When my daughter Joanna, at age 9, was getting ready for church one day, she put on a white denim skirt and a print blouse. To complete the casual look, she got out her tennis shoes but discovered that they looked a little dingy.
She grabbed the sneaker polish and brightened one shoe, then the polish ran out. She had one bright white shoe and one that looked pretty drab in comparison. Completely frustrated, she muttered to herself, "I can hear the compliments now: 'Nice skirt, nice blouse - dreadful shoes!'"
Poor Jo. I sympathized completely. Because I love shoes. For the first half of my marriage, as a stay-at-home mom trying to be a good steward of one income, I focused more on my daughters and didn't buy many pairs of shoes for myself. When the girls grew up and left home, I looked at my feet and thought, "Your time has come."
On the shelves in my closet now are clear plastic boxes neatly labeled as Loafers, Patent Heels, Patent Sandals, Mary Janes, Pumps, Slides, Stretch Denim, Criss-Cross Strap Heels, Oxfords and Flower-trim Sandals.
And those are just the black shoes.
My husband Jack can't comprehend how I can have so many shoes. But my black patent heels that are killer with a suit would look silly with a cotton summer skirt. The pale blue slide that looks great with jeans doesn't work with business wear. Is this so hard to understand?
I have so many shoes and purses that I have to rotate them by season, because I can't fit them all on the shelves at the same time.
OK, maybe that's a little crazy. But I'm certainly not alone.
I took an informal survey of some women family and friends to find out how they feel about shoes and how many shoes they own, and the results were interesting.
Janet said that she can put on an ordinary outfit, then add a gorgeous pair of shoes to make her feel like a million bucks. Sarah is petite and sometimes has trouble finding stylish clothes to fit, so she makes up for it with adorable shoes that make her feel beautiful - and she'll wear them even if they kill her feet.
Donna confesses to owning many dozens of shoes, even though she only wears a few of them regularly. Julia feels that the right shoe is essential to an outfit.
The women who responded to my survey own an average 28 pairs of shoes. Most said that they generally buy shoes only when they need them - but, of course, 'need' is pretty subjective, isn't it?
Only three respondents said that they seldom think about what they wear on their feet. Joanna wasn't among that group - she doesn't allow herself to be seen in 'dreadful' shoes anymore.
Spying her in a new pair recently, I exclaimed, "How cute! Are they comfortable?"
She grinned and replied, "Let's just leave it at 'they're cute.' "
She has company. The majority of the gals I surveyed said that they'd suffer in uncomfortable shoes for a good reason - to complete an outfit or for a special occasion.
Judging by the number of stores selling women's shoes, my respondents and I are not alone in our love of footwear.
I can't explain why women are generally so much fonder of shoes than men are, but I know one thing for sure: There are a lot of sole sisters out there.
(Dallas Morning News Neighbors 02-16-08)
No comments:
Post a Comment