Why do women love shoes?

I must be honest upfront and admit that I chose this topic in a panic when asked to provide said topic ahead of time for the RWA promo blog. Imagine: Leah at desk at work, searching around the room desperately for some blog-worthy topic. Keyboard...coffee...paper mountains...handbag (getting closer)...shoes...SHOES!

New shoes!

But rather than just post a photo of my American holiday shoe-booty (aren't they gorgeous!), I had a bit of a think about shoes, why I like them so much, and why I'm certainly not alone with this love.

A bit of googling proved that most people seem to agree that the main reason women love shoes so much is because *everyone* can have beautiful shoes. Shoes do not discriminate based on size or shape. Feet do not have fat days :)

I found some other reasons too, including that dopamine is released when trying on shoes, extra height is equated with extra power... It all sounded very scientific!

But then I thought about my own personal shoe odyssey. Until I started working, shoes were quite simply shoes. I just didn't get it, didn't understand why anyone would buy ridiculous shoes they'd rarely wear. Even though I used to love getting dressed up with my girlfriends and hitting the town, I did so in exactly one pair of black heels that I wore every single weekend. In fact, my first pair of work heels were very practical, chunky-heeled, round-toed pumps. With a strap.

Imminently sensible. And ugly.

But it took me a while to notice this. This occurred as I was trekking up Martin Place in Sydney each morning from George Street Station. For those unfamiliar with Martin Place, it's a wide pedestrian mall in the centre of the CBD, and - according to Wikipedia - it is "synonymous with corporate Australia". One day, as I headed up the slight hill, with my head down and thousands of pairs of feet walking with me, I discovered the phenomenon of the "pointy toed shoe". I suspect I was years behind (it was 2003) but at first I thought they looked terribly uncomfortable. And kind of dumb, as if anything, they made your foot look bigger.

But I'd started paying attention. One friend, who always looked amazing, rocked the pointy-toed look. So one day, I did it. I bought the pointiest pair of spindly heeled shoes I could find.

Three of my more adventurous heels. The tiger-print ones
are a few years old now, but still my favourites :)

The first day I wore them I was nervous. Surely people would laugh or comment on my crazy heels?

Of course, no one did. And me, in my first-year-out-of-Uni-budget work attire, had never, ever felt so glamorous.

Finally I got it - and I never looked back.

Pointy-shoes have come and gone, and my phase of wearing heels *everywhere* (including popping down to the shops) has thankfully come to an end. But I still love beautiful shoes. Beautiful shoes make me feel beautiful, it's as simple as that.

So - tell me - what is your favourite pair of shoes?