When I get dressed in the morning or pick out an outfit for the next day, the first item I pick out is the shoes, followed by the cloths, then jewelry, but it always starts off with the shoes! Shoes are a staple piece of an outfit. They need to be a statement piece and a piece of comfort, especially if you are constantly on your feet all day. When I walk into any department store like The Bay, Winners, or Marshalls, the shoe department is my first stop shop. There are so many different new styles, colours, and fabrics to look for. For me shoes are like art for your feet! You want to be creative with your outfits and style your shoes in order to make an outfit stand out, but to also add a little bit of your own piece of personal spice to an outfit. You also want to make sure your feet are stylish, trendy, and comfortable.
The other day I was organizing my closet and getting my shoes ready for the spring and summer seasons and putting away some of my winter shoes. I love organizing my closet for many reasons. Firstly I am a neat freak and secondly I feel like I am re-shopping my wardrobe and re-discovering what I own (as I am sure many of us do time-to-time). As I gradually move to my shoe portion of the closet I can’t help but admire all of the shoes. Every shoe has a different story and portrays a different unique quality about me. Whether it’s a ballet flat that makes me feel cute and pretty , a running shoe that makes me feel sporty and energetic, or a heel that makes me feel beautiful and sexy.
Women lust over many different types of fashion items such as cloths, make-up or handbags, but studies show that majority of women envy shoes. I believe it all started with Cinderella. The Disney character every girl admired and dreamed of becoming one day. Simply because she portrayed an essence of beauty and elegance through the sparkly glass slipper. Every time a girl puts on a sparkly shoe she feels like a princess and will subconsciously name that “The Cinderella” shoe (at least that’s what I do) 🙂 . A girl can never have too many shoes! Shoes are something of a desire, love, admiration and an item many women lust over. When I walk into the shoe department or a shoe store, my eyes light up, my face gets perky and my cheeks can’t help but put a endearing grin on my face. Pretty similar to the same look on Carrie Bradshaw’s face when she opens the doors to dream closet in the “Sex in the City” movie.
There is something about putting on a pretty shoe that makes a women feel confident and powerful. The feeling of being taller brings upon this euphoric state that allows us woman to feel as though she can conquer the world and accomplish anything her heart desires. For women, shoes are a royal pedestal for pride and beauty!
The seduction of shoe shopping is an innocent, yet shameless obsession. Stores constantly have  beautiful shoes stacked one by one on the store shelf looking prim and proper to the 9’s. You have all kinds of shoes from the reds to the blacks, to the suede’s and the sparkles. They all seem to hypnotize us and allows us vulnerable women to crave and lust over them while they subconsciously whisper to us “I would look fabulous on you”. We all know we don’t need that 20th pair of the same grey suede shoe, but we know that we don’t have that type of wedge in that heel height, and as we all know, there 50 shades of grey and we just don’t have that shade in our closet yet ! The list of excuses runs for miles. It’s a spell the world of shoes has over innocent fashion-loving women (I use the term innocent lightly).
So what is it about shoes that make women feel so majestical and content? Well I decided I was going to do some research on the psychological patterns of the effects of our hormones and our mood states that arise when we go shopping. There was a study that was conducted that analyzed women’s emotions and as they went shopping. Turns out, there IS such a thing as a “shoppers-high”. My dad and my boyfriend constantly ask me, why do you love shopping? What do you get out of buying so many shoes and hand bags? My answer always is “I don’t know, I just feel so happy and excited”. As any typical guy, they just don’t understand my reasoning.
Psychologists have really been able to do some research and get to the bottom on the effects shopping has on women. In our body we have many chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters help the body to release the ‘feel-good’ energy we feel. Dopamine is a neurotransmitters in our body responsible for the release of our reward and feelings of pleasure. When we shop, and purchase items such as cloths, purses, and especially shoes, our bodies release lots dopamine through our neurotransmitters into our brains! Followed by dopamine our brain has a storage area for things or items that give us pleasure. Every time our body has a feel good sensation, our body stores that feeling and the task that accompanies it, whether it’s anything such as shopping or even playing video games. Our bodies crave it giving us the “wanting-more” feeling. So naturally our behavior is to crave more and in my case, shop shop shop!
Another result psychologists found within these studies is that women find the need to justify their purchase and need for shoes. I know for myself I always put up a fight or a discussion to help prove a point as to why I need a pair of shoes. First off, we all need shoes to walk in, therefore it’s a necessity. Secondly, shoes are based on occasion. You need a running shoe, work shoe, party shoe, rain shoe, and snow shoe! That right there is 5 different shoes and the categories can go on and on! But what about colour, style, and shape. Sure you can throw on a simple white stop and black jeans but the look of the shoe can make or break the outfit.
I hope this made things a little easier for you to explain to your friends and family the importance of shoes REALLY are. Its innate within us. I honestly blame dopamine and there’s nothing I can do about it.
In the mean time, I’m going shoe shopping Ta-Ta for now! 🙂
