Thoughts of a Shoe Addict

Shoes. While they’re undoubtedly a necessity, they’re also the subject of many a splurge, the talk of countless conversations among girlfriends, sometimes the reason given for an outstanding athletic performance. They’re made to protect feet but also to decorate them.

People of all walks love them and for lots of reasons. They’ve been embedded into popular culture. There are entire movies based around them: The Wizard of Oz, Cinderella, The Devil Wears Prada, The Christmas Shoes, and In Her Shoes. Musicians have been writing and singing songs about them for years: Elvis had his Blue Suede Shoes and The Beatles had an Old Brown Shoe, KC and the Sunshine Band had Boogie Shoes, Nelly had an outright obsession with his Air Force Ones, and Nancy Sinatra had a one wicked pair of boots. (I even did a whole post about music and shoes!)

Walk a mile in my shoes, wouldn’t want to be in his shoes, goody two shoes, who’s going to fill their shoes… there are lots of sayings we use about shoes; in fact, shoes have infiltrated the way we talk. If someone said, “I would kill for some Jimmy Choo’s” or “Check out my new Nike’s” most people would know exactly what they’re talking about.

Bowling, ballet, baseball, skiing, skating running, climbing, hiking, the beach, the bath, the bedroom; for the work room, for the weekend… each sport we do, each place we go, a person needs a different pair of shoes for every little thing they do. It’s no wonder there is such an obsession with shoes!

And while everyone needs them, some of us want them just a little bit more. Some people want 100 pair; 300 pair, 1000 pair! We want shoes in leopard print and purple patterns and every imaginable height heel. We want shoes for $1.00 but we'd pay $1000 and eat less (it makes the shoes look better anyway). We want vintage as well as new and special releases. We want to bronze them (it started when we were very young...), and we want to display them like art. We want the funky, the freaky, the fabulous. We wear odd sizes, or average sizes, it doesn't matter. Our boyfriends and husbands think we're crazy, our girlfriends think we're goddesses. What can I say, some us were born to be shoe addicts, and we've learned to live with it.