Introducing the Dr. Gunter Shoe from Fluevog

They are appropriately confident

Many of you know me for my devotion to science as well as my sass, and if you have followed me at all on Instagram or Twitter, you may also know me for my shoes (which are every bit my girls as Moira Rose's wigs are to her).

My favorite brand that combines style and comfort is Fluevog by Canadian shoe legend, John Fluevog. And today, I can proudly announce that John Fluevog has introduced a Dr. Gunter shoe (click here to read more about it!). Actually two shoes, because the Dr. Gunter shoe will be available in two different color combinations. And it will be on sale soon.

I KNOW, RIGHT?

*Runs screaming around the house*

(Today is also my birthday, so announcing the shoe on my birthday is one of the greatest presents ever!).

I always tag brands that I love, so of course I tag Fluevog a lot. They reached out and asked me if I would be interested in my own shoe? They liked what I stood for! I mean? What else is a shoe-obsessed girl to say except, “Yes please!”

I shared my favorite Fluevogs with the design team, which was tough, because picking favorites among my girls? Not Easy! They sent back three designs and I chose my favorite. They were all spectacular, but I knew the right shoe immediately. A few weeks later I saw a more complete design, and honestly, it was like being pregnant and seeing the ultrasound!

In addition to the shoes being simply stunning, like many Fluevogs they come with a special something on the sole…and I’ve been told the Dr. Gunter shoe will have the words “Appropriately Confident”.

And it gets even better, 15% of the sales go to Moon Time Sisters, a non-profit dedicated to improving access to menstrual products for Indigenous people in northern, remote communities in Canada.

So why do I love shoes so much and especially Fluevogs?

I am so glad you asked.

Growing up in Winnipeg there were no ladies shoes for me. I have really large calves, and even in elementary school I couldn’t get any pretty winter boots, because none would zip up. The other girls had lovely suede or leather boots lined with fur, some even had boots with heels. I coveted them, but getting the zipper up over my calves just wasn’t to be, so I had to wear boots for boys, which the “popular” girls made a point of mentioning. Often.

I was made fun of a lot for what I wore, so the boot situation just made it worse. My mother dressed my brother and me like British school kids from the 1940s, because that is what she knew to be right and proper, and which clearly made us targets. She also paid no attention to how I looked in these clothes. I was easily 5’7” by grade six, so you can imagine how fast I outgrew my ugly pants. I didn’t even understand what, “Where’s the flood, Gunter?” meant until I was in grade five and when I finally figured it out my face burned with the memory of hearing it repeatedly over the previous two years.

By middle school I had babysitting money and could ride my bike to the Polo Park Mall or take the bus downtown to shop at Eaton’s and The Bay (the Canadian department stores, and if you know, you know), so I could finally get clothes that didn’t make me look like I was auditioning for Monty Python. Except by then my feet were a size 10 ½ or 11 (you know, depending on the fit), and in Winnipeg in the 1980s stores only went up to a size 10 in ladies shoes, and typically they carried one pair that was sold out by the time I got there. I was made to feel as if I was asking for Cinder-fucking-ellas’s glass slipper. But occasionally there would be a 10 and I’d buy it convincing myself that it fit, ignoring the blisters and even the bleeding until I couldn’t bear it anymore and the shoes would sit in my closet taunting my big feet.

And that’s how it was, ugly men’s shoes, running shoes, or blisters and blood, until I discovered Fluevogs. I was a resident in OB/GYN when I read about them in a magazine. The article mentioned sizes that would fit me, and so began my quest. Clunky and black preferably. And platforms, pretty please. The magazine said the store was located in Vancouver, so I did what anyone else in my position would do…I designed a research project to submit to a medical meeting in Vancouver, because if accepted, my residency would pay for my flight to Vancouver and three nights in a hotel.

It was a great paper, about abortion actually, and yes, it was accepted.

Yes, I planned this two years in advance, but that also gave me time to save the money. But dammit, I was going to get a pair of those shoes at the original store in Vancouver. This wasn’t just shoe shopping, it was a pilgrimage.

When I finally showed up at the Gastown store I was overwhelmed by the fantasy. I sheepishly asked for a “10 /12 or 11 if you have it” in two styles that caught my eye. The sales associate disappeared, for what I assumed would be the grand theater of looking for my non-existent size, but instead returned swiftly with a 10 1/2 and an 11 for me to try. In both the shoes.

I was home.

I bought my first two pairs of Fluevogs at the Gastown store in 1993, I believe. Clunky, black, platforms. It was several years before I could afford another pair, and since then I have been gradually adding to my collection.

My patients almost always comment on my shoes, and I try to wear different shoes on the days my long term patients have appointments, so they get to see more of the rotation. And yes, they remember what I was wearing three or six months before. With new patients, very often after “Hello”, I’ll hear, “Um, can we talk about your shoes first?” I’ll explain they’re Fluevogs and then we’ll chat about shoes and maybe clothes and it’s a wonderful ice breaker. I think having distinctive shoes also helps my patients see that I am a person, and that matters.

My shoes are just more than things that get me from A to B. They’re wearable art and their beauty and originality makes me smile. And they make me feel special and that I belong somewhere, because John Fluevog didn’t think like other shoe designers of the day and he made a space for women with large feet, like me.

So thank you John and everyone at Fluevog. I am thrilled with joy and excited to wear my Dr. Gunter’s with pride!