Did it ever occur to you that the Ruby Slippers belonged to the Wicked Witch?

Really when you think about it, Dorothy Gale murdered her sister (you could call it involuntary manslaughter) then refused to give her the shoes that she rightfully should have inherited. What kind of person kills your sibling and steals her shoes?! 

Seriously though, I love shoes. I believe I have mentioned this before. I grew up with a mom who believed you only needed 3 pairs of shoes. Black, and brown for Fall/Winter and white for Spring/Summer. Boring. I remember throwing a hissy fit one year at age 7 because I wanted a pair of tap shoes for Christmas.  I got the shoes but I couldn't dance, still can't, and there were no available lessons in the area we lived. But I wore the crap out of those shoes and loved the noise they made in the store or at church. Did I care if I annoyed anyone? Not a bit, my shoes have always been for my enjoyment that anyone else likes them is secondary. A few years ago a friend and I went halfsies on a pair of stripper shoes with a 7" heel that lit up when you walked. These were the first pair of shoes I bought solely with my husband in mind. I wore them in Vegas  where you can get away with that kind of stuff. 😉

So, here's a look at my closet: 

My friend Cheryl should recognize this shelving unit, it's from her son's bedroom. Then it was my son Andrew's shelving unit. I was going to pass it on but realized it was a perfect fit for my closet and shoes. 

Here's the part you can't see:

This is the floor in the center section of my closet that I haven't figured out a solution to. Actually, I have but my husband doesn't want to buy me a bigger house. 

So back to shoes. My mother-in-law, who happens to be an amazingly talented artist, believes every outfit should have matching shoes. Hallelujah! I finally found my sole-mate. Someone who understands. I even think some outfits can have more than one pair of shoes that match it.  What if you need to take the outfit from day to evening? Hence the multiple shoes. 

Yesterday I read a woefully misinformed blog by someone who listed the 12 essential pairs of shoes all women should have. I have stopped following said blog because I felt she was wrong. 

Let's be honest no one really needs that many shoes and if I'm being completely honest my favorite state is barefoot or flip flops, I love a good pair of flips, my current favorites are about 3 years old worn down and need to be replaced but until I find another pair like them, they stay. I don't want to talk about the essential shoes every woman needs because we all have different needs, a woman that's a bus driver probably has different shoe needs than a woman that is an attorney or a woman that works in a school or an office or etc.  The list goes on. I'm a mom that works at a college part-time I really only need a pair of Vans or Nikes for my job. I'm usually barefoot at home. Again my shoes are for my enjoyment, having said that let me introduce you to some special members of my shoe family:

My favorite pair of black sling backs. These are Coach brand and were a replacement pair for a beloved pair of BCBG sling backs that the heel snapped on one day in church. Not sure how it happened but it was when they died I realized how much I love shoes. 

Everybody should have shoes that make them happy. These are a few of those shoes: 

Red peep toe Mary Janes. I found these in Downtown LA in Santee Alley. They made me feel girly the moment I slipped them on. My friend Helle covets them and actually told me she was going to steal them, trust me if she did that, I would have no qualms dropping a house on her. 

More happy shoes:

This little number is a leopard print D'Orsey named Lolita. I found this at DSW on my friend Natalie's birthday. She wanted to go shoe buying on her birthday and insisted that rather than spend money on her we all had to buy ourselves shoes. My kind of friend. These

Make me feel like a 1950's screen siren. Think Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes".

The Holy Grail of Shoes:

Christian Louboutin black patent leather pumps. This style is named Pigalle and that heel is 5" high. I sit a lot wearing these shoes. But the toe cleavage is very sexy, I got these shoes after my hubby lost a bet to me. 

Probably the oldest pair of shoes in my collection:

I've had these for about 10 years now and still love them, I have another pair in pink. I think these were the shoes that started my collection of fun shoes. 

Speaking of pink shoes:

Most people would call these formal shoes, not me. I've worn them with jeans and gone grocery shopping in them. I remember seeing a blog of a woman who was going through chemo treatments for breast cancer, the disease had ravaged her body, taken her breasts and hair but she wore shoes just like the pink glitter shoes above to every treatment because they reminded her that she was more than just the disease and they made her happy. 

More pink shoes:

I shared the story about these shoes in one of my early blogs. I got these on clearance. Half price shoes are the best shoes!

This pair I found when the local Bakers Shoe store closed its doors. 

I bought 2 pairs of shoes and a pair of awesome boots for only $60.00! If you know anything about Bakers you know that most of their shoes start at $60.00. At least I can still order them online. 

Another pair of Natalie shoes:

What I mean by that is Natalie is quite the instigator, it usually starts with, "hey come with me, I need to find something to wear to a Christmas/Easter/GroundHogDay party" next thing you know, I'm looking at shoes. Then I'm buying shoes. It escalates that quickly. These are some fun double t-straps that I found to go with a gray dress I made for myself. 

My Steve Maddens: 

Sparkly platforms, yes please. The funny thing is I own 3 pairs of Maddens, all in shades of brown. 

And finally: 

These are the newest additions to the family. A pair of over the top patriotic Swarovski crystal encrusted pumps, I will probably wear them to my next high school reunion since these are the school colors. And I will definitely wear them to church on or near Independence Day. 

My husband loves the Union Jack spiked pair. I haven't worn either pair yet because I've missed the last 2 weeks of church. We rented a beach house and spent a very relaxing vacation tanning, laying about, barbecuing and walking to the pier to get ice cream. Heaven. 

So my take on shoes? If you love shoes and can afford them, indulge. Buy the necessities that you need for your lifestyle first but then if you see a pair that make your heart go pitter-pat and put a smile on your face, buy them!  This is just a small sample of my collection, I have several pairs of fun platform pumps in orange, turquoise, fuchsia, and lime green that are known as my Skittle shoes. I could go for days talking about shoes but I will end with: 

Cinderella is proof that shoes can change your life. 

 

Now, go find shoes that make you happy!

Terri

Like Columbo, just one more thing:

The wedding purchasing blitz has begun, what could possibly be in all those bags? 

😮