Fall weather provides a wonderful atmosphere for families to become more active outdoors. Walking through fairs, festivals, farmer's markets, and the mall can be hard on your feet - particularly if you want to look stylish. Keeping your feet stylish and comfortable is very possible with this week's comfort item. The J-41 Journey shoe is stylish, comfortable, and works well with a variety of different styles.

Featuring peep-toe details and intricate cutout patters, the J-41 Journey is the shoe of choice for casual comfort this fall. The flower details on the heel and the wedge shape bring comfort and fashion together seamlessly.

Comfort features of this shoe, according to the product description, include a "quick closure system for people on the move, contoured footbed for support, quick drying and odor-free sock linings, extra cushioning for immediate 'Ahh' feeling and superior support, non-marking, compressed rubber outsole for traction and durability, and toe and heel bumpers for protection against the elements."

The J-41 Journey works well for a variety of individuals - from soccer moms to college students to artistic sophisticates. Available in 9 colors, there's a pair for every taste.

J-41 is a company concerned with comfort and style. According to the product description, "J-41 products are made with 100% recycled and recyclable packaging. All J-41 outsoles are constructed with partially recycled rubber. In this small way, they hope to do their part to help save our great outdoors for future generations." This makes a pair of J-41 Journey shoes a smart choice for eco-friendly fashionistas.

What do you wear with a pair of J-41 Journey shoes? A pair of casual comfort jeans and a simple top looks great with a pair of these shoes. Alternatively, a pair of corduroy pants and a floral top make this outfit a casual comfort dream. Those who want a look with more of an edge can pair black J-41 Journey shoes with black skinny pants and a party top.

No matter what your style, the weekly comfort item will leave you stylish and comfortable this fall. The feminine detailing on the J-41 Journey shoes make them the perfect addition to any wardrobe.

Suffice it to say, not all jeans are created equal. There are denim jeans, and there are the luxury denim jeans made from premiere denim. What generally separates the two is that little something extra that creates the comfort needed in a pair of well fitting jeans. Usually that extra element for the perfect fit is just the right amount of spandex or elastane combined with luxury denim designed to provide the perfect fit while still being comfortable.

High-end jeans are considered luxury jeans, and usually it is the quality of denim that puts them in this class. There are a wide variety of luxury jean brands to select from, including brands such as 7 for All Mankind, James Jeans, Rock and Republic, Paper Denim & Cloth and others.

7 for All Mankind is one of the popular brands of jeans offering a wide variety of cuts, lengths and styles from which to select. One of the most popular styles is the Edie which is the skinny leg jean available in New York Dark or Mercer (black). Features include five pockets, stitch details on the back pockets, a very skinny cut, distressed details and a fabric combination of 2% elastane and 98% cotton.

James Jeans are quite popular with the Hollywood set. The unique luxury jeans offer a variety of styles, rises and cuts in their collection. One of the most popular styles is the James Jeans 5-pocket slim legs jean with embroidered back pockets. Made from 2% Lycra and 98% cotton, these jeans provide a great fit and are definitely comfortable. The retail price for the 5-pocket style is $143.

Rock and Republic is probably one of the most expensive among luxury jeans. A great example of their popular styles includes the Rock and Republic Jaguar. Made with a boot cut and low rise, features include five pockets, belt loops, the signature embroidered back pockets and material made from a combination of 30% polyester and 70% cotton. The Rock and Republic Jaguar jeans retail for $350. Luxury jeans or not, finding a good, well fitting, comfortable jean is a fashion plus.

Shoe fashion in the United States hit a sweet spot in the Big Band era, which stretched between 1935 and 1945. During this era, shoe fashion was big with both men and women. The explosion of the popularity of American cinema brought shoe fashion to the foreground of American popular culture and made having the right shoes as important as wearing the right dress or suit. This change in style awareness affected the way that people looked at the shoes they bought and how they coordinated their outfits.

Shoe Fashion Changes During the Big Band Era
One of the biggest changes in shoe fashion during the Big Band Era was that there were a lot more shoes to choose between. Not only did the number of available shoe designs explode, but so did the number of sizes and fitting options. In fact, there were more sizes and fitting options during this historical era in America than there are now. The importance of having a well-fitted shoe that looked good was a change in American fashion sense, and it was created by the popularity of American cinema, which played up the appeal of having a great pair of shoes that fit your feet properly.

Shoe Designs That Were Popular During the Big Band Era
Many of the shoe designs that were popular during the Big Band Era are still around today. A few of the styles that were popular include high-heeled sandals, lace-up shoes, wedges and chunk heels. For men, loafers and lace-up shoes were popular. One of the new developments in shoe design during the late 1930s was the addition of lace to women's dress shoes. Salvatore Ferragamo was the first to apply lace to women's shoes.

As far as shoe materials go in the 1930s and 1940s, leather was the leader, especially for dress shoes. Leather was used in solid pieces, strips, braids and fringe. The color choices during this era ranged from neutral colors like tan, fawn and black to fashion colors that matched the latest designer clothing fashions on the market. Multicolor shoes were also introduced and generally created by adding lace, embroidery, beads and rhinestones.

Shoe fashion in Europe has been very important throughout history. In England,
the capital of the shoe manufacturing industry has traditionally been
centered in Northamptonshire. This area is popular with shoe
manufacturers because it has all the ingredients needed for producing
shoes, including livestock, water and natural resources. This is where
the famous Padders shoe brand got its beginnings.

The Groocock Family Launches a Shoe Empire
The
Groocock family of Rothwell, England were retailers by trade. In 1905,
they opened a very successful retail store which was run by family
members. In 1914 the family branched out and started manufacturing
welted shoes. This was an interesting era to be in the shoe business,
because it was the height of the Edwardian era of fashion, which meant
that small feet were in fashion. The shoes
that were manufactured during this era by Thomas Groocock, the founder
of the T. Groocock & Co, ltd. company, were narrow and tight
fitting. Women of the day went to extremes to get their feet to fit
into the slim line shoes produced by this company including having
their little toes surgically removed.

The demand for Groocock
shoes was high from the get go, and by 1922 the family had to expand
their business by building a larger factory. By 1939, World War II was
impacting business all over the globe. The Groococks did their part for
the war effort by focusing their manufacturing efforts on army boots
and what they called men's "utility shoes."

After the war, the
company went back to producing high fashion shoes. In the latter part
of the 1950s they focused on pop culture fashion shoes like the
winkle-pickers and the beetle-crushers. The shoes manufactured by this
company were so popular that by 1959 they were manufacturing shoes
around the clock.

Padders Are Launched
The
Padders brand of shoes was launched in 1982 as the Groocock family
tried to redirect their shoe lines. The comfortable fit and extra
support provided by these shoes made them more attractive to the aging
communities of England, as opposed to the teens and twenty somethings
of Britain. This move was radical but smart, as the company has
continued to flourish even during a few downturns in the UK's economy.
Today Padders are manufactured, distributed and sold from a brand new
42,000 square foot building in Rothwell, as well as sold in 1,000
independent retail outlets scattered throughout the UK.

I live in Bangkok, Thailand, where I teach English to corporate employees. When I moved here a few years ago, I wore the usual business suits and low-heeled conservative shoes, wanting to project a professional image. It was only after several weeks of working in a Bangkok multi-national corporation I realized I was just about the only one in my office who was "suited up." The women in my company had a completely different dress sense that I loved. Cute, girly, frilly......office wear in Thailand differs a great deal from our Western culture.

Typically, skirts are never longer than the knee. It's floral or has swirly designs, brightly colored or black and white. It's usually A-line or smocked at the waist and moves fluidly when walking. This Hurley Sinclair Convertible Skirt is similar to Thai fashion and perfect for the office. Often times, the women in the office pair these skirts with t-shirts in block colors (short or long sleeves) or perfectly fitted dress shirts in pretty, solid shades.

Often times, girls in the office have perfect jewelry to accessorize (often costing less than $1 a pop at the local market) and everything is finished off with high heeled strappy sandals. And many Thai women have a lot..... One of my office co-workers photographed every one of her 60 plus pairs of shoes, so she can easily find them when she's late for work in the morning.

Thai women are known for their beauty anyway. But matched with sexy, feminine clothes, adorable shoes and, ... oops wait, I forgot to mention the handbags? The current trends are Kate Spade or Guess and many Thai girls on low salaries will save for months to buy the real thing.

One of the hot shoe styles for women today is the ballet flat. But, like most popular shoe styles, it is hardly a new invention. Rather,the modern ballet flat has evolved both out of the dance shoe it is named after, and the women's slippers that have been fashionable periodically throughout history.

The ballet flat takes its name from ballet, of course. The modern shoe can be described either as a more structured version of a traditional ballet shoe or a less structured and more flexible version of the pointe shoe, but constructed without the toe-box that allows dancers to elevate themselves on the very tips of their toes. There are also ballet shoes with heels known as character shoes as well as soft slippers with slight heels worn by dance teachers for comfort. Ballet flats are named as they are to differentiate themselves from these two types of ballet shoes to which they are unrelated.

While today we think of ballet as a performance art, ballet steps were once a part of social dancing. In the Georgian and Regency eras (1795 - 1825) social dancing involved many vigorous ballet steps and everyone well-positioned in society sought out dancing masters to help them perfect their form and technique. At this time, the correct shoe for a formal ball was
not today's high heel (which was also popular in earlier eras), but a beautifully adorned dance slipper, usually made out of leather. This was the precursor to the ballet flat.

These slippers weren't just for women, but men as well, and there are a number of Regency-period illustrations showing a man on his way to a formal event with his dance shoes tucked into his back pocket.

Today's structured ballet flats acknowledge the active lifestyle of women while also preserving the delicacy, dance allusions and comfort of the dance shoe from which it evolved. Synthetic materials, cloth and leather are all common materials used in ballet flats. Today's ballet flats are defined by their almost non-existent heel and rounded toe. The shoes range from studier replications of ballet slippers (right down to a soft pink or peach
color and the tiny bow centered over the base of the toes) to flats that merely invoke dance without actively representing it.

While ballet flats have often been popular in the last 30 years, it is only recently that they have become acceptable for formal occasions. While many have viewed the emergence of the ballet flat at formal events as a casual concession to comfort, this show actually has a proud
history as a part of formal attire and women armed with this history should be confident in their choice of a ballet flat for dressy occasions.