What your shoes say about your Lancs vibe

What are you like on a night out? It’s all in the footwear


Have you ever wondered what your shoes say about you? Can someone guess your Sultans order or favourite Lancs night out based on your footwear of choice?

If you walk round campus in the same pair of tatty white Air Forces as you have formed an attachment with them, or you just can’t afford another pair, then you are a basic student and we applaud you for wearing them with the same confidence as if they were brand new. If you wear a new pair of shoes every week, then are you really a student or are you just from Cartmel because most of us struggle to pull money together for our weekly shop from Aldi.

What shoes you wear says a lot about you as a Lancaster student. The answers may surprise you, so here are the vibes that your go-to kicks give off.

Customised Air Force One’s

You probably study Fine Art, there’s no doubt about that. So you’re definitely besties with the campus ducks from all the time spent in the FASS building. You’re either that person who’s in the library from nine a.m. in a crisp outfit every day without fail, or you’ve been there literally once in your whole degree… There is no in-between.

You’re also a big fan of Lancs’ more indie cafes and are the first one in your friend group to pop up with “Coffee and a walk? I’ll meet you at Brew x”. These shoes are a vibe and if you have the skills and bravery to paint on Nike’s then you are more creative and confident than the rest of us.

Puma sneakers

The thick laces and worn heels of these scream Sugar smoking area – sorry, we don’t make the rules. These are impressively clean, so you clearly take pride in your footwear.

You’re probably in County or Grizedale college and give off big-night-out vibes, and three for five-pound VKs were definitely your go-to before they upped the price. You probably also worked your way through the entire Sultan’s menu in your first year, just because you could. Anyone who can keep white shoes this white deserves a medal, or vouchers for free Sultans.

Brown leather brogues

You’re on the uni rugby or football team and like to let everyone know it. You wear the club tie every Wednesday night social, drink jägerbombs for fun and are always the first to start a pit in the Sugar crowds.

You clearly know how to dress up for an occasion, especially the annual dinners, and take pride in looking after your valued possessions – your efforts are highly commendable. You probably wear these shoes out whenever you can and not just save them for formal occasions because you want to brag that you have a pair of shoes this snazzy. 

Purple docs

The likelihood of you having hair that’s not a natural colour is incredibly high, and you carry your books and laptop in a tote bag referencing your favourite film on it. You find the wetness of Lancaster’s weather comforting and will wear your docs with pride, even in the height of summer.

Your last night out before the first lockdown began was a 1975 concert, and you definitely cried when Robbers came on. Pre-corona, you’d have loved to spend your weekends in Manchester for a bit of respite from the sheep and never-ending fields, but you’ve since learned to love coming across them (and the canal alpacas) on your daily walks.

Running trainers

Your favourite pair of shoes is your running trainers, so you’re definitely one of those people who has almost enjoyed lockdown because it’s given you more time to enjoy the great outdoors. You probably exhausted the canal footpaths in the first few weeks of Michaelmas term and have since branched out to Morecambe, Heysham and other places most Lancs students have only ever heard about.

What are you training for? What do you know that the rest of us don’t?

Black heeled boots

OK, so you study law and you’re not afraid to bring that into every conversation you have with people you meet in the library. You are in the Reading Room nine till five every day.

Whenever anyone has an argument in the Sugar queue you interfere with your great reasoning and negotiating skills and sort it all out. No one will pick a fight with you when you’re wearing these shoes as you’d walk right over them. A true girl boss moment.

Lets be honest, you’ve almost twisted your ankle with those heels, but you’re probably used to them by now. Like getting used to how long the Gregg’s queue is at lunch time in Alex Square. You are powerful in those shoes and everyone knows it.

Tatty old Vans

Do you own another pair of shoes? If so, maybe gives these shoes a break before they the sole actually breaks away. You like to wear things out until the moment it all falls apart. You are dedicated to everything you do, but maybe not your degree. If you were as committed to that essay you have due as much as you have separation anxiety with these shoes, then you’d get a first.

Clearly, footwear is one of the most revealing factors about a person, and judging by the cold-hard facts presented above, we should probably rely on our shoes far more than we do already. If a picture speaks a thousand words, a pair of shoes must speak about a million.

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