How Many Red Shoes Are Enough?

Just how many pairs of red shoes do you think it reasonable for a girl to have? One? Two? How about 17?

Quite a while ago Wittner, an Australian shoe brand whose page I liked on Facebook posed a question about closet space for shoes under a photo that featured quite a few pairs in the colour red. One fan asked in turn, ‘Why would you need more than one pair of red shoes?’

Foolish woman, I thought immediately. She obviously has no soul. (Pardon the pun. Sadly I don’t have any red soles either – Christian Louboutins, I mean.) But red shoes I have aplenty. The ballet dancer, played by Moira Shearer in the 1948 film The Red Shoes only had one pair – that was plenty for her. She couldn’t take them off and danced herself to death. The film was based on Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytale of the same name – the girl in that story had to get her feet chopped off to escape her doom.

Red is the colour of passion, love, joy, celebration and ceremony …

There’s just something about them that thrills me with delight. Red shoes have been my most beloved accessory, ever since I can remember. Red is the colour of passion, love, joy, celebration and ceremony. The word, in Russian, is close to the word for ‘beautiful’. It is also the colour of warning, anger, and danger (as the aforementioned doomed heroines found out). My shoes have never led me astray, however.

Click image and jump through to Polyvore for shopping detailsMy current favourite pairs are the red glitter Mary-Janes, and the red suede T-bar peep-toes. Both are by Wittner, incidentally. Once upon a time though I owned a pair of red three-quarter patent boots that I loved passionately. They had suede tassels that dangled at the sides, like boots that should properly be worn by a drummer-girl, or circus performer. Tragically, they went the way of all well-loved shoes: they wore out. Fortunately before my feet did.