MFO Shoe Series: Samantha Sotto, Paranaque

Samantha Sotto needs no introduction. She's been interviewed on TV, in magazines, newspapers and blogs, she's probably a household name in book loving households by now. In fact, most of you have probably read and have been enthralled by her novel, Before Ever After, like I have. But this feature is not about her writing, or her book. Today, we talk to Samantha about her shoes! But of course, without first asking, "What shoes where you wearing when you wrote your book?" 

Sam's answer: I mostly wore my Chucks while writing Before Ever After since the table I was writing at Starbucks was beneath the airconditioning vent. It was too cold to wear flipflops! Haha!

As for the shoes she wore while backpacking around Europe? Sam shares, "Sadly, the EU backpacking shoes are long gone. R.I.P., brown Naturalizer sandals..."

Sam initially hesitated to bare her sole, saying her collection of shoes weren't exactly feature worthy. But I begged to differ. I for one want to know what sort of shoes a famous author wears on a daily basis. And I am pretty sure, there are many aspiring writers as well who'd want to be in her shoes!

Sam's "Dang-why-don't-we-have-autumn-in-Manila" shoes

How many pairs of shoes do you own?

25. This is the most I've ever owned. I used to just keep an inventory of four shoes: one black heel, one brown heel, a pair of blue Chucks, and one neutral sandal. One time when I was at work, the strap of my shoe broke and I had to staple it together. That was wakeup call to treat my feet better. Haha!

What's your shoe size?

6 1/2 - 7

Which pairs are your favorites?

1.) Everyday mommy shoe: Tan Aerosole flipflop

2.) Travel shoe: Tan Tod's slip on (It makes going through airport security a breeze. It also makes it easy to stuff my feet back into my shoes while I'm wearing airline socks and need to use the restroom.)

3.) I-need-to-look-like-a-grown-up-shoe: Aldo nude 5 inch heel

If you could only wear one pair of shoes, which one would it be?

My Bass nude wedge. It's as comfortable as a flip flop and goes with everything.

What are your favorite shoe brands?

Bass, Aerosoles, Rockport, Naturalizer, and Colehaan. Notice a pattern here? I'm definitely a manang when it comes to footwear. Comfort comes first. If I need a pair of ten-minute heels for an event, I'll run over to Charles and Keith or Aldo.

What's in your shoe lust list?

A red pair of Chucks.

Where do you buy shoes?

Outlet shops. There's nothing like a great discount to make a shoe feel more comfortable ;-)

What's that one shoe you can't bear to give away or throw out?

My blue pair of Chucks. They're ratty and old but we've been through a lot together.

For more on Samantha, visit her website: http://samanthasotto.com/