In the past SFist has tried to steer you to the city's finest independent booksellers, record shops, and even local fashion labels. Today we bring you a curated list of places to indulge your shoe fetish, or just to equip yourself with some new kicks for stomping the city streets — with an emphasis on the small, independent sort.

Bulo
This unisex footwear emporium has been going strong in Hayes Valley for over two decades, specializing in uniquely designed shoes, often imported from Italy, Spain, and Japan. Quality and prices tend to be higher than at your average designer shoe warehouse, but there are still deals to be had when stock runs low and stuff gets marked down. Expect to find a fair amount in the comfort category for women and mid-range dress shoe category for men, including brands like Hudson Shoes, Yuko Imanishi, and Free People.
418 Hayes Street

DreamTeam SF
Some SFist readers might recognize Dream Team from another context, as it was the site of a bizarre 2015 homicide in which one man who was attempting to rob the apparel store shot his accomplice. That scare didn't faze owner Donald Andrews, who himself was shot in the face in 2004 in a case of mistaken identity, his life saved, he says, because "my gold grill had stopped the bullet impact from coming in at full force and exiting at my throat." Following his brush with death, he worked as a caseworker for at-risk youth and with SF's DPW, then made his dream of opening a store featuring his signature clothing line a reality. In addition to streetwear, you can find a vaunted selection of sneakers, with new arrivals and hard-to-find classics appearing first on their Instagram before they're snatched by one of their many ardent fans. — Eve Batey
101 Broad Street between Plymouth and Capitol Avenues

Freda Salvador
Shoe label Freda Salvador (designed by Megan Papay and Cristina Polomo-Nelson) keeps its flagship store here in Pacific Heights, and it's a mecca for the mule- and ankle-boot-inclined. Prices are high-ish, starting at $365 for flats and up to $550 for mid-heel boots, but the shoes here remain hot ticket items after launching just a few years back. As the designers describe their brand, it's a cross between "A French woman with no boundaries, a perfectly tailored Italian woman, an American rock star from the '70s, and a Mexican legend." — Jay Barmann
2416 Fillmore Street between Washington and Jackson

Gimme Shoes via Facebook

Gimme Shoes
The imperative of the name will surely appeal to that shoe shopper itch, and since 1984, 'Gimme Shoes' has been giving the people what they desire, nay, require. Their first spot was at Post Street, they then moved to Hayes Valley in '93, set up their now closed Fillmore Street shop, and added a second Hayes Street shop in 2010. Now you'll find the pair of them along Hayes Street, the better to stock up on must-have heels, boots, and everyday kicks from a lengthy list of designers. Yes, they do carry Y-3s, so stop calling them about it. —Caleb Pershan
416 Hayes Street and 381 Hayes Street, on either side of Gough Street

via Nice Kicks

Nice Kicks
Nice Kicks, the new kids on the block in the local shoe biz, were founded in 2010 in Austin, Texas, before branching out with a Downtown Los Angeles shop, and last year, their San Francisco's Haight Ashbury digs in the bi-level former Shoe Biz space (the two companies actually merged, see more below). Selection, including athletic wear, is sure to please sneaker heads, and for your daily fix, you can follow along with Nick Kicks on Instagram, if sneakerporn is your thing. —Caleb Pershan
1420 Haight Street at Between Ashbury Street and Masonic Avenue

The exterior of CitiShoes. Photo: Yelp/CitiShoes

On the Run and CitiShoes
Located steps away from one another in the Inner Sunset, On the Run and CitiShoes were opened by Mark Wachter in 1977 and 2005 (respectively). On The Run is (slightly) more function than fashion, with offerings that include sports-focused shoes and brands like Clarks and Birkenstocks known for their therapeutic properties. In 2005 Wachter opened CitiShoes around the corner, saying “just because it’s fashion, doesn’t mean it can’t be comfortable.” Both sites are very focused on biomechanics, foot health and quality of movement and balance, including offerings like Wachter's own like of "high-quality orthotics," but CitiShoes is definitely the more traditionally stylish of the two, while On The Run skews way, way more normcore. — Eve Batey
On The Run: 1310 9th Avenue CitiShoes: 751 Irving Street

Paolo D. via Yelp

Paolo
Named for Paolo Iantorno, store founder, Paolo is a destination for San Francisco-designed, Italian-made dress shoes and boots. When you need one-of-a-kind leather knee-highs or eel-skin monkstraps — and you want to be sure that materials are C.I.T.E.S. certified and have all the right papers with United States Department of Customs and Border Protection — Paolo is where to go. Most items are made in batches of twenty-five pieces or fewer, so don't worry about showing up to the ball wearing the same old shoes as everyone else. — Caleb Pershan
524 Hayes Street between Octavia and Laguna Streets

Photo: Yelp

Shoe Biz / Anthem
Two years ago, the nearly four-decade-old SF shoestore chain Shoe Biz merged with Austin-based company Nice Kicks, giving over one of their two Haight storefronts to the more sneaker-oriented Nice Kicks, and rebranding two of their locations as Anthem. As longtime Shoe Biz proprietors Mehran Esmaeli and wife Nooshin Ansarinia told Hoodline at the time, they plan to remain at the helm of the merged company for several more years, and they're focusing on the in-house brand Ansarinia created and designs, manufactured in Mexico, called Sutro, a less-expensive alternative for fine, leather shoes. Shoe Biz is still the name of the Valencia location, and Anthem remains a reliable source for brands like Dr. Marten, New Balance, Vans, and Fred Perry. — Jay Barmann
877 Valencia Street, 1553 Haight Street, 3810 24th Street

Brian C. via Yelp

Undefeated
Whether it's classic Vans and Converse or the latest Nikes and Adidas that you seek, Undefeated has a perfect record at their shops from La Brea to Tokyo. Their Hayes Valley digs, est. 2011, are your source for sneakers of all shapes and sizes — Those seeking dress shoes, however, will have better luck elsewhere. Check out their house-brand UNDFTD hats, jackets, and slippers: These guys have you covered head to toe. —Caleb Pershan
516 Hayes Street between Octavia and Laguna Streets

An intruder in a Fillmore District apartment complex started a fire that set off sprinklers and sparked an investigation, but it's the odd cause of the blaze that seems most notable.

It was 7:42 p.m. Thursday when the sprinkler system in an apartment complex at Laguna and Eddy Streets went off, soaking residents and their possessions.

Investigators with the San Francisco Police Department made an odd discovery when they investigated the cause of the alarm: According to their report, an unknown suspect broke into 1171 Laguna Street through a back window, then "set a fire (shoe in a cooking pot)."

The "shoe caught on fire," police say, "and caused the sprinkler system in the complex to go off."

As of Friday morning, police hasn't made any arrests, nor did they provide any additional details on possible suspects or a motive.

While your SFist editor doesn't harbor a fetish for feet (quite the opposite), we do have a thing for shoes. Which is why we will now use our onslaught of party invites to snap serrupticious shots of partygoers' shoes. No style judgement call here, folks. Just pics of launch-party revelers' shoes. Here now are some images we took at the Mosey launch party at the TechShop Annex in SOMA.

Enjoy.

Photo by Erik Wilson.

Stephen Goldblatt snapped this excellent shot of branding and promotional expert Brian Wilson (who also occasionally plays for the San Francisco Giants) en route to AT&T Park on Friday. He's also sporting Back to the Future II sneakers, which sold for thousands and Nike flew to Wilson directly.

The last time we saw Wilson, he brought a Sasquatch to the ESPY Awards. Yeah.

[via SFGate]

Nike recently launched the BE TRUE 2012 campaign aimed at the LGBT community. The campaign pays homage to "the achievements of the New York City, San Francisco and Portland communities as progressive leaders of LGBT life with city-specific footwear releases and accompanying hat and tee." The shoe comes replete with rainbow-colored soles. (The New York edition is pictured here.) While we enjoy the actual shoe color, the bottoms are bound to get scuffed and discolored the moment you use them. Also: they're rainbow.

What about you, would you wear the Nike BE TRUE gay shoe?

[via Laughing Squid]

Call us silly, but we are intrigued by the Marina Louboutin Skullcrusher. Who is she? What's her deal? And what's with that delightfully mischevious glint in her eye? So bad. And yet so right. She's the Girl With a Pearl Earring of our time. And with that, we bring you news that police have identified her. We don't know her name yet, but according to Grub Street, authorities are in contact with MLS. What's more, she might be claiming that, after allegedly attacking Jasper's Corner Tap manager Matt Meidinger with the heel of her Louboutin, she did it in defense of her husband.

Grub Street reports:

An anonymous informant relays the story, allegedly via the suspect's sister, saying that she "she and her friends were accosted first and she was trying to get the man to stop punching her husband in the face." Meanwhile, the unnamed woman, who allegedly tried to bludgeon Jasper's Corner Tap manager Matt Meidinger with a pair of Louboutin heels after he suggested they weren't that important, has sparked the ire of the internet far and wide, and the story's been picked up by the British press.

God bless the British press.

According to Meidinger, however, the stealth stiellito attack was sparked by an accidentally kicking of her shoe. The Daily Mail notes:

A passerby accidentally 'bumped' one of the shoes with his foot, Mr Meidinger wrote, and as he turned to apologi[z]e the woman shouted at him and punched him in the face.

He wrote: 'I spoke up and said, "Whoa! Take it easy! Kicking a shoe doesn't equal a punch in the face, Louboutins or not!"

The incident occurred at the Balboa Cafe, in the Marina District. Meidinger offered a $500 reward for her capture. Meanwhile, our poll yesterday, asking "Who Does S.F. Hate More: Marina Louboutin Skullcrusher vs. Castro Pedestrian Killer," is neck and neck, with Skullcrusher beating Pedestrian Killer by less than a 1% margin.

For the San Francisco sports fan who has everything, we present to you the SF Giants heel by Herstar. This staggering platform pump, representing San Francisco Giants team colors and logo, comes in luscious shades of black and orange. They're perfect for any occasion, like stepping on stale beer and curdling nacho cheese as you sashay from your seat at AT&T Park to the bathroom.

SFist asked 7x7's Executive Editor Chloé Harris Frankeny for her sartorial thoughts on the Giants pump. She explains, "I read recently that SF Giants fans are more likely than Oakland As fans to also be fans of Snooki. I thought that was weird, but now I believe it!"

The SF Giants pump can be yours for only $99. They also come in Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Tampa Bay Rays styles. Due to high demand, though, buyers must wait a minimum of 8 weeks for their shoes to arrive.

In the meantime, did you realize that there's also a Giants toaster, too? A Giants sandwich grill? And even a Giants sofa? We can only hope that they come out with his-and-her fragrances similar to the New York Yankees scents replete with "fresh wood tones" and "cool blue sage."

Mission Mission brings our attention to something of the utmost importance this morning: a Converse All Stars-sporting hipster streaker caught by SFPD on Thursday night. An especially brave move seeing as how last night's weather almost dipped down to freezing levels. Anyway, we're thrilled he's wearing Mission denizens' favorite choice in footwear. It made us wonder what other neighborhood locals would wear if, through a combination of drugs and alcohol (or so we assume), they too went streaking in the night.

If a zany nude runner took off in Hayes Valley, we could easily see them donning a lovely pair of Salvatore Ferragamos. In the Marina? A Kenneth Cole atrocity from DSW, probably. A streaker would sprint down 18th Street in the Castro wearing nothing but Reeboks or whatever footwear 15-year-old suburban boys are into right now. In SOMA, a black Frye Boot should be the only thing one wears while flopping their mammary glands and reproductive organs in public. In the Sunset? Flip-flops for sure. Down in Mission Bay ugly beige Uggs to match the ugly beige condos. And in the Tenderloin said hypothetical streaker would wear whatever shoes he stole off a victim from one of the aforementioned neighborhoods.

[MM]

At the Hilltop Mall in the city of Richmond, shots rang out at around 6 a.m. An estimated three thousand were in line waiting for the new Nike's new Air Jordan 11 Retro Concords. (The shoes, it seems, appreciate in value.) That's when someone fired a gun into the air. According to KRON 4 Morning News, no one was hurt and a suspect is in custody.

Crowds have amassed in Daly City as well in anticipation of the new shoe.

The footwear's release has caused all sorts of festive chaos around the country this morning. For example, Police had to smash the windows of a car to get two babies out "after a woman had left them there to go buy the shoes," notes ABC. Police in Florida had to use pepper spray to subdue shoppers buying shoes. And "frantic" shoppers in Indiana tried to break down a store door before it opened. Sheesh.

Scores of fashionistas waited in line to hand over a scant $180-200 (really, that's it?) for the black and white Jordans that went on sale at midnight.

by Chloé Harris

We try to be faithful to San Francisco, sartorially speaking, and have enjoyed many a local designer dalliance to prove it. But as total fashion whores enslaved to higher style, we confess we have strayed (again and again) in search of more excitement—a New York attitude here, a Parisian accent there—and of a relationship capable of weathering the test of time and trends. Today, we have a big announcement: We are ready to settle down.

To celebrate, we’d like to propose a constitutional amendment to legalize marriage between a woman and a shoe. Or, perhaps a baby step further, marriage between a woman and a whole collection of shoes handcrafted at a family-run factory in Venice. That’s right, we’re talking about hot, polygynous footwear action! A solemate for every outfit! Call it the sanctity of fashion. So, you ask, who is the lucky designer to finally capture our heart in the name of SF? Her name is Martha Davis.

We’ve been courting Davis since Spring 2009, when her first collection caught the fancy of a few of our fashionable friends. We had our first date in the fall, at a style event at Silverman Gallery; and last week, while perusing the racks at Harputs Union, we consummated our love when a glimpse of Davis’ five-strap wedge, in raw-cut pink vacchetta leather, blushed like a whisper of nude flesh from beneath the racks of deep black garments.

"Where'd Cinderelly go?" by Darwin Bell.

"Waiting for its sole mate" by Darwin Bell.