Sunday, April 17, 2011

Hi, I'm Jeffe and I'm a Shoe Whore

by Jeffe Kennedy

I never really considered myself much of a shoe whore.

No, no - don't scoff. I really didn't. I never really "got" the jokes about shoe-shopping. I didn't splurge huge amounts of money on shoes. I never guiltily or proudly confessed the number of shoes I owned - or really knew how many I had.

But I do wear heels. I love to wear heels. Thigh-high black leather boots? Oh yes. Strappy, high-heeled sandals? Sign me up. Gorgeous pair of buff suede high-heeled boots on deep sale at DSW? Oh yes yes yes!

I like clothes in general and a great pair of boots or shoes can make an outfit. I still didn't consider myself much of a shoe whore.

Then a couple of things happened, a few years back.

The gals I worked with and traveled with one- to two- weeks out of every month teased me that they could hear me coming down the hall, by the click of my heels. I arrived a day late to a trip and walked into the conference room to discover they'd all laid bets on what kind of heels I'd be wearing. My boss had described me to a person who'd never met me as "someone who doesn't own a pair of tennis shoes." I wasn't sure what to make of that and she said, "well, do you?"

I didn't.

(Since then I've started running on the treadmill, so now I do. So there.)

Then I went to my first RWA conference. A gal stopped me in the hallway and took a picture of my shoes. She put the photo up on her blog. It was a very special welcome to my new tribe - especially poignant because I knew NO ONE at that conference. A year after that, my twenty-something stepdaughter, Lauren, gave me a pair of heels for Christmas. Red. VERY high heels. With platforms. My first thought was, how young does she think I am? My second thought was, I *love* these shoes! So, apparently she knew me better than I knew myself, which is the best gift of all.

Then there was an incident wherein I became obsessed with having a pair of high-heeled Mary Janes. Yeah, I know. No life is complete without a pair of those. That particular photo is the only one I had to take to put up this blog post. That tells us something right there, I suppose.

I'm coming to terms with who I am.
I blame Twitter, really.

Since all we talk about is shopping and what we ate for breakfast, if I mentioned I bought, or even like, a pair of shoes, they demand pics. It's what tripods are for, no? And the Zappos folks are smart about Twitter. One of the best examples of corporate use of social media that I've seen.

I still don't have all that many pairs of shoes, really. I'm no Imelda Marcos, by any stretch. But at RWA last year, Nora Roberts checked out my outfit and totally gave me the nod of approval.

High praise, for any shoe whore.

20 comments:

  1. Lovely shoes. Even better - they look good on you.

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  2. Yes, I look great from the knee-down! ;-) Thanks!

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  3. Wow! I am such a sneaker person and trying to be a cool shoe person, but my feet are never happy with me cuz I don't get out enough to break them in and then I wear them anyway like an idiot. :-D Your shoes are KICK ASS though. Strut lady, strut!

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  4. You do have to practice, Linda, it's true. Think of it as athletic training!

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  5. You do have a broad array of shoes that could double as weapons, Jeffe. Some of those heels should require a license of some kind. ;) I'm envious that you can wear cool shoes and not pay for days.

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  6. How awesome is your step-daughter? Those are faboo red Janes.

    And, as one of the "Twits" who insists on pics of recent #ShoeWhore acquisitions, I must say, "two stilettos up for the blue bows."

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  7. Yeah, that move where you drag the side of your shoe down their shin bone and stomp on the instep? Awesome in stilettos.

    And my stepdaughter is amazing. Two stilettos up, indeed!

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  8. Shoe Whore, connoisseur. What's in a name? Those red shoes are amazing, I have a black pair to match.

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  9. Hmm, Chudney - we need to plan to wear those on the same day at National. #almosttwinsies

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  10. While I already adored you, this blatant display of shoe whoriness is simply overwhelming. You are my hero <3

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  11. Ha! and here I didn't know "shoe whoriness" was real English! Color me flattered to be your hero

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  12. Simon - who knew? Now I know how to distract you from the vodka! :D

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  13. *bows down before gorgeous shoes*

    They're all lovely - but I really adore those metallic sandals. And the ones with the blue gems. Fabulous!

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  14. Ooh, you're the first to pick those, Laura! They're very comfortable. Good walking/airport shoes.

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  15. Beautiful. I love shoes, unfortunately I inherited wide feet from my mother and there have been times I've considered having a toe removed so I could fit into gorgeous shoes. Who needs the damn pinky toe...really?

    So, since I can't have the shoes, I go to bags. I am a bag whore. (Did someone say Kate Spade?)

    Loved the post. It spoke to many, I'm sure.

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  16. Surely there are wide-shoe specialty sites? Why else do we have the internet, if not for this kind of thing?? Still, it's funny that a bag will also do. Coach is like a candy store!

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  17. Oh, please. We Shoe Whores can smell our kind a mile away. ;) *LOVE* those red shoes.

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  18. I wish I could wear heels, but they kill me. I hate shopping for shoes even thought I love to look at them. Now T-shirts and books? Hells yes! I'm such a whore when it comes to those two things ;)

    BTW, love the Mary Jane heels!

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  19. I could never hide my true nature from you, MM!

    Um, Danica, I'm not sure those really count. Books? Maybe. But T-shirts? No no no. ;-)

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