They say I'm shoe-nuts

I have a confession to make. I have become a shoe maniac.

There was a time when I had a pair of shoes for every purpose: a pair for work, a pair for school,  a pair for dress up, and a pair for messy outdoor activities. When one of these pairs wore out, I'd replace it. Simple.

Nowadays, I look for new purposes just so I can have more shoes. I have dress shoes for wearing with pants, and dress shoes for wearing with skirts. I have dress shoes for looking professional and dress shoes for looking playful. I have low-heeled dress shoes for when my feet hurt and when my pants are too short. I have a pair of tennis shoes and am looking for another pair with thicker soles to wear with longer pants. I have work shoes for work. I have hiking boots and snow boots and high-heeled fashion boots. I am currently in the market for some low-heeled fashion boots, since they seem to be big this year and are quite practical. I have sandals for every purpose that I have enclosed shoes for. I do stick to neutral tones because they match everything, but I have one for each purpose in each of brown and black, and a few in grey for good measure. And if I had my druthers (and infinite money and storage space), I'd have all my shoes in a wild array of colors as well.

Every time I visit Facebook, I see an ad in my sidebar for a different site that offers you a personalized selection of shoes for 40$ a pair. And I keep clicking. Even though I rarely feel like spending 40 dollars on a single item, I keep signing up for these shoe clubs so I can drool over their selection.

Shoes this year are awesome. Aside from the prevalence of stilettos, which I object to more on safety principles than on any deep-seated aesthetic sensibility, I am enchanted with the trends. They've taken the cute 40s-inspired shoes of the early 2000's, crossed them with the glamour of the 80's, and come up with some pretty nifty picks (nifty being a term lifted from the 50's). I also see that the Ughs are finally taking a backseat to actually-functional snow boots that coincidentally look cute, too.

However, much as I want to own about half of all the shoes on the market, practical considerations say I can't have my druthers. So I will do second best and collect my favorite shoes here in a kind of personal gratification exhibit.

Some of them are so ridiculous (like the green glittery boots) that I could never wear them. Others have potential.

And if anyone wants to buy me some shoes for Christmas, I wear an 8½. Nine if half-sizes aren't available.