Best designed shoe  

As to military design
and its influence on civlian products -- an interesting topic for a new thread ? -- today's Hummer is a reflection of the crossover vehicles that proceeded from the WW II Jeep: the Willys Jeep station wagon (we had one in our family from 1947 to 1956) and the Jeepster -- which in turn bacame the Wrangler, Wagoneer and etc that we know today.
The VW Thing was also based on a military vehicle if I am not mistaken.
Aviation history is presumably filled with similar examples, and perhaps there are instances in architecture as well ? But smaller products are an unknown, to me. . . other than direct copies -- like a khaki-colored plastic flashlight that I had as a kid !

yes yes yes
maybe we should begin another thread for this one. it could end up drawn out .... and nothing to do with shoes.

Two things
I think that the VW bug was also originally a military design in WWII
but on the subject of the shoes, I also like the simplicity of the Jack Purcell shoes by converese

Nope --
the bug was "the People's Car," engineered by Dr Ferdinand Porsche (pre-war). . . tubular backbone chassis, torsion bar suspension, air-cooled flat four, etc etc -- very advanced.
Speaking of engineering, the subject of high-heel design is a subject worthy of discussion. And a gallery with examples of the multitude of heel shapes would be an interesting thing to see; didn't somebody do a clear heel with a live fish in it -- or have I been watching too many Simpsons episodes ?

Fish Bowl Heels
You didn't dream it; I remember seeing the same shoe -- probably in the 1970s. Never had a chance to try it on, tho'.

Yes, I remember fish bowl platform heels...
With live goldfish (poor things)... This was in the early 70's Mod era... Think there were solid lucite heels too... To match your Laverne lucite dining chairs... I was living in NYC at the time and wore low waisted bell bottoms with day glow horizontal striped mock turtlenecks and denim platform shoes ala Party Monster... A fun time when NYC was a VERY dangerous place to live (especially in Hell's Kitchen)... Not the Disneyland it is today... Excuse my little journey back in time...

crocs?
crocs? best designed shoe? i never actually seen them but they look really ugly to me and maybe they are comfortbale but 'beauty' is also a part of 'design'. and plus are these crocs in plastic?? i can't imagine that that is healthy for your feet. BUT if all of you like them there must be something special about them. Yes i must admit myself i have the biggest difficulty in finding the right shoes. And oh yes i have a lot of shoe (this for an heterosexual man). Or they are too sportive, too classic, or i get sweaty feet, or after a day walking my feet are killing me, ... No way in finding the wright shoe. and now most of the shoes or with very low heels, so all my trousers are too long. seems to me that in that area there is stillmuch to do as a designer or maybe is it so hard because all feet are different . The best shoes for me are my salomon mountainboots (but not very elegant to wear at a party...)

Fish heels
The clear heel with a live fish in it appeared in "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" the 1988 Wayans movie. The old pimp wore them.

Sorry SDR
I got my facts mixed up about the VW bug. I always think of military when I think of Nazi Germany.

Wazi... Take it from me... One who knows....
The goldfish shoes hit the bigtime in the early 70's... Maybe they were featured in later movies... They were pretty wacky...

Every person has its preference. It's a matter of taste. I see a lot of people on custom shops nowadays having their own designs.But classic are the ones I always go for.
(edited by DA - link removed)