Shoes

My daughter asked me recently why I have so many shoes. Let me set the record straight and then we'll go from there, mmm-kay?

I don't have a TON of shoes, but I do have quite a few pairs gracing my closet.
There are shoes in there that I keep because I need crappy sneakers every now and then.
There are others that shouldn't be there but are because a) it's the wrong season to buy something to replace them with or b)when it was the right season, I couldn't find anything I liked.
There are shoes that serve a specific purpose (like hiking boots) and hence are not suitable for everyday wear - for me. (My boys are a completely different story...)
There are also shoes in my closet that I've had FOREVER.

They just don't go out of style OR they're a color I like/want and I can't buy anything to replace them; either way, in the closet they stay.

Now, back to my daughter's question. Why so many? Well, aside from the aforementioned reasons, I like shoes. Specifically, I like high heels. And if you want me to be even more specific than that, I like shoes with heels that start at 4 inches. (I'll wear shoes with a heel as high as 6 inches, but they'd have to be absolutely perfect.) Why, you ask? Read on.
I'm 5 foot 7 inches; by all accounts of average height. I married a guy who's 6 foot 4. That means there's a 9 inch difference between the tops of our heads. Now, if we take into account the fact that our eyes are NOT on the tops of our heads, the difference between the heights of our eyes could be even greater, depending on how far from the tops of our heads our eyes actually are. Did any of that make sense to you? NO?? *sigh* Suffice it to say that at 5 foot 7, I feel very small and it's not a very strong position to fight from. BUT...I put on a pair of 4 inch heels and all of the sudden, I'm 5 foot 11. Almost eye level with that 6 foot 4 man. 6 inch heels? 6 foot 1, baby! Look me in the eye and say that again!

Now, all that aside, for some reason I can wear shoes in colors and styles that I would never dream of wearing clothes in. For example:

Hot pink is a little much for me in a dress but a pair of hot pink shoes? Absolutely. Beige or tan - blah. I look like a popsicle stick...all one color. BUT, nude colored shoes are perfect to wear with colors that are hard to match or occasions when you don't want your shoes to get all the attention.

One more reason I love high heeled shoes. I'm sort of enamored of the styles of the 1940's. Not really the ideas but the way that women dressed. If pictures can be trusted (and not just Hollywood-ized ones...I'm talking about pictures from family histories here.), there was so much more emphasis placed on taking the time to look pretty. Now I'm not saying that these women spent hours each day getting just perfect but what I am saying is that they took care of themselves and it showed. They weren't vapid or indecisive. They were confident and capable. They wore modest clothing but still looked very attractive.

They wore MUCH less make-up but were still bombshell beautiful. Was it all because of the shoes? Probably not; but I'm pretty sure that putting the shoes, the dress, the make-up and the hair all together equalled women who believed in themselves and their abilities. Women who were not about to be told that their value lay in their sexuality; Women who were strong enough to hold their families and their nation together when a world at war threatened to tear it all apart. Sometimes I contrast that with women of today and find today's women wanting. There is an emphasis placed on taking care of oneself but it seems to me that it's only for the sake of looking pretty, of fitting in or having what "she" has. Buy this or that make-up and look as pretty as someone else who uses it. Buy this brand of bra and look like a supermodel. The take-care-of-yourself of today seems geared toward making a woman attractive to a man. The take-care-of-yourself of back then was geared toward making a woman attractive because that's what a woman is. Granted, there was still a lot of pressure for women to be beautiful because men wanted to marry beautiful girls but I like to think there was so much more to women back then because they chose to make themselves so much more.

I could go to a plastic surgeon and be "re-constructed" so that I have teeth and a face and breasts and legs that, according to today's standards, would make me beautiful. I'd get looked at and checked out because of my body. OR, I could do may hair every day, put on a little make up, a cute outfit and a pair of high heeled shoes. Will I still look beautiful? Darn Tootin' I will! But why? Well, mostly because I'll be smiling at the thought of how much money I saved by buying a pair of shoes instead of plastic surgery. I'll still get looked at but I don't think it would be because of my body. (Probably mostly because who dresses like THAT nowadays??) I'd get looked at because I was beautiful in a different way than anyone else...and maybe, just maybe, it's a little nicer to see.