Shoes Are The Window Into A Woman's (Fashion) Soul

Mary Gordon, a professor I once had, wisely said that the first thing she notices on a woman is her shoes. And if you profess to have any interest in fashion, chances are you care about what simultaneously separates and connects you to earth. The Chinese bound a woman's feet because they intuitively knew that that was the one part of a woman's body that gave her total control; movement, after all, implies freedom and self-determination.

So it is not flippantly that I declare that each woman's shoe wardrobe reveals an essential part of her person: what she uses to ground herself, to move herself, and to express herself. While these categories are fluid, they are useful defining tools:

The Practical Woman:
WEARS pumps, sneakers, clogs, wedges, flats, or boots
PRIMARY MOTIVE: comfort and/or need (a business woman needs pumps; a doctor needs sneakers)
BRANDS: Manolos, Pumas, Cole Haan, Aerosoles, Christian Louboutin


The Fanciful Woman:
WEARS: platforms, sandals, thigh-or knee-high boots, booties
PRIMARY MOTIVE: aesthetics
BRANDS: Miu Miu, Prada, Chloe, Giuseppe Zanotti, Dolce and Gabbana

The Feminine Woman:
WEARS: peep-toe pumps and sandals, slingbacks, knee-high boots, ballerina flats, Mary Janes
PRIMARY MOTIVE: beauty
BRANDS: Kate Spade, Oscar de la Renta, Pedro Garcia, Prada, Delman

The Rebellious Woman:
WEARS: platforms, stilettos, thigh-high boots, booties
PRIMARY MOTIVE: statements/looking fierce
BRANDS: Yves Saint Laurent, Fendi, Gucci, Chloe

The Conservative Woman:
WEARS: pumps, kitten heels, flats, slingbacks, D'Orsays
PRIMARY MOTIVE: classiness
BRANDS: Tods, Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik