As you can deduce from my name, I’m definitely a shoe girl. I have no justification for buying fancy heels. I work in a lab and I rarely go out somewhere fancy. But they make me happy. I wear them whenever and whereever I want. Usually, it’s jeans and heels. I do get a lot of questions when I show up to lab in 3.5" heels. In fact, my coworkers have a bet on how long it will be before I show up in tennis shoes. I didn’t give up my shoes when I sprained my ankle (I just changed to flats), so I don’t know why they think I’ll ever give in to tennis shoes.
As for price, I try to stay under $50, but I’ll pay up to $100 without hesitation. Boots can go up to $150-200. I fell in love with a $350 pair once (black and white spectators with “I heart heels” written down the heel) but I didn’t get them. I’ve regretted it ever since. So, I’ve learned that if I really love them, it’s worth it.
Oh, and susan_foster, I’ve been eyeing the same shoes. I’m hoping they’ll go on sale soon. And they’re really not all that expensive to begin with!
I am fond of shoes. I have large feet that only like to wear certain kinds of shoes, however. I wear sneakers because they are comfortable and I can get away with them. I own Skechers sandals and clunky brown shoes of an indescribable style. Also Lands’ End mocs, which are like slippers. I am large and it would look too ridiculous for me to try to get away with dainty pointy shoes, besides which I could wear them for fifteen minutes maximum. Heels, no. Platforms, yes. Platforms rule. And they don’t make me fall down. The most expensive pair of shoes I ever bought was an $75 pair of Easy Spirits that weren’t any more comfortable than my $45 Aerosoles, though they were more stylish…nifty chunky heels. Forty dollars is generally my upper limit. I refuse to buy pointy-toed shoes at all. My feet just don’t fit in them.
I’m not much of a shoe person myself - I have pretty resilient feet, so I can wear 4" stilettos without much worry. I’ve heard from my more shoe-inclined friends (who were buying Manolos and Choos before Sex and the City made them household names) that the reason is because they’re comfortable. It’s easy to buy sneakers or Docs because they’re designed to be comfortable. But if you want to wear gorgeous, girly sky high heels it’s going to be a lot harder to find comfortable shoes, and when you find the right pair it’s worth splurging on them.
I wear size 9 narrow, and I have flat feet. Finding shoes that fit me at all is difficult enough without freaking out about the price too much. I also have a near mystical ability to wear out shoes in an incredibly short time. I’m hardly wealthy, so those $1500 are not exactly being marketed to me, but if it actually fits me and they look like they won’t fall apart in three months, I don’t mind shelling out $100.
Oooh, some of those shoes in the last link are gorgeous. I would totally wear them! If, you know, I had an extra $500 to throw around.
Handbags, now, that whole fetish mystifies me. I have a messenger bag, cause it’s big enough to carry everything I need. Those little bags don’t have space to put a book in them! What’s the point of a bag if you can’t put a book in it?
My current shoe wardrobe is courtesy of Doc Martin (almost exclusively, except for the running shoes) because I like boots and comfy shoes. So I can’t comment on the hyper-expensive shoe thing. However, I did read an interview with Manolo Blahnik (if that’s how you spell it) and he says his heels are designed for comfortable balance and that he walks in every style himself or something like that, before they go into production.
As for quality of shoes, well, the Docs at least fall apart less than cheapie nine west shoes, but I don’t know how much the quality goes up past that price point frankly.
My shoes are expensive - £270 (US$500) a pop - and the boots I wear were over £400 (US$700), but I have problem feet and the footwear is hand-made. The boots would likely have been significantly more had I not opted for their standard military style.
Guy here. I wouldn’t. Most I’ve spent on shoes in the last 3 or 4 years has been about 40 bucks for a pair of shoes for work (I was tired of replacing wal-mart shoes every 6 months.) Other than that, a few pairs of 5 dollar flip-flops, 25 dollar pair of closed-toe style firkenstocks (see? real ones would have only been like 40 dollars more, but I’m cheap)… I’ve hijacked (sort of) one of my friends pairs of tennis shoes, because I don’t own any. I had a pair of new balances for a while that were a christmas present, but I stopped wearing them when they wore through the whole sole (Marching practice on a parking lot.)
I wear shoes all day, every day, but I’m a SAHM, so comfort and practicality are what it’s all about for me. Rockport is my brand. If you buy them in the Bon Ton or somewhere like that, they’re $80.00 a pair, and I think that’s outrageous. Hubby and I go to the outlet store a couple of times a year when they’re having their buy one, get one half price sale, and manage to get two pairs for about $75.00 (a pair for me, and a pair for him). Suits me just fine. Oh, and I have one pair of sneakers for the gym, and one pair of dress shoes (PayLess) for when we go someplace fancy.
I’m certainly not a paragon of taste, but I just hit Kmart shoe clearance sales and pick up 3-5 pairs of shoes at a time. $5 shoes aren’t great with durability or comfort, but they’re good enough for walking around the office or the grocery store, and I like the fact that I can pick them up 5 pair at a time and match what shoe I wear that day to my current mood.
My one shoe splurge is buying a new annual pair of running shoes (for all exercise in my case – for me, I have foot problems even going on a long walk without the cushioning of decent running shoes) for about $50-$75 per pair.
I can’t even dream of spending $1500 on a pair of shoes, but like tremorviolet mentioned, I also think “used car” when I think of $1500.
Dad gave me a pair of almost new Florsheim wingtips back in the 70’s-they didn’t feel right to him, but were way comfy for me. ($80 was a big ticket for men’s shoes then) Fast forward, after my years as a suit, they’re still looking good, on their second pair of half soles and heels.
No longer a suit, but I’ll pay $150 for good work shoes (Iron Age) with steel toe and arch support.
Ahem. Jimmy Choo’s are really, really fabulous. I’m a shoe girl. I don’t have any $1,500 pairs, but I have boots that were pretty close to $1,000. I love them. Deeply. Sometimes I just sit and look at them, because they’re that fabulous.
I’m into the handbags as well.
However, I appreciate the fact that some people just don’t get it. These people mystify me. Oh well. More shoes for me.
I’m a shoe freak but I blame my mother. She had warped feet and painful nerve damage from wearing cheap shoes for many years and only bought us kids good leather shoes.
At one point I had over 60 pairs of shoes but now I only keep ten and force myself to either donate, sell or trash a pair I no longer wear often before buying another.
Currently my shoes run from my 90 euro (about $100) Campers to my Gucci wedding shoes (no comment on the cost of those). I think good shoes are important and since I tend to walk a lot more than the average person, they are essential for my health and comfort. You get what you pay for.
Note: I probably wouldn’t buy Jimmy Choo shoes because I don’t wear business suits for work or go clubbing or anything, but if he made a ‘sensible’ shoe, I might consider it if I had the spare cash.
I love shoes, but you can’t tell that from my collection, because I tend only to love the shoes once I’ve worn them for a week, and I seriously dislike shopping for shoes. Why? I can’t answer that one. My feet are on the small side of average, and I routinely use arch-supportive inserts, but I must be on a mission before I will enter a shoe store.
I will spend up to $100 for decent-quality shoes, and up to $300 for good-quality boots, but first I have to go shopping for them.
And I am in awe of you who can contemplate on-line shoe shopping. The idea of paying down money for shoes I have yet to try on baffles me far more than the $1500 shoes for the girl whose toothbrush is diamond-studded.
I love shoes. Seriously. Stop at just about every shoe store I can find. I wasn’t that way until I started college. Now I wear dressy clothes and have about 1000 pairs of shoes.
I have stilettos, chunky heeled boots, pumps, sandals, you name it I probably have it. The most I’ve ever paid for shoes? I’m not sure, but I’m guessing it’s around $400 or so. I have shoes from a variety of designers, but I dont dwell on designer names when it comes to buying shoes. If the shoe fits and I like it, I’ll buy it if I have extra money budgeted for the week.
I wear a size 6 1/2 or 7 shoe, so I don’t have a problem finding shoes that fit, perhaps one of the reasons I cant resist the urge.
I like shoes. Best accessory to put your money in, along with handbags. If you have pretty decent shoes in good shape you can wear about what you want and still look fine. Plus your feet will be happier if you give them good shoes to walk around in all day. I like the euro-comfort shoes when they work, like Clarkes, Born, etc. Also like open heel and open toe shoes with heels. Very comfy and look good on most people. Probably the most I have ever paid though is about $200 and I think a long time before doing that (Ithink those were Joan and David)
Jimmy Choo and Manola Blahnik will go broke if they wait for me to buy their shoes. Too rich for my blood.
Hmmm, those look a lot like the pair of Tredairs I used to wear right after I got the cast off my foot. (I had to wear sturdy lace-up shoes and those were the only ones I liked. But the flames are a little more subtle.)
Ok, I confess I bumped to the thread to whine/boast about my utter shoe 'ho-dom. This weekend I bought pointy-toed flats (despite already owning these), high chunky heeled round toed shoes, and suead clogs in hot pink. (for much less than the prices listed on this site; I got them at DSW).
And twenty minutes ago I succumbed to temptation and bought the flame shoes I referenced above. I need to go freeze my credit card…
In fact, my coworkers have a bet on how long it will be before I show up in tennis shoes. I didn’t give up my shoes when I sprained my ankle (I just changed to flats), so I don’t know why they think I’ll ever give in to tennis shoes.