Nobody ever accused me of having good taste, so don't be offended by what I am about to say.

That first shoe, the Maxwell, is one butt ugly shoe, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. If I saw a well dressed person wearing a pair of Maxwells, I would assume that it was the latest in fashion because no well dressed person would wear such an ugly shoe unless people with a sense for fashion liked it. That is exactly the reaction I had the other day when I went to a business meeting that included some well-off and fashionable people. One guy was there in expensive, though casual, attire. His whole outfit looked great, but then he had these funky loafer things on that also looked expensive. I thought, "Those are some ugly shoes." But the overall effect wasn't bad.