We women love our families, our children, our men; husbands and boyfriends, and even our best friend but there’s one relationship that no one can touch! Yes, that’s right I’m talking about the relationship we share with shoes! Our intimate and passionate relationship with and for shoes developed long before we could even wobble around in them. As girls we were told stories of Cinderella and her glass slipper and that was the beginning of the end for us. We learned early on that the right shoe yields the right man and thus we are crowned the “Princess”, and what little girl doesn’t want to be a “Princess”? We’d see our Mother and Grandmother’s dressing up for work, church or just to go out and what was the one thing that we loved the most? Their beautiful shoes, and granted the makeup and outfit came in second but it was the shoes that tugged at our hearts and we longed for the day when we owned a pair of our own.
Little girls all over the world snuck into their Mother’s closets and tried on her heels, prancing around even tripping a bit. But we’d always get right back up again, determined to learn how to perfect our walk, meticulously watching each foot move in front of the other while wearing shoes 3 times too big for us!
When I was a little girl, my Mother bought me a pair of plastic dress-up Barbie “high-heels” and I wore them until the heels broke off, and then cried for another pair, or maybe I stole my sister’s pair, but then again, it’s been so long, I don’t really recall (in case my sister is reading this)!
What is it about shoes that we love so much? I think it’s the fact that no matter what you look like, no matter what body shape you have, what your age or what color hair or skin is, when you slip into a great pair of heels you are instantly transformed into a sleek, elegant, sexy, powerful and trendy women (yes, shoes can ignite all those feelings)!
The shoe is like the topping on the cupcake, the cherry, if you will. You can wear a great outfit but with the wrong shoes, why even bother! I recently read one of my favorite blogs about a girl that starts her outfit with the shoes and from there, worked her way up to the skirt or pants and the then the top she feels best suite the shoes, and if the cloths don’t seem right, they are instantly replaced with a new set but the shoes always remain the same. Interesting concept, I thought, “Pick your shoes, and then build the perfect outfit around them!” Why not! I personally have a shoe collection ranging anywhere from 150 -175 pairs of shoes, some of which I don’t even remember buying and some which have never even been worn but I keep them regardless because parting with them would seem, well… wrong. Most women (not all, I don’t want to put us all in a “shoe” box) have two great loves: shoes and chocolate! For me, when I arrive home with a new pair of shoes, it s like opening the best Christmas present that I could have ever imagined giving myself and soon that joy is followed by the familiar sound of my husbands voice asking, “Don’t you already have some shoes like that?” And of course my response is always, “What?! No these are a lighter shade of green,” or something to that effect, but you get my drift. How can we be expected to limit our choices when shoes come in so many different styles, colors, designs, shapes, sizes and patterns and while one pair of shoes might look just “okay” with an outfit, another pair might set the tone and completely change the outcome of your day and no, I’m not being dramatic here, believe me it has happened!
From Cinderella, to Top Model to movies like Sex and The City, a womens love for shoes is apparent and very difficult to come between. So, too all my shoe lovers out there, “Strike a pose ladies, because I feel your passion!!”
