Informant is a second generation Korean. She currently lives in Los Angeles and is in her early 30s.

Superstition as told by informant: There was one my mom told me when I was little about giving shoes as gifts and why it’s bad luck. You can’t give shoes to your girlfriend/boyfriend because if you do Koreans believe they will break up with you and run away.

After doing some more research I actually found out that some people will actually pay a small amount of money to not be given shoes even if they are due gifts, which I thought was hilarious because of Korea’s prominent fashion industry.

But now that I think of it I rarely hear about giving shoes as gifts even here in California. Maybe its because you might get the wrong size for the person and might burden them.