Feet first: The best ways to leash your footwear fetish

To dwell on the subjects of shoes, I have a few words of advice saved specially for the cautious footwear shopper.

Mind you I am no authority on the vigilant shoe shopping habit.
Like most women who spend every pence of their hard earned peanut worth salary comfortably within the first 3 days of the month I too shriek at the sight of any and every dashy piece of heels I set my eyes on.

This post therefore is a bit of a purgatory catharsis.

You know what its like to catch a glimpse of a Christian Louboutin through a showroom window don’t you?

It’s like watching the Parthenon and knowing you can stand on it.
You wait against the view slowly sinking into the joy of every buckle, heel and sole, slowly getting drawn further and further in until you find yourself courageously pushing through the glass door and stepping into the perfumed premises.

Yes, the Champagne can wait, can we have a look at that magnificent little piece of under feet brilliance first?

Ah!

You know what its like to catch a glimpse of a Christian Louboutin?

Surely you do.
It’s like hearing Miles Davis, live, in a smoky jazz bar with the smug knowledge that you can mess up his beat with a gentle click of your heels.

That’s until you catch a glimpse of the price tag and get a little messed up yourself.

Oh! The misery of having to let go the hope for a desired piece of footwear.
Pulling out your kidney through your throat with bare hands would be easier!

But get a grip Girls! Shoes don’t own you. You own the shoes.

Shake off the emotional excesses.
You call the shots here.
You decide what to you ought to buy and what you oughtn’t.
And the best way to ensure that it stays that way is to bind your desires within the scope of rigidly drawn rules.

Rule abiding is a MUST MUST MUST when buying shoes. For the safety of your feet, for the safety of your purse follow the All Essential Footwear Purchase Regulations like you’d follow your shrink’s therapy instructions.
You’ll see the results yourself.

Rule # 1
Stick your tongue out at High Heels and bid them a firm goodbye.

Yikes! Blasphemy! No no let me explain myself. This isn’t a fat woman’s desperate attempt at depriving the world of the pleasures she has often had to repress due to ‘weighty’ issues, it’s true, heels can in fact spell disaster for your feet. I am not saying it of course, the docs are. Sue them if you want. But before you do stop to think of the brighter side, the smaller the heels the lesser the money you spend, the lesser the money you spend the happier you are. See? It’s not the end of the world after all.

Rule # 2Test drive your footwear before signing the chequeNow, only an absolute shoe shopping naiveté would skip trying on and walking around in a pair of footwear before buying it. But even specialist shoppers often do not know what to look for when test driving their shoes!

Remember to check out the,

(a)Toe Box- Ensure that your toe doesn’t hit against the shoe front. If it does the shoes are too small for you, ask for a bigger size.

(b) Stretch Extent– Although most leather shoes tend to stretch don’t take the stretch capacity for granted buy a bigger shoe size rather than settling for a smaller one just because you think it will get larger!

(c) Bend – See that your shoes bend at the same point as your feet. A shoe that doesn’t bend at the correct spot is a recipe for shoe bites.

(d) Arch – The shoe arch ought to be at the same point as the natural arch of your feet.

Rule # 3Practice walking around in your shoes at home before stepping out on the streetsNEVER wear a new pair of shoes out on the streets without having had a go at it right at the comfort of your home. Give your feet the chance to get used to the shoes and the shoes a chance to stretch out (in case it does).

Give your feet (and yourself) the rare comfort of being pampered with a well-fitted pair of shoes. Soon you will find a new spring in your stride.