There is a saying that goes: you can judge a man by his shoes. Actually, that’s not true, there isn’t. The original proverb actually advises that you shouldn’t judge a man before you have walked a mile in his shoes. Which is almost the opposite, when you think about it, since it is counselling against snap judgments rather than in favour of them. Also, not really about shoes.
Both sayings – the real one and my version – are wise in their own way. Not passing judgment on a person until you have walked in his shoes – climbed into his skin and walked around in it, as Atticus puts it to Scout – is kind of entry-level humanity, really. But the idea that you can judge a man by his shoes also has a nugget of truth in it, if you swap the word judge (bit judgy) for the word read. You can read a person by their shoes, because shoes are where we give ourselves away. Not because shoes are deep and meaningful, but because shoes are practical. Shoes are where your outfit gets real. They have to work. They are quite literally down to earth.
