Shoe Club--what a brilliant idea!

[jitterbugbaby]

We are just rolling in the fun shoe news today.

The Boston Globe has an article about Shoe Club, an organization started by Melissa O'Shea in Boston, that has now expanded to include chapters in Atlanta, Chicago, and Naples, Florida.

The long and short of it is that when Melissa moved to London, she started seriously beefing up her shoe collection, and found that when she moved back to Boston she didn't have the same kind of occasion to wear all her beautiful babies. So, she started this meet-up where women all put on their glam shoes and go out for a meal and a chat about their shoes, so they not only get to share footwear stories, but they get to try out area restaurants, too.

Brilliant!

They also have delicious things like private shopping events listed on their website, which has a calendar of events for all the different clubs.

For our Shoeblog/Shoeforum readers in those cities, if you are a member of Shoe Club (or go become one free of charge after reading this), please please report back so we can all live vicariously in your shoe-sharing society stories.

[Nemtynakht]

I think that's a fun idea. I have several pairs of shoes that would love to see the light of day.

Another thing I keep seeing, and I'm sorry that I have no more information than a very vague reference, is a recent book about a shoe addict (it's on the front table every time I've been to our local Barnes & Noble in the past few weeks). The plot motivator in this book seems to be a woman who puts an ad out looking for people to "share" her shoe collection -- women all of the same size who will rotate through shoes to maximize their collections at minimum expense. My boyfriend laughed at me when I got quite disgusted by the premise of this book. I don't share my shoes. Loan them occasionally? Perhaps. Have only partial ownership in my beauties? As if. As any true collector, it's the owning them -- and not as much the using them -- that's importan.

[shoesense]

I agree! I HATE the idea of sharing my shoes (and I've never done it, nor would I borrow shoes from somebody else). I did give away shoes, but to people who didn't mind that (and in all honesty, they were hardly used). So yeah. But I do like the idea of a shoe club, I have a few shoes I almost never wear.

As for that book, Tracy--I'd love to see it, but I have not idea what it is.

[Nemtynakht]

Hopefully it's off the front table at B&N by now, but I think I found it:
Barnes*&*Noble.com - Books: Shoe Addicts Anonymous, by Beth Harbison, Hardcover

It's called, creatively, Shoe Addicts Anonymous. I have to say, I am mildly curious about reading it now... but I'm a total reading **** and I'll read absolutely anything, so that doesn't say much.