Leopard print pumps, red patent leather heeled mary janes, strappy multi-colored stilettos. These were just some of the shoes that made an appearance at The Draft's sexy shoe party held this month.
The downtown sports bar hosts ladies' night every Thursday and during one special evening every month, the bar invites the women of Concord to strut their stuff in their sexiest heels and compete for a few lady-friendly prizes. In the past, the bar has given away Gopa chocolates, mall gift cards and other items that scream “pamper me!” but what gets the girls schlepping to The Draft is the uber chic grand prize – a Coach purse.
Owners Andy and Laurie Sanborn started the parties about a year and a half a half ago. “We wanted to give the ladies of the greater Concord area a chance to have some fun and dress up a bit. There really aren't many places to go to put together a fashionable outfit and have the confidence and incentive to wear it,” Laurie says. “Nearly every woman I know loves shoes, so it's so much fun to have the opportunity to wear them.”
When this reporter caught word of the shoe parties, I knew I had to check it out for myself. I admit, I may have a slight soft spot for cute shoes and Coach purses but was still skeptical about the type of crowd that attends such an event. Would there be creepy guys with foot fetishes leering at the below-the-ankle region of any woman who happened to cross their paths? Also, what qualifies a shoe to be sexy, and would I feel too prim and proper when dozens of scantily-clad women stumble into the bar wearing what we all fondly refer to as “stripper heels?”
I couldn't sleep at night thinking about these burning questions, so I gave in and went to The Draft.
I'm happy to report the following: There were no sketchy men (or if there were, they were too occupied by the Red Sox game to bother with the ladies) and there were no “stripper heels.”
I took a deep sigh of relief and did Carrie Bradshaw proud by ordering myself the most stereotypical ladies' night beverage: a cosmopolitan. When in Rome . . .
The evening began at approximately 9 p.m. when Kim Hampstead, serving as emcee, asked participating ladies to fill out a slip with their names on it. Around 10, Kim called the participants up one by one and asked them to show their shoes. The ladies went to the middle of the bar, did an obligatory twirl and hoped for the necessary crowd applause to make them finalists, then stepped aside for the next woman.
I was most impressed with the lack of cattiness. As each lady showed her shoe, the other participants clapped and cheered for their competitors. There were no snide remarks. No “those shoes are so last season” or “does she really think she can get away with wearing those?” Rather, the women acted like the ladies that they truly were.
Once all of the participants had their chance to display their heeled-goods, they were asked to sit down and wait for the judges to call up the finalists. After much deliberation, four finalists were called up and asked to show their shoes once more.
Despite close competition, Katie Regan won the grand prize of a tan-colored Coach purse and front row tickets to “Girls Night Out: The Musical” playing at the Capitol Center for the Arts, thanks to her strappy multi-colored heels. She had an overwhelming amount of applause from a group of people I'm quite certain were friends of hers, but nonetheless deserved to win. As previously mentioned, the shoes were really cute.
This was the first sexy shoe party for Katie – a recent grad of Plymouth State University – she still lives in Plymouth and doesn't find herself in Concord very often, but was invited to the party by a friend.
Although the party was a first, the grand prize was not. When asked if this was Katie's first Coach purse, she laughed at the silliness of such a question and shook her head, “no.” “But this is my biggest by far,” she added.
Though my gut instinct was to be jealous of Katie for her win, cute shoes and shiny hair – she was very friendly and further disproved the stereotype that if you put a bunch of women in a competition, then you're asking for trouble.
The other finalists didn't go home empty-handed: They won $25 Simon Mall gift cards and also scored tickets to “Girls Night Out: The Musical.” All in all, they made out pretty well.
There's no cover charge, but bring some dough if you want to drink. Make room in your purse for your ID, too, because this event is 21-plus.
My only other advice is to ask a loud group of friends to tag along, because it definitely won't hurt you to have a few people out there whistling and cheering while you're looking for crowd support. Oh, and order a cosmopolitan, because even though much of the evening was about dispelling bad stereotypes, there are still some stereotypes that are too good to give up.
For more information about The Draft, 67 S. Main St., call 227-1175.
