Of course not all shoes get noticed, they have to make a statement.
They need to have high heels, or colour, or sparkle, or buckles or they have to be shiny, or red or all of the above.
I've never really been a heel person. I'm tall so heels made me feel like I was towering over everyone.
Plus I've never really had the confidence to wear them. I've fallen flat on my face in town in low heels. I even fell over one day wearing sneakers. I was walking along one minute and the next I was on my hands and knees on the footpath. I quickly jumped up and carried on but the man coming toward me with his little dog couldn't help himself. He smiled at me and said "that wasn't meant to happen was it?"
But now I've have decided it's time I got some heels, not killer heels but not the sensible court heels I usually wear.
I came to this decision last weekend when I was at my son's house.
His partner was getting ready to go out for lunch. She came out in some nice jeans and a lovely frilly top. She looked nice.
Then she disappeared and returned with a white jacket on and amazing high heels.
Her casual look had just taken a huge leap. She looked stunning. She has some amazing shoes.
As does one of my colleagues.
Now I know lots of women who love shoes and have quite a collection of them. I have probably about 20 pairs but only three or four that I wear on a regular day to day basis.
I'm often told by you know who that I should keep them in an orderly fashion instead of throwing them in the bottom of the wardrobe.
But this lady would be hard to beat. Her shoes are often admired around the office. "Have you seen so and so's shoes today? Go have a look."
I asked her this week how many pairs of shoes she had. Her reply: Five to six hundred.
Me: Are they in an orderly fashion?
Her: No. I have to rummage to find each pair and sometimes I go 'wow I forgot I had those'.
Her shoes are housed in wardrobes along with her 50 or so pairs of boots. In fact the day I spoke with her she had just bought some new shoes.
I don't know what it is about females and shoes.
It starts from a very early age. Little girls love playing dress up, putting on heels and stomping around the place. My Mum who is in her 80s still loves to buy shoes.
A friend of mine recently received a card that says it all really.
"Life is too short not to wear your red shoes".
So next weekend I'm going to buy some high heels. I might even get red ones.
FOOTNOTE: If you see me tottering down the street catch me if I fall.
Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today.
