A shoe serves more than its purpose. Yes, it protects the bare foot during outside travel, but more than that, it can say something about a person. A shoe can make a statement.

Why did Imelda Marcos own thousands of pairs of shoes? For practicality? Highly unlikely.

Creativity on the feet can be a tough obstacle to tackle, however. Due to the exceptionally warm climate that those at the UA endure for most of the year, flip-flops are most popularly seen stomping around on campus grounds.

In fact, brown leather sandals by surf-inspired shoe companies Rainbow and Reef can characterize the typical UA school uniform.

Here are some students found on the UA campus who dress their feet outside of the norm and put their best foot forward.

The summer of 2005’s style is branded by one word: bohemian. Style icons Sienna Miller and Kate Moss influenced much of the fashion industry, resulting in an abundance of prairie skirts, beaded necklaces and cowboy boots like the ones history graduate student Sigma Colon is seen wearing here.

Like a true bohemian, Colon has taken her boots both near and far. She likes to wear them on campus and around town with shorts and skirts. But they went as far as Turkey when Colon traveled there a couple of summers ago.

Although cowboy boots are no longer going down the runways, they will always be universally cool, and they are very fitting for the surrounding Southwest environment.

Colon appreciates her Steve Madden pair for their accommodating shape.

“”I have thin calves, but these are very fitting,”” she said.

“”I like really sexy shoes, but they kill my feet,”” said psychology senior Sara Boykan. Her size 7 1/2 gold metallic flats, however, create a great look without the annoyance and pain of blisters and calluses. “”I can wear these out and I can wear them to school every day,”” Boykan said. Although the trend of gold and silver metallic accessories (woven belts, tops and jewelry) has been around for a couple of years now, the look does not seem to be going anywhere any time soon. Last spring, head-to-toe gold looks walked down the runway at the Gucci fall 2006 fashion show. That’s a little much around these parts, but a single accessory, like Boykan’s Old Navy shoes, provide just the right amount of flash.

It would be a pretty good guess to say that nobody else on campus was wearing the same shoes mechanical engineering freshman Abdullah Noaimi was wearing Tuesday. A gift from his brother, Noaimi’s gladiator-style sandals are handmade in his native Saudi Arabia. Noaimi said they are traditionally worn with a thope, a popular Middle Eastern dress, but he throws them on with the more casual get-up of a T-shirt and shorts. “”Here at the university, everybody has been asking me about them,”” Noaimi said. White camel leather adorned with an intricate silver design makes for one beautiful shoe. Unfortunately, Dillard’s probably won’t be carrying these any time soon.

“”I don’t care, obviously, if they match or not,”” said psychology freshman Lauren Iselin about her exceptionally bright green Crocs. “”They go with anything.”” Crocs began in 2003 in Boulder, Colo. as a shoe company whose focus was on an outdoor and boating lifestyle, creating models like “”The Beach,”” which Iselin is seen wearing. Since then, the company has expanded their line from ballerina flats to waterproof boots; both styles sticking to the company’s outdoorsy fashion. Although Iselin enjoys her kicks for practicality and comfort, she yearns for more of an uptown pair of shoes, stilettos, in the same neon hue. “”Expensive preferably,”” Iselin said.