"shoe expressions"
Mar 18, 2001, 2:36 p.m.

I love shoes.

It's hard for me to pass up a shoe sale.

I am so not into clothes though and I don't keep aware of current styles. I am clueless - fashionwise about covering my body. Except my feet.

I have tons of shoes - and tons of shoes is still not enough. I still want more.

I'm not faithful to any brand name of shoemaker either, nor do I concern myself with price as much as I should. (Although I do love Kenneth Cole!)

Yesterday I bought a pair of Duckhead loafers and a pair of Naturalizer pumps. The loafers are simply traditional, brown and black, fold-over whip-stitching with tassels on top. The pumps are black of course, and sling-backed with a stretch-ribbed upper and a concave heel.

I held myself back from buying more than 2 pairs.

I'm picky about the type of shoes I purchase. If they look like the kind of shoes my Grandmother would be wearing today...I don't want them. By the same token I know what my feet will endure so I don't get heels that are too high or soles without padding.

Now my cousin Cheryl, on the other hand, will wear just about anything on her feet. She certainly beats me in the number and style of shoes she owns. She's hot and happenin', fun and funky.

She is the Mistress of Shoes.

Cheryl has a passion I can appreciate. It's not about fashion as much as it's about self-expression. Each morning you go into your closet and you ask yourself what you're going to wear today.

Feeling Fun? Put on the platform slides.

Feeling Sexy? Put on the strappy snake-skin sandals.

Feeling Sporty? Put on the white leather Keds.

Feeling Laid Back? Put on the brown leather clogs.

Feeling Business-like? Put on the black patent-leather pumps.

Sometimes just going shoe-less is an expression unto itself.

Oh, the writing of this sounds trite. The experience of it, however, is not. The experience of it is - that today, people will see this side of me.

Shoes are a form of self-expression. Just like emoticons are. They may not always accurately represent who I am as a person living my life in this skin, but for one brief moment in time...they will know me by my shoes.

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