Style Woes - Gravel

Living in Newfoundland (or any other smallish and/or cool place) presents certain challenges for persons trying to be stylish. Whatever your inspiration (even if it's sporty hiker) you're going to have to take the climate and landscape into consideration. So, I'm going to cover some problems I run into here and how I go about avoiding or dressing for them.
 
Gravel is a pretty shoe's worst enemy. Mud can be washed off (in most cases) but gravel can do serious damage. And it's all over the place here, littering sidewalks and parking lots, serving as the sidewalk or parking lot . . .
 
I try to do a couple things, they sound simple enough, the main thing is to actually think about it when planning a purchase or outfit. 
 
 - Pick out shoes with a substantial sole (so the gravel grinds at the rubber instead of the more delicate leather, vinyl, satin, etc.)
 - Wear a pair of sneakers to the car (I have a gravel walkway and my pretty pumps just can't handle it)
 - Plan ahead, if you know you'll be walking wear something that can handle it
 - Have a purse big enough to carry a pair of shoes with you
 - Own shoe polish (so you can try to cover up that unsightly scuff)
 
I've gone to weddings only to find out that the parking lot is gravel and I had to tread carefully to avoid ruining my shoes. And I didn't even realize what it was doing to my favorite work shoes. I have to try and fix those tonight :S



EDIT: By the way, if you're using a squeeze bottle of shoe polish try not to squeeze too enthusiastically (because, for example, it's late and you want to get this done so you can go to bed) and get black polish all over the laminate floor.

However, if this does happen don't panic, it actually wipes up pretty easily :)