huge success! We adopted a total of 245 ghosts! All of the proceeds went to the Spina Bifida Association of Washington State, which is an organization that helps local families and individuals affected by this birth defect, as well as trying to promote the prevention of it. October was Spina Bifida Awareness Month and although October is over, it's never too late to help out and learn more about this disorder. Our local Spina Bifida Assocation chapter's website can be found at: http://www.sbaws.org/.

Keep Your Boots and Shoes Looking New!

Does this situation sound familiar?

Step 1: Find the perfect pair of boots.

-There are so many styles of boots to choose from, and being the true shoe trooper you are, you stuck it out and delved through what seemed like hundreds of styles to find THE PAIR that you had been looking for.

Step 2: Buy them before everyone else does.

-Whew! You didn't think you would find THE PAIR, but by some miracle you have. Now you must buy them before someone else does. because you know it's only a matter of time before they sell out. The moment you slip on your new boots you realize the blood, sweat, and tears were well worth it.

Step 3...

-Wait...what? There's a step three?

Well since you spent a good amount on those brand spankin' new pair of boots, it would be a shame if you didn't try to keep them that way. That's where good shoe maintenance comes in. Properly maintaining your boots (or shoes) is the best way to keep them not only looking their best, but it also makes sure they will last their longest. So how do you do this? Two words: clean and protect.

Keeping your shoes clean is a good start. Dirt and grime not only make shoes look worn out and dull, it also causes them to wear out faster. If you have canvas or fabric shoes, using a shoe cleaner like Kiwi Select Universal Cleaner is a good way to keep them clean. For more delicate materials like nubuck or leather, using Kiwi Saddle soap is your best choice. Not only does Saddle soap do a good job of getting the dirt off shoes, it also keeps the leather moisturized (preventing cracking)!

After your shoes are clean, you'll want to protect them from the elements. If you are going to be out in a lot of rain, using a heavy-duty waterproofing product like Kiwi Mink Oil on your smooth leather boots or shoes is a good way to go, but if your shoes are made of other materials (such as suede, fabric, etc.), or if a lighter-duty protection is desired, using a silicone spray like Kiwi Select All Protector is a great alternative. As a bonus, spraying your shoes will also help repel stains! Always test any products on your shoes in an inconspicuous place first to make sure they are colorfast.

So where can you find these items? Sole Food, of course! Taking the small easy step to clean and protect your footwear is definitely worth the time and effort. THE PAIR of boots you've always wanted will now last that much longer and your shoes will definitely thank you for it.

How Green Are Your Shoes?

When thinking about ways of making our lives more green and eco-friendly, I bet that your shoes aren't the first thing to come to mind. However, there are surprisingly big changes happening within the footwear industry. And not only have shoe manufacturers gotten greener, so have we! Here are a few ways that we are trying to be more green:

Many of the brands that we carry have made environmental responsibility a core principle to their business. J-41, Keen, and Simple, for instance, are now making shoes with natural and recycled materials, water-based glues, and are trying to reduce their overall environmental footprint (no pun intended). The Spanish shoe brand El Naturalista has been doing this since their inception in 2001. El Nat's are environmentally friendly and built to last. Here are a couple of the latest El Naturalistas we have in our store right now: the N440 shoe in Mora and the N443 boot in Olive from their Wakataua line.


















Not only are we carrying greener shoes and accessories, but we have also implemented a recycling program for our store that has lowered our waste by over 70%! All this talk of green making you want to save some? We are a Seattle Weekly Green Card business. Visit http://greencard.seattleweekly.com/ to learn more!