Consumer alert

        Okay so for my birthday i bought myself these Aldo Hoppins cutie booties in cognac. I love them. they go well with my wide leg pants (though sometimes i worry i look like shaggy in these get-ups, of the scooby doo variety, not of the shawty your my angel persuasion). They are comfortable even though they have a heel. BUT ladies (and maybe some gents) do not buy them! They are $90 bucks and if you tack on the extra spray for keeping 'em safe in the rain you're looking at $100 bucks. The spray is fine, great even. Though they are leather they hold up well in the rain. What has not held up, however, is the cheapo laminate on the heel. It's the equivalent of wood panelng for a shoe. or poorly hung wall paper. it has peeled and scratched off and now my shoes have this weird inch of exposed white plastic on either heel. Also, the sole seems to be getting dangerously thin. I know I am hard on shoes, and the eight miles a day i'm clocking 'cause of the septa strike ain't helping, but these were pretty rocked before my morning march. Alli'm saying i, if they'd been $20? Totally worth it. As is, I'm pissed. But you don't have to be. There's an almost identical, though darker, style at payless. I know their shoes can be cheaply made, but at least they'll have the price tag to show for it.