80 May 2014 www.womanthismonth.com she says Shoes, Glorious Shoes! by BEHNAZ SANJANA A woman with good shoes is never ugly, said Coco Chanel. What’s more, they can give you a ‘high’ that’s totally carb-free! I recently came across an article that attempted to figure out a woman’s ‘type’ by the shoes she wears. It slotted women into different personalities depending on whether she chose wedges over ballet flats, and frankly, it made me roll my eyes. Well, which woman sticks to only one kind of footwear? When we run about the daily grind, we summon our sneakers or slip-ons. Wouldn’t it look completely ridiculous to be tottering about in a pair of Louboutins at 7am at the kids’ school (unless of course you’re Victoria Beckham)? Speaking of which, although I don’t own a pair of those scarlet-soled jewels for the feet, I am secretly saving up for one. (Don’t tell my husband! He just won’t get it.) A shoe is a shoe is a shoe, right? Wrong! Shoes have the power to make a woman look stylish if she’s dressed in a gunny sack. Black patent leather heels and a gunny sack — I can totally see myself rocking the annual ‘Save The Earth’ gala. To drive home the point, the iconic Marilyn Monroe once said, “Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world.” Well, at the very least, a great pair definitely makes up for a bad hair day. Even though I may be in thrift mode at most times, a new pair is in order on every birthday. I may not opt for a wardrobe overhaul or a five-star dinner, but new shoes are a staple. They don’t have to come in a Saks Fifth Avenue bag; the friendly neighbourhood mall will do. My birthday shoes are an affirmation that it doesn’t matter if my dress size changes over the years, or if I’m grey and wrinkly. My shoes will still fit perfectly. That’s why I treat my special pairs with utmost TLC — even more so than my clothes. It’s true that our shoes are the first things that are noticed by others. Whether I dash past someone eye-catching at the mall or I stop to chat with a familiar face, my eyes involuntarily glance at their footwear. It’s been a childhood fetish — a shoe-related obsessive compulsive disorder. And what I find most challenging is to discreetly catch a glimpse of the wedges or stilettos under a swishing abaya; those are often the most swoon-worthy pairs I encounter. I have got to hand it to the panache of Middle Eastern women, who take their traditional flair to new heights (pun intended). So like Shakespeare proclaimed that “clothes maketh a man”, I say “shoes maketh a woman”.
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