A pair Affair!

"I still have my feet on the ground, I just wear better shoes."-Oprah Winfrey

Usually I blog about home projects, decor, and interior inspiration. Tonight I am writing about a conversation that I had with a special man who couldn't understand why a women would spend a large amount of money on a pair of shoes. Men and women are different in several respects, but the moment you get on to the subject of shoes, a chasm opens between the two sexes; it's only for some women that shoes become an all-consuming obsession.


To some women a beautiful pair of shoes is a piece of art. Other women would rather spend money on weekly manicures/pedicures, jewelry, or whatever. Call it materialistic or a love for fashion, but I look at my shoe collection in the same way a collector looks at her art collection. I am lucky to have found a fabulous group of friends who share the passion for shoes as I do.... enough to share a symbolic photograph on facebook of my designer heels thrown on the floor after a long night of holiday entertaining....now that's mutual appreciation. I also remember my wedding day, asking my photographer to take a good shot of my heels. After all, they literally carried me through the most magical day of my life.

A lot of living life is as simple and clean as standing as tall as possible — not lying on your back, letting things come to you.

Our intimate relationship with shoes begins shortly after we learn to walk. As soon as we want to feel "grown-up," we slip on a pair of our mother's or grandmother's shoes high heels, instantly heightening our sense of what it means to be female. I will never forget my grandmother, "meme", and her endless sea of colorful shoes. I just admired her beauty, class, and style.  And then what happens? We grow up and get to be the same size as Mommy and our personality begins to assert itself with the first independent purchase of shoes. As adults, we ask shoes to be our representatives. At any given moment, they are indicators of our age, mood and desires. I openly admit that fabulous pair of heels make me feel powerful and attractive.

For a long time, the obsession with luxury shoes has been the prerogative of a select tribe of actresses, socialites, "It-girls" and millionairesses whose members could be identified by the accessories with which they adorned themselves. Their distinguishing tattoos were the label - Hermes, Gucci, Caovilla, Ferragamo, Blahnik, Laboutin - which they procured by putting their names down on the special waiting lists of international boutiques.

But what was once the preserve of the elite has turned into a trend for the masses.

My favorite designer:

Christian Louboutin. Far from a pop culture icon or fleeting Hollywood darling, this couture designer is the essence of inspired footwear.

Born a Parisian in 1963, Christian Louboutin grew up heavily influenced from a natural source, like that of his three sisters. However, the first true lightening bolt came in 1976, while at the Musee des Arts Africains et Oceaniens in Paris. What was this inspiration you ask?  A rare jewel? Perhaps a magnificent shield or sword hilt. Alas, the inspiration that catapulted the creative mind of Christian Louboutin into overdrive was much more basic.

As the story goes, a sign forbidding the wearing of ‘spiked’ heels, or stilettos was posted at the museum to deter damage to the wood floors.  Upon seeing this, Louboutin became fascinated and indeed obsessed with these shoes and sketching them.  In fact, Christian was so enthralled by sketching stiletto heels that his attention would become devoted entirely to this pursuit and he would ultimately be expelled from four schools (source).

A formal academic education is not always the best route to creative pursuits. Design training combined with travels around the world to Egypt and India would become the major influence and foundation of the elaborate designs for which Louboutin is known.

One of the most intriguing parts of the Christian Louboutin story is the origin of the infamous red soles.  The actual story varies slightly depending on the source, but most versions go something like this: When looking at one of his sketches, Louboutin felt something essential was missing.  Inspired by the scarlet nail polish of his assistant, he painted the sole of the sketch with the very same red.  Voila!  Instant trademark and “an element of flirt” according to the man himself. 

Other fascinating aspect of the Christian Loboutin story are the sources of his inspiration and his alternately quirky and down-to earth personality. This trapeze-flying, yacht-owning individual also rides a humble vespa to work and professes not to own a television. This is an interesting dichotomy Louboutin who can count media mogul Oprah Winfrey among his devotees.