Shoes.

I wanna be a cowgirl...

     Today's post is about shoes.  Not for any real reason, other than the fact that, like many females, I have a thing about shoes.  What got me thinking about this topic is actually the very changeable weather we're having this winter.  Every day when I'm getting dressed, I start with the shoes (that is not to say that I put them on first, as that would make getting dressed very awkward).  I look outside, check the weather, think about what I have to do that day and what method of transportation I need to use to get there, and make my shoe decision first.  That then determines what type of pants I'll be wearing, which in turn assists me in choosing what I will wear on my upper body.  An example goes something like this:


Earl: What do you want to do today?

"The big guns"

Me: Why don't we walk downtown and do some errands - maybe head to the library as well?
Earl:  Great!  (Earl heads to the bedroom to get dressed.  He emerges 25 seconds later, fully dressed.  If it's cold/snowing he wears boots.  If it's not he wears slip-ons.  Simple.)
Me: (in my head) Okay, so it snowed last night but not a lot, so I need something slightly practical on my feet, but don't need to pull out the big guns - they're hard to walk in for longer distances.  I need something with traction, but it's not too wet so I don't need waterproof.  Maybe one of my pairs of cowboy boots?  What pants do I want to wear?  It's not cold enough to require long johns, so I can get away with skinny jeans - they work well with cowboy boots.  And then I need a longer sweater to hide my muffin top.  Okay, I think I can start to get dressed now.
Earl:  It's been five minutes and you're still wearing trackpants.  Are we going downtown or what?

I'm a really big fan of
boots, as you can see.

     My love of shoes can be seen as soon as you walk in our door.  We have a six-shelf bookshelf devoted to shoes.  One and a half shelves contain Earl's shoes and boots.  The rest are full of my shoes, some of which are double-piled, and my "fancy" shoes aren't even kept there - they're stored in shoe boxes in the closet.  (To be fair, Earl's one pair of dress shoes are also stored in the closet.)  But it's important to have a lot of shoes - every occasion calls for something different, in terms of both style and practicality.  Like most people, I have shoe categories.  I'll try to keep this simple for you.

Lazy shoes - not good for walking,
but as comfortable as slippers.

Summer shoes: In the summer I really hate wearing shoes, so try to get away with as little as possible.  Flip-flops are a favourite, but they're not good for walking long distances.  For that I have Birkenstocks, or Mary-jane crocs - not overly stylish, but very comfortable.  If I need some summer style, it's all about ballet flats, but they stink after a while, so if the shoes need to come off at my eventual destination, it's back to the Mary-jane crocs (what DO they put in the plastic to make them not stink?  It's amazing.)


Lazy shoes: These shoes are totally comfortable and require little effort in terms of putting them on, can be worn for long periods of time, but are a bit sloppy and not very "pulled together", and don't provide any foot support so aren't great for walking.  They include moccasins, UGGs (don't judge me but I have 4 pairs - okay, judge me.), and most slip-ons.

This is about as sporty
as I get.

Practical shoes: This is a fairly broad category, and encompasses shoes worn for a particular purpose.  In this category I include running shoes (I use the term loosely - I don't actually have any shoes I could 'go running' in.  That's because I don't like running.) which I should really call 'shoes verging on sporty' - Converse hi-tops, Vans, and an old pair of court shoes I used when I used to coach volleyball at my first teaching job. I also include rainboots, winter boots and hiking shoes in this group.


Work shoes:  I almost forgot this category, because I haven't had to wear them recently.  As a teacher, one is always running around, standing for long periods of time, and yet needs to look nice and pulled-together.  And we all know teenagers judge harshly, so there needs to be some semblance of fashionability as well.  My work shoes include ballet flats for warm weather, and generally low-heeled boots for cooler weather, with a few pairs of low-heeled shoes for the rare skirt or dress-wearing occasion.

My favourite fancy shoes
(rarely worn but loved nonetheless)

Fancy shoes:  I never get dressed up, and I'm not overly girly, but nonetheless I love fancy shoes.  And I have more of them than I will ever need.  (Actually, I recently donated a few pairs to a local thrift store, because I feel badly they never get worn and these type of shoes have a bit of time-sensitivity - I believe dress shoe styles come in and out of fashion faster than most other types of shoes.)  Fancy boots also fall into this category.


     Now, with all of these shoes, you must think I spend a ridiculous amount of money in shoe stores.  I don't.  (Primarily because I don't HAVE a ridiculous amount of money.)  I am blessed/cursed with the most average foot size a woman can have.  This means that often shoe stores are sold out of my size, but I am very lucky in my ability to find second-hand shoes and boots in my size.  The cowboy boots at the top of this post were purchased for $4 in a thrift store - perfectly worked in and comfortable, but still with lots of life left in them.  I also tend to ask for shoes/boots for Christmas and my birthday ("the big guns" were this year's birthday gift).  As well, I find having lots of shoes means extended life for those shoes, as they don't get worn out very quickly.  I still have shoes I bought 15 years ago (Birkenstocks never go out of style, right?).


     I'd love to know if others go through this intense morning pressure - please share your thoughts on shoes and your relationship with them in the comments.  Now I'd better get going - I have to go out in two hours and haven't yet decided on my footwear for today...