The secret to feeling high and mighty in shoes

Rose Mary Roche looks at why we own so many pairs, covet more — and don’t even wear half of those we own.

CINDERELLA, Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Moira Shearer in The Red Shoes: all these women experienced the potent power of shoes to entrance, seduce and sometimes even corrupt the wearer. Shoes seem to exert a strange and powerful hold over the female psyche — from rites of passage including First Communion sandals, or an ingenue’s first pair of heels, to wedding day white satin slippers; the relationship a woman enjoys with her shoes is even more intimate than with her clothes. Why are so many women obsessed with shoes? Why do we own so many pairs, covet more and don’t even wear half of those we own? Why did Carrie Bradshaw choose to buy so many Manolo Blahniks instead of an apartment? What drove Imelda Marcos to collect 1,200 pairs of shoes?

Maybe it’s because we are never too fat for a new pair of shoes and they possess a unique ability to lift female spirits. As Christian Louboutin sees it: “Shoes transform your body language and attitude. They lift you physically and emotionally.” Our emotive response to shoes may be rooted in the sense of excitement they foster in the female psyche — heels make us feel sexier, slimmer and therefore empowered. The transformative power of shoes is seductive, particularly as you age and many trends become unfeasible, or even foolish. Shoes are simply ageless.