Canada's Top Shoe-aholic was almost me!

As of this post I have 158 pairs of shoes. It is sick and I know how fortunate I am to be able to own that many (although the people at the bank think otherwise). So when Town Shoes held their annual Shoe-aholic contest, I had to enter. I created a "Career Portfolio" on my shoe expertise and included the following essay. I didn't win first place, but I did make it to the semi-finals, thus justifying that someone out there thinks my shoe habit is an artform.
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“Sarah, Why do you love shoes so much?”

“What is your favourite pair?”

If I had a dime for every time I was asked those two questions…I would have 155 more pairs of shoes! I always tell people that I could have worst vices then shoes. Reality television. Married men. Math. But it doesn’t seem to satisfy their need to know, why I am different when it comes to what goes on my feet. So I took a moment to think about those questions and for once, I will answer them honestly and truthfully, because I know that no matter how many jokes are made at my expense, I love shoes. And the more I acknowledge this love that men think should not be named, the better Canada’s Top Shoe-aholic I will become.

My very first memory of shoes happened in kindergarten. When the class lined up to take a trip to the library, I was told that I could not go, because my laces were not tied. So I sat in the empty classroom, trying to tie my shoes. It was probably then and there that I realized sneakers were not for me. If there were kindergarten acceptable, animal print pumps available, I would have been wearing them.

I guess my love of shoes actually began in the eleventh grade and it coincided with my first pay cheque. The shoes that I bought had a chunky heel and they were made of corduroy. How different I thought! No one else would be wearing these, they had to be mine. Instantly, I loved them. They took my 5’0” frame up an inch or two and made me walk more confidently down the high school halls. By the time I graduated from high school I was up to 50 pairs and in my yearbook write up, printed for all eternity (and future grandkids) was written, that I would be “remembered for buying shoes.” Take that kid who was Mathlete of the year!

Soon 50 turned into 75 and 75 into 90. Each shoe as glorious as the next. My 100th pair of shoes were bought for only $9.99 at a store in a Las Vegas shopping mall (if I hear that anyone is going to Las Vegas I give them $10, tell them size 6.5 and I know that I will have a new pair of shoes when they return!) My milestone pair were metallic blue and fit like a dream. And even though the sales associate thought I was crazy when I asked for a picture with my new purchase, I was elated. Now I could walk the Vegas strip as confidently as I walked the high school corridors.

When I am asked to pick my favourite pair a smile always creeps across my face. Could Picasso pick a favourite painting? David Foster a favourite song? Why don’t you ask me to look up to the sky on a clear night and pick my favourite star? I have heels that were worn when my best friend got married (black cowboy boots. We were in Vegas, she wore sneakers. Its tedious work turning others into shoe-aholics!) My JLo shoes that I bought months in advance purely to knock people dead at my high school reunion. Or the Steve Maddens that were marked on sale while I was standing in front of them, that I would have been insane not to buy. My Nine West that were my first big shoe purchase. Or the pair that my very cynical and total opposite of me little sister, craves to ask me to borrow.

I guess I love shoes, because every time I put a pair on, they remind me of those around me. Of the good times we’ve had, of the stories I can tell because of them. It helps that the shoes make me taller, stand prouder, and walk more confidently. I have yet to find a sweater that does that and if I do, then I will need to find new shoes to go with it!