Office

I think I’m slowly growing into the female trait of shoes. I’m still always going to be scarf girl but shoes are creeping up on my scale of things that ‘I Need.’
Office is always my first choice when I’m picking out converse and trust me a have many a mud splattered and torn pair lurking in my wardrobe that are still being dragged around much to Mummy Dearests dismay.
Office stocks all the essentials in shoe wear and also carry the oh so magical student discounts. Now I know many people hate students because we get discounts everywhere but for very good reasons, we are broke permanently due to the evil alcohol companies tricking us into buying and drinking their products.
All the major brands are carried through the store along with their own brand BUT more importantly to all the quirkaholics, they carry the brand Irregular Choice.

Office is what I would deem a cool, fashionable shoe shop. In recent times Office’s flagship store on Grafton Street has retained a very distinct, imaginative as well as sophisticated edge. The shoes on sale are very contemporaneous and hip making the Grafton Street branch a very pulsing, stirring place to dwell.
The extensive list of brands for sale (I’m talking Blowfish, Uggs, Crocs, Adidas, Caterpillar, Birkenstock, Fred Perry, K-​Swiss, Le Coq Sportif, Ju Ju, an extensive range of different Converses featuring different colours and designs, Dunlop and Rocket Dog to name a few) would make even the most modish of Dublin dwellers drool.
Office houses chic shoes that see avant-​garde, idiosyncratic design combine with funky folk/​and or traditional elegance making them lip smacking to the eye, but more significantly, an innovatory compilation of shoes unlike any other. Nowhere else is such a contrary range of shoes housed under one roof.
Office even sell ‘The North Face’ boots more likely to be found in outlets such as Blacks, who sell gear targeted at those who take pleasure in outdoor pursuits, climbing, camping and suchlike. The North Face’s surprising inclusion in Office’s stockpile indicates two things: firstly, the unprejudiced mindset Office harbours and how this palpably reflects in their versatile stockpile — open to anything as long as it’s good quality, serves a purpose and relevant to the modern, forward-​looking purchaser and secondly, the way the inclusion of a brand like The North Face that you immediately associate with fortitude and stamina makes known that aside from shoes that are aesthetically exciting, Office believe in shoes that represent endurance and staying power. It’s not just about looking good, but feeling secure and comfortable in what you are wearing.
NB/​Last time I was in there I was sat beside impressionist/​comedian/​political satirist Rory Bremner of ‘Bremner, Bird and Fortune’ fame whilst he patiently waited as his wife tried on a pair of ankle boots. Nifty!

Office is the Topshop of über cool shoe shops. Come in here on a bad hair day wearing slightly scruffy clothes and plain shoes, and the scornful looks from the shop assistants will leave you feeling smaller than a mouse.
But never fear, you can buy coolness here!
The shoes range from beautiful to the rather ridiculous, but overall, it’s a great place to pick up a new pair of leathers, especially boots, which come in an amazing array of styles and colours. The quality is top notch too — my favourite pair of boots are a lovely purple pair of flats that I bought here on sale two years ago. They are battered and bashed with wear but amazingly are still 100% waterproof.
The runners are pretty cool too, though the limited range for ladies consists predominantly of Converse and Nike high-​tops.

Office is definitely geared towards the fashion shoe, and they’re not afraid of the ridiculous as Laura pointed out, but they also do a few reasonably heeled shoes. In my search for shoes for the office, ironically enough (or rather not ironically, except in an ironically ironic way… now I’m confused), I’ve got shoes here in the past. They’ve been rather more cute than comfortable, but I was able to get widish, lowish heels there when only 4+inch pointy-​toed stillettos were in fashion.
I’ve never managed to look at their runners section because it seems almost too trendy and the assistants look a little foreboding… like they’re thinking ‘that’s right buy you’re work shoes and get out… the runners are for cool people… not you’. So while I like Office I kind of feel like I don’t belong there and that everyone is judging me for my lack of garishly coloured shoes!

Although I balk at the price of shoes, and thus never buy them, I do quite like looking at them. Especially the ridiculous ones that fashion insists are cool but the laws of gravity and commonsense deny. Office is perfect for that, as they are ‘fashionable’ through and through, meaning much of the stuff I find downright ugly is actually prancing down the catwalks of Milan and Paris. Which shows how much I know. They do pretty cool runners though. And have a student discount and the occasional student lock-​in which I’m told are rather cool.
The problem with this shop though is that it is of the long and narrow variety, as well as being one of the first shops on the street. Meaning navigation is generally an issue. Especially if you’re on the clumsy side of things. Like me. Oh dear…