A Woman’s Right To Shoes.

There is a great scene in Sex And The City when Carrie’s ex-boyfriend Aiden gives her an ultimatum to either buy or move out of her long-time apartment. She can’t figure out why she doesn’t have the savings to purchase it? She’s worked hard all her life, she’s independent – what has she done with all her money?

The light bulb moment comes when Carrie does the maths and realises that the bulk of her wealth is actually inside her closet: “I’ve spent $40,000 on shoes and I have no place to live?” she says “I will literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes!”

That episode had women all around the globe pulling out their calculators and doing the same additions. Ten pairs of shoes a year at $200 a pair… No, make that 15 at $300 over 20 years – it’s at least a small car.

Apparently the excessive, Carrie-style purchasing of shoes is on the decline. A study reported in news.com.au revealed that the average Australian women buys just four pairs of shoes a year.

Wait. What? Who did they survey?

The research also suggested that 67% of respondents buy shoes on sale, 12% spend an average of more than $200 on a pair, while 76% spend $100 or less.

I’m not convinced that this is a true measurement of shoe consumption per (female) capita in this country. I wonder if the researchers made any allowances for Shoe Guilt? The part where women misrepresent shoe shopping habits in an effort to not feel utterly shameful about said behaviour. If they added that to the algorithm the numbers might dust up a little differently.

You see, women lie about shoes. All the time. We lie about how many we own, how many we’ve bought, how much they cost and how many pairs sit in a box unworn. Every woman* I know – without exception- has a thing for shoes. Even shoes that hurt their feet.

Lawyers, doctors, nurses, accountants, working mums, stay-at home mums, babysitters, grandmothers, the kind lady at the fruit market – we all love shoes and the rush we get when we buy a new pair.

Shoes are fashion crack. Highly addictive they provide the user with an instant gratification high like no other. It doesn’t matter what size you are, how your hair looks, what job you have – shoes won’t judge you like a pair of jeans will. It’s not about how much you spend on them or whether they’re stilettos or sneakers. Shoes don’t discriminate.

There’s some science behind it with experts agreeing that women can/do experience an absolute physiological response when shopping. The neurotransmitter dopamine is released into the brain flooding it with a feel-good high that intensifies all the way up to the actual purchase.

When it comes to shoes this ‘high’ lasts longer than it does with other similar retail purchases which explains why some women occasionally swap relationships, food and even sex in favour of a pair of Jimmy Choos.

I’m definitely guilty of using shoe shopping in the same way that others might use therapists. Feel bad. Buy a shoe. Feel really bad. Buy a couple of pairs of shoes. It’s an incredibly flawed coping strategy and one I’ve managed to grow out of as I’ve grown up.

Interestingly the survey showed a direct correlation between shoe purchase and age with the total amount spent on shoes every year falling: 25 to 34-year-olds spend about $333, 35 to 59-year-olds spend $312 annually, while those over 60 spend $205 every year.

Had the survey asked women how they felt about shoes I know that a large percentage would have ticked the ‘happy’ box. It’s not meaningful or permanent but it’s the truth. This feeling was illustrated perfectly by my girlfriend in an email she sent me one afternoon.

She wrote: I’ve just found a young shoe designer in Melbourne who is a GENIUS. I bought a pair of blue, ice-skater moulded boots which I love so much that I just wore them to the dog park with Pop. Even though they should really only be worn on carpet. Or in a shrine. It’s the biggest fashion high I’ve had in years. I shall sleep with them tonight.

* I realise that I cannot speak for every woman so I am choosing to just talk about every woman that I know. Deep down I accept that there are some women who prefer handbags.