WHY do women love shoes??

[Cindy]

Interesting thread

OK I love shoe shopping and have more shoes than I need. Why shoes? Well believe it or not designers know that girls like new stuff all the time. The market is women driven and designers know. Go and buy guys shoes. You have a choice; shoe or shoe. Go to a girls shoe store you have choice. WoW they can change your mood, your look, your height. Out on glam heels with a short skirt/dress and you can hear guys drool. A nice sound in this context .  Nice jeans (read tight on the ass) boots and an innocent walk. Oh the drool sound again.
I'm over heels I want to wear flats, something pretty. OMG look at those  heels next to the flats they will be perfect for Alice's wedding, have to buy a dress to match them. Oh I've bought five pairs of shoes; Steve will not be happy. Mmm. I'll go to Victoria's Secrets, I'll have the cute bra and G-string. Go great with these heels.

Hi Stevie, want to watch the footy or see my new  lingerie fashion parade. (And if you say the footy you can forget sex for the the next century, at a minimum.) Oh it's the Superbowl? So?

 
"Honey" he says, " "Why do you keep buying sexy lingerie?" "You know I love you because you are you" 'Oh thanks honey, Oh BTW I need a knew dress and shoes for Alice's wedding' ' So I'll have to go to the Mall tomorrow, I'll probably need a clutch with the dress to match the shoes'  "OK Doll, I might watch the baseball" "When you look gorgeous tonight  in your new stuff, we'll go out for dinner tonight"


Cindy


Falling into Stevie's arms (sadly not true)

Cindy

[Mr. Fox]

Reasons for liking shoes seem obvious to me; they're pretty!  However, I had to think about why they excite me and many other people more than clothes often times.  Part of it is social conditioning; media messages always talk about women being obsessed with shoes above all else, and people are bound to buy into that.  However, I know that is not the sole (ha ha) reason for everyone.  I think it may be that you can wear shoes more often than clothes because you don't have to wash them, and they can become kind of you signature.  I have a few memorable outfits, but I am most well-known for my platform boots, and also I value them over any of my other things I wear.  I could wear them every day when I first got them, unlike a nice shirt or something, and that probably has something to do with why I like them.  Also, there is much more opportunity to have impractical attachements on shoes, like glitter or spikes.  They either don't work on other garments or are uncomfortable.  I think it's just a lot easier to have variety with shoes (hell, you can't have varying heel heights on anything else).  Well, there's my long musing on shoes.  And I'm not even a woman, but hell, I love shoes.  The number of pairs of shoes I own is in the double digits.  What I want is a shoe calendar I saw at B&N the other day.  365 pairs!  If I can't own them, I want to at least look at them.

[Mr. Fox]

Go and buy guys shoes. You have a choice; shoe or shoe. Go to a girls shoe store you have choice.

THIS.  It applies to men's and women's clothing in general, but in the context of this discussion, why would men be interested in shoes with the selection they get?  Looking at the men's section of shoes,  I can see no way to get excited (although some people do; "Omg, Air Jordans!" etc.  Hundreds of dollars for boring athletic shoes?  Especially when you're not an athlete?  Please.)

[Izumi]

Being a (straight) guy, I've pretty much avoided this whole board completely since the beginning, so I never thought I'd be starting a topic here!  But something someone said recently on another board reminded me of something I've always wondered.  Why on earth do women like shoes so much??  This is something I've never understood.  I predominantly wear two pairs of shoes.  One pair is used for work and in general places where sneakers aren't too acceptable.  Then I have sneakers for working out and in general any time I don't wear the work pair.  Sometimes I will wear sports sandals, but since it's winter I haven't worn them in a long time.

However, all the girls I know have a zillion pairs of shoes, at least one for every imaginable occasion.  Why?  It must not be to attract guys, because naturally we just don't notice women's feet.  Shelley explained in the other shoes thread why she likes high heels.  That sort of helps.  But, I thought I'd start this thread to hopefully discover the answer to one of the great mysteries in life!  Look forward to your replies. 

All the best,
Joseph

simple answer, some shoes doent work with the outfit your wearing.  You have as many pairs as you have outfits to go with them.  Women have a much broader variety of stuff to wear then men, and in so doing some things work and some things dont shoes included.  If you look at a woman typically everything goes together to present a full look to you, that takes planning.  Picture a girl in an elegant dress to go to the prom but she is wearing cowboy boots... doesnt really work does it.. even to a guy that wouldn't look right, so now you know.

[lovelove]

these days more men love shoes too

its all because women have soooo many diferent types of shoes SO many. and men dont have as much of a choice no where near same with clothing

but these days men have nicer clothing more adventerous, beautiful, better designed, flimsier showing more skin, tighter boots, flats, pumps trainers etc. no where near what they could have choice as a woman bt getting there

and obviously there are men and women that wear whatever the hell they want! theyre the best types of people

[V M]

I am so dieing for more shoes... But finding stuff I like in my size is such a challenge... I'm constantly looking at my outfits and thinking... This looks great but my shoes suck 

[kyril]

You folks have it backwards. It's not that men don't like clothes because the selection is limited. Stores will sell what people will buy - and nobody has found a way to successfully market fancy shoes to men. Not since this 15th-century fashion disaster, anyway:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poulaine

[pretty pauline]

I got an absolutely gorgeous dress 3weeks ago with a really cute pair of purple suede  heels, but now today I saw a similar pair on eBay only these had a ruffle with a pretty side bow and a matching bag, I just have to have them, don't care what they cost, I want them, very elegant and pretty, now the pair I got 3weeks ago, well they will just add to the rest of my shoe collection, just over 60pairs, I love shoes, don't get me going on bags, thats for another thread, and purses, all part of a woman looking good, beautifull and pretty.
Pauline

[Cindy]

I got an absolutely gorgeous dress 3weeks ago with a really cute pair of purple suede  heels, but now today I saw a similar pair on eBay only these had a ruffle with a pretty side bow and a matching bag, I just have to have them, don't care what they cost, I want them, very elegant and pretty, now the pair I got 3weeks ago, well they will just add to the rest of my shoe collection, just over 60pairs, I love shoes, don't get me going on bags, thats for another thread, and purses, all part of a woman looking good, beautifull and pretty.
Pauline

Sorry for this Went to a handbag discount store last weekend. Oh wow. I was going through a gorgeous red leather bag and and someone walked up to me and said Hi. It was one of my laser girls.  So we spent about an hour going through bags together. I hadn't realized that handbag shopping gets pretty intensive. Her partner looked as if he needed several flagons of strong booze to keep going. He was in the totally yes darling stage when he bought the bag she wanted, he almost paid for mine. A lesson learned.

Then to the shoe shops

Cindy

[marissak]

Being a (straight) guy, I've pretty much avoided this whole board completely since the beginning, so I never thought I'd be starting a topic here!  But something someone said recently on another board reminded me of something I've always wondered.  Why on earth do women like shoes so much??  This is something I've never understood.  I predominantly wear two pairs of shoes.
...

However, all the girls I know have a zillion pairs of shoes, at least one for every imaginable occasion.  Why?

Not sure if Joseph still checks this forum ... but I have been thinking about this question recently too.

When I lived as male, I had about 12-15 pairs of boys/mens shoes since childhood until now (I had about 2 at a time and I kept each shoe until it began to wear out badly).

In the last few years, I have bought over 50 pairs of shoes of all kinds (flats, evening heels, pumps, boots with heels, flat boots, boots of different lengths and colors, etc).

I have about 30 jackets/coats/cardigans/vests, about 20 dresses (only 4 of which are formal, 2 are sun dresses, 5 are sweater dresses, etc), 5 skirts, 8 pairs of jeans, 10 pairs of trousers/capris, and lots of tanks/camis/tops/tees/blouses/shirts. Each one is a different style and different color, and fits a different occasion. I can mix and match my clothes to create many different outfits.

And therein lay the explanation for my need to have so many shoes. Each outfit I come up with conveys a specific message about myself to the world around me, and I seem to be have been doing this sub-consciously. Each outfit I come up with needs a specific type of shoe to satisfy my inner (and perhaps anal) personal need of "matching". I need a matching shoe for my outfits. A shoe can match multiple outfits and an outfit can go with a few shoes. However, if I cannot find any matching shoe for a particular outfit, I tend to not wear that outfit.

[Elsa]

It makes us feel great having different styles of shoes ... while I did prefer women's shoes I felt like a total idiot that I would never be able wear one in public ... so I had to settle for guys shoes ... I have 4-6 pairs of shoes (sadly guys shoes ... but they are the athletic running/walking shoes type that even alot of women these days use... )

[justmeinoz]

Well, because you need them silly! 

[Fate]

May be your question should read ... do women care more about shoes that anything else...  And the answer to that question is quite easily demonstrated.

one of the 1st thing a women looks at women is what kind of shoes they are wearing
it really says alot of about them and how they are for that day
each shoe gives a diffrent feeling

so you need lots to match the outfit, and even more types depending on how your feeling on that day
its kind of like guys picking a cap to wear, why do guys have so many caps?

if a women wares the wrong pair of shoes she gets quite down
so its like a "feel good" item

without being too critial your more likly to get a better response from a normal female board rather than a trans one.

the trans reason: helps you pass much better (among other women)

basicly some clothes are intended to present to other women to look at, the some for men to look at
hence why women like to look at eachother's shoes

[Gina_Z]

Women like shoes because they are like works of art, cute, sexy, beautiful. We like our shoes because they are often very different from men's shoes. Men's pants are not that different from women's pants. Shoes can look very feminine. 

[LordKAT]

They don't. It is just an excuse to try to find a less painful shoe and still fit in as a member of the female variety.



OK, that is just my opinion.

[YBtheOutlaw]

one of the questions i asked myself before knowing i was trans was, why do i wear only one pair of shoes? given that my dad is a senior executive of the most popular shoe manufacturer in our country, all my life ive stuck to one pair of shoes at a time and worn it until it got worn off. yeah of course i had a pair of school shoes too.
my parents insist that i should buy more shoes and tell me to ask for any kind of shoe i prefer (not gents shoes, unisex ones ok though) as it is very rare i ask for one before my current one is too ugly to use anymore. so i thought i liked this pair of shoes and bought them, but wore it only once and went back to my old pair for no specific reason. my current ones are blue but i wear them with all colours of outfits. so its not just lack of options that i use only one pair.
yes ive always wondered why my friends were so thrilled about shoes and have hundreds of shoes. anyways i like it when girls wear nice shoes matching their outfit. i do notice them, maybe some others do too.

[Heather]

I don't know why I just do and I do love my shoes. Even when I was trying to be male I had to have as many shoes as I could have and always made sure my shoes went with what I was wearing. Now I think I'm even worse I buy shoes then will go out and buy outfits just for that pair.

[Horizon]

I kind of understand it, but it's not for me.  I love my Vans, and I'll wear anything from the New Balance Minimus series.  I could see myself buying some cute boots and flats one day, but I'm not that particularly motivated right meow.

Now bags and purses on the other hand...

Edit: OH, and hats!  I would own, like, a thousand different beanies if I could.