The romance between women and their shoes

The romance between women and their shoes

My sister sold her plot of land and bought twenty pairs of shoes and eight dresses.  This is a movie that beat my understanding and I have not yet established why someone would do such a thing.  Maybe someone out there can help solve the paradox. Women have always been amazing and any attempt to understand them makes you more confused.

A poll of 1,057 women by the Consumer Reports National Research Center for shopping magazine Shop Smart found that U.S. women on average own 19 pairs of shoes although they only wear four pairs regularly while 15 percent have over 30 pairs. And according to Glamour, the average woman will buy 469 pairs of shoes in her lifetime. All in all, she will end up spending $25,000 on shoes alone.

The history of human development shows that the importance of protecting the foot was early recognized. Records of the Egyptians, the Chinese and other early civilizations all contain references to shoes. The shoe is repeatedly mentioned in the Bible and the Hebrews used it in several instances with a legal significance, notably in binding a bargain.

In Biblical times a sandal was given as a sign of an oath.  In the Middle Ages a father passed his authority over his daughter to her husband in a shoe ceremony. At the wedding, the groom handed the bride a shoe, which she put on to show she was then his subject. It is not surprising that today in the U.S and many other countries shoes are tied to the bumper of the bridal couple’s car. This is a reminder of the days when a father gave the groom one of his daughter’s shoes as a symbol of a changing caretaker.

When I say women and shoes are tight and obsessed friends I mean it. Women’s addiction to shoes must be explained. The first lady of the Philipines from 1965 to 1986, Imelda Marcos enjoyed many luxuries in life. When her family fled the Island, the Malacafian Palace was found to have 15 mink coast, 508 gowns, 1000 handbags, and a mere 1056 pairs of shoes.

There is also this unexplained quest for high heeled shoes.  Perhaps it’s associated with higher power. All those wonderful feelings are intensified when you choose high heels. It’s also biological that most animals are wired to associate height with power.

High heels can literally raise your status because you are taller when you wear them. Heels carry historical significance as well, adding to their appeal. In previous centuries, only the wealthy wore high heels and everyone else had practical footwear to do manual labor.  Therefore shoes were a measure of class, and we still have a bit of that mind-set ingrained in us.

Maybe this can explain the obsession women have with shoes.

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