The Meaning of Shoes

Have you ever wondered about shoes? Not just about why women tend to have so many or why a man will buy the same pair again and again but rather about what shoes mean. I picked up this train of thought when I saw an ad for a pair of bright yellow, sling back, open toe high heels, very sexy, on sale, that I immediately lusted for. I certainly don’t need them. There are already about a hundred pair of shoes in my closet. I don’t have an outfit that would be perfected by them. In fact, if I bought these shoes, I’d have to shop for that perfect outfit. ..and I’d probably find another pair of shoes! Rinse and repeat.

For most of human history we got along without any shoes at all. Then, somewhere around 40,000 years ago, people began to wear basic sandals to protect their feet. By the time of the Egyptians, sandals had morphed from their role of prosaic pedal protectors to statements of social rank. The correlation of shoe style and social standing is as strong today as it was then although I am not aware of any current laws concerning who may wear what. Seriously, can you imagine being told by a police officer that it is against the law for you, a mere peon, to wear yellow or red or pointed or wide or high-heeled shoes or any shoes at all? Such laws have existed at one time or another in many societies. I remember my Italian aunts scolding us as children when we went barefoot, saying “You have shoes! Wear them!” Little did I realize that we were hearing the echoes of generations of Sicilian peasants.

When you choose a pair of shoes, do you think about what message you may be sending? After all, who wears socks and Birkenstocks? or Manolo Blahniks? or stilettos with shorts?

Even though the advent of mass production of shoes seems to have done away with proscriptions regarding who may wear them, giving those of us in the “developed” countries an almost unlimited selection, shoes remain more than just coverings for our feet. Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS Shoes, recognizes the importance of shoes. With shoes, people are able to walk long distances to get food, water and medical help. With shoes, people can avoid parasites and fungal infections. With shoes, children can go to school. As a model for social entrepreneurship, TOMS gives a new pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased. So far, the company has given more than 300,000 pairs of shoes to children in South America, Africa, the US and Haiti. There are also many charities to be found on the web which accept donations of shoes for people, children and adults, who need them.

So, before I give in to temptation and buy those sexy, yellow shoes, I am going to go through the ones I already own and give some of them away.