Children of Heaven: For The Love of Shoes

We talk here all the time about shoes, and our shared love for them. We have discussed, at length, the comparative value of form vs. function and acknowledged that the love of shoes can be described as one of life’s great pleasures: sometimes honest, but quite frequently guilty.

However, we don’t often discuss the basic necessity of footwear. Jitterbugbaby touched on it recently in her post about WWII shoe-rationing. She explained that, during that time, people were allotted only 3 pairs of shoes per year. This reality led me to think about just how important shoes actually are. Regardless of how high or low, bedecked, bedazzled, or basic they are, they protect our feet from the elements and make it possible for us to transport ourselves from place to place. In the US, for most of us, we have pairs for all occasions.

Recently, I watched a wonderful Iranian movie called Children of Heaven. It tells a story of about a poor family with two young children in Tehran. Each family member has one pair of shoes, as shoes are an expensive commodity. One day Ali, the boy, takes his sister’s shoes to be repaired but loses them on the way home. The children know that the family cannot afford a new pair, so they share Ali’s shoes and try to figure out how to get another pair without telling their parents.

Though the protagonists are children, it is not a movie for children. Also, despite the setup, it is not depressing. It is a touching and beautifully done movie and was even nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1998.

Here is a clip of the first ten minutes of the film:

A Shoe Plea

Ok folks, in the midst of fashion week madness (we’re off to Paris next) I am going to interrupt with a personal plea for a little help in the shoe department.

This is the KORS by Michael Kors Brink Boot:

They are available in very limited sizes on bluefly.com in black and brown for $237 or 6pm for $195, a significant reduction from their original price of $395. These are my ideal winter boots. I absolutely love them and want to take them home with me and call them my very own. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find them in my size. They are actually from last year’s line of winter boots a la Lady Kors, so they are not easy to track down and a 9 or 9.5 has been completely unfindable.

So here is my plea: if you find them online or are in the greater NY area or even the greater San Francisco area (I’ll be there at the beginning of October) and your eagle eye spots these in black in a 9 or a 9.5, TELL ME! I know you shoe-lovers have a lot of secret hunting grounds that the average person does not know about. I am counting on you! (P.S. these boots run small, so if you do decide to pick up the remaining ones on Bluefly, be aware.)

If this post has given you an unsatisfied longing similar to mine, here is this year’s version of the boot, the Breck, also KORS by Michael Kors:

These are widely available at $425 (and unfortunately not on sale yet) in black leather, brown leather, and black patent. These are definitely awesome boots and would probably much more practical for the New York winter, but I never was a particularly practical girl.

Thanks in advance loyal shoeblog readers!

Ten Tips for Walking Comfortably in High Heels

Sergio Rossi Aisha Strauss; $799 at Zappos

Love the heels but can’t bear the pain? In the latest issue of Marie Claire, Sergio Rossi’s creative director Edmundo Castillo offers shoe advice for walking comfortably in high heels.

1. Change heel heights several times a day. Feet and legs shouldn’t be allowed to mold themselves to any one shoe shape.

2. Shoes are an emotional accessory; hurt your feet, hurt your feelings.

3. Befriend a salesperson who will tell you if a shoe will actually feel as good as it looks.

4. If you feel all the weight in the front of your foot, this heel’s your arch enemy — literally.

5. Your foot needs to sit in a shoe. If you can wedge two fingers between your sole and the shoe — bye-bye!

6. Platforms should be no more than one-and-a-half inches high — or you’re dangling off a cliff.

7. Think Cinderella: A heeled shoe must fit perfectly. Faking it with the wrong size will get ugly. (Hmm, I think Victoria ‘Posh’ Beckham didn’t get this memo. Didn’t she once say ‘If they don’t have my size I just stick toilet paper in…If that’s what it takes to get a nice shoe.’)

8. Don’t shoe shop with swollen feet — e.g., when it’s hot or right after exercise

9. To elongate your legs, ankle straps should sit above the ankle bone.

10. Still wobbling when you walk in your heels? Practice!

The advice makes practical sense to me. Well, except for #1. I’d love to change heel heights every hour but my shoe wardrobe is not extensive enough, my purse can barely fit my wallet and cell phone much less allow me to carry spare pairs, and my pant lengths would look goofy if I switched from a 6″ to a 1″ heel.

Shoe gifts!

Apart from the obvious (shoes, duh!), there is something else you can give that special friend, sister, mother, aunt, cousin, or grandma, who appreciates shoes as much as you do. Since shoe fit is such a delicate matter, you might be better off with a cute little trinket like this:

Shoe and handbag tic-tac-toe set is $65 at Neiman Marcus. True, nobody can really win this game…unless they get distracted by the rhinestones, silver plating, and general cuteness.

For something a little more practical, you can go for this set of two servers, shaped as a shoe and a handbag (but of course!):

The shoe and handbag servers are $50 at Neiman’s and they also come in silver (for$45).

Happy Christmas shopping, shoe lovers! We’ll be back with more shoemania in the gift department!

Ask the Shoebloggers

Here’s a recent inquiry from one of our readers who has a common problem.  Common enough, that I figured I’d share the answer with everyone here.

I’m in desperate need of your advice!  I recently purchased cute closed-toe pumps, which I tried on with the little nylon footies you get at the store; they fit perfect at the store.  I now tried them on with thin socks and my foot slips forward, allowing my heel to slip out the back when I walk.  A smaller size will not work – it’s too small in the toe box.  What do you suggest?  I’ve heard of a sticky pad of some sort that you can adhere to the inside of the shoe (in the heel part) – do these really work?  If so, which one do you recommend?

 

THANK YOU in advance for your help – I HATE to give up a pair of shoes that I fell in love with!