Shoes.
From pumps to sneakers, I have yet to meet a woman that has absolutely no love for a good pair of shoes. Here are a few interesting facts that you may not know:
Women spend about 18billion a year on shoes. A woman will spend about $25,000 in her lifetime.
They say, "If the shoe fits...buy it in every color."
Typically, women buy for emotional reasons and create memories around what they buy, marking time, place, people, significant moments by their shoes. I remember the very first pair of shoes my husband bought me near the end of our engagement. They were chocolate with kitten heels and ankle straps. He bought a dress to match them. It was a clue to how he thought of me and also clued me in that he had very good taste!
Shoes are one place where comfort can meet style.- SAC
Shoes have a long history, including a Biblical one:
In Isaiah 3:16, women so loved shoes. In the Song of Solomon 7:1 men recognize them too :). In the book of Ruth, shoes were used as a way to conduct legal transactions between men, symbolizing ownership.
Historically, heels were invented by jealous husbands who hoped the cumbersome movement would make illicit relations difficult according to a 15th century scholar on heels. (and we know how that turned out!) Heels have also been invented out of lack and desperation. Cork wedge shoes came from a #shortage of material. Salvatore Ferragamo sewed wine corks together when he ran out of leather.
There are many suggestive ways that shoes have been programmed into the psyche to "matter" to young girls who ultimately grow into Young Women:
Cinderella- glass slipper that must fit the princess
Woman who lived in a shoe (not store)- Nursery Rhymes
Dorothy- the red shoes that would take her back home
Those shoes became an Iconic prop when they were changed from gray to red.
Yes, we have been trained by our culture that "clothes make the man and shoes make the woman".
In fact, 80% of women suffer from some type of foot pain, some the direct result of trying to make a shoe fit that doesn't, much like Cinderella's stepsisters.
Some practical tips about shoes?
Don't buy shoes you can't return & rotate your shoes so they will last longer.
So, whose got the largest closet?
Author Danielle Steele has the largest known collection in US right now with #6,000 pairs
What do retailers know about Women and Shoes?
The most direct route to a woman's heart is often through shoes. Loyalty to a store starts with the shoe department. - Terry Lundgren, Macy's Chairman & CEO
The world of shoes is vast, and for some it has created the perfect place to build an idol. Consider these verses:
For we walk by faith and not by sight - 2 Cor 5:7
You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess. - Deut. 5:33
Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me. Psalms 119:133
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2:10
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? -Micah 6:8
Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. -Genesis 5:24
Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. -Romans 13:13
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.- Galatians 5:16
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 2 Peter 2:21
Walk worthy of the calling you have recieved- Ephesians 4:1
Like seeking out the perfect shoe that looks and feels great, we must put the same effort into walking out our lives in a way that is pleasing to God. Our standards should be higher than our heels, and we should engage in nothing that causes us to stumble. There's nothing wrong with a good pair of shoes, but there is something great about having a spiritual walk that matches!
Keep your mind open today, Ladies!
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