gimme shoes , Jimmy Choos

The shoe shopping has begun. My fashionista friend who leaves for the Big Apple soon is convinced that shoes are impressively expensive in NY and she needs to buy everything here, so last Thursday I trekked behind her as we visited shoe shop upon shoe shop in pursuit of the elusive bargain. With the sale on, you would think it wouldn’t be too difficult to find the perfect pair of shoes. But then you obviously have not met my the shoe fanatic.. She never knows when to stop. She needs a pair of pink shoes, a pair of mauve and 5 pairs in between, one with the bells and whistles, one with frill and the other with the witch type pointy toes. So far, I think, she has 15 pairs of beige in different tinges of the colour. Five pairs in black(which of course means there still a couple of good black sling backs we haven’t got to yet) a dozen or so in browns and burgundy. From Choos to Manolos to Gucci and Ferragamos and the occasional Prada boots, she got them all. This mad mad race to find the perfect shoes makes me wonder, we have but two feet. Shoes were once considered a status symbol,in early Rome when only officials and the emperors could owna pair. In the Chinese culture the smaller the shoe, the prettier the feet, and the more popular you are. So a couple till a couple of decades ago women actually used to tie their feet in shoes a couple of sizes too small to get dainty feet. We bargain hunters have no such lofty motives but when you confronted with the perfect pair of stilettos one size too small ( on sale that too) – we give into tradition (Chinese tradition that is). To be honest I didn’t realise what all the fuss was about as I joined the shoe frenzy a little late. I haven’t worn heels for six years but once I tentatively took my first few steps in a beautiful pair of Nine West, I was hooked. Everything looks so much better from up here. Especially, if you are 5’4’’ and have only worn flats and keds to presentations and meeting and high society ball. But the transition isn’t easy; the comfort that comes from not having to balance precariously on stilettos isn’t an addiction one can give up in a hurry. But when I bought my first pair of knee high boots with oh-so-comfortable-I-can-wear-them-and-go-jogging heels, I knew a monster had been created.