Some Cute Shoes, Dammit.

A couple of days ago, I sent my beloved sister a photo of two new pairs of shoes I had just bought, and she told me that I had a disease.  A shoe disease.

It is possible that she's right.

But I would like to point out that I don't have an expensive shoe disease.  That is, I buy too many shoes, but I don't buy expensive shoes.  In fact, when I found out that there were actually people in the world who spent more than $100 on a pair of shoes, that, in fact, some people spend five or ten times that amount on one single pair of shoes, I was appalled.  I mean, do you know how many books I could buy for that?!  Exactly.

So I buy fairly inexpensive shoes or moderately priced shoes at a deep discount.  Shoes that cost less than $50 (sometimes, much less) are my kind of shoes.  Of course, this does cause some embarrassment.  Have you ever been to one of those markets where they sell shoes for a social or political cause?  Either the shoes are made of recycled surfboards or tires, or each pair of shoes puts a village through school or helps bring fresh water to the desert...you know what I mean, right?  If you're a concerned global citizen, it can be difficult to resist these shoes because not only do you get that little glow from doing good, but you get to wear the shoes around so that other concerned global citizens can give you the nod of recognition that boosts that little glow.

However, I have to admit that I never buy those shoes.  First, most of them are not cute shoes.  They are often weird, shapeless things that look like something I could sew myself (which I can't, of course).  But even the cute ones cost more than $50.  And therefore if I bought a pair, instead of feeling the little glow of satisfaction from fighting world hunger by buying shoes, I'd also feel the little spurt of nausea about spending too much money on shoes I don't even like.

Which leaves me with the glowing nausea.  Ick.  So I end up sneaking past those booths with the global citizen shoes, trying not to make eye contact with the earnest salespeople.

And I go buy the global citizen jewelry instead.  But that's a topic for a future post.

Now, some among you are thinking, "Okay, I get it.  You're one of those people who also won't buy the eco-friendly coffee just because it's five times the price of other coffee, right?  Do you understand that your consumerism is destroying the planet?!"  To which I reply, I'm not allowed to drink coffee anymore, and I recycle and drive a car that gets really good mileage, and I don't buy water in bottles, so lay the frak off, okay?  I like cute shoes, dammit.

Now that I've gotten that out, here are ten randomly chosen pairs of my inexpensive shoes for you to enjoy and/or ridicule.

1. Shoes that make me feel like I have wookie feet:

2. The closest I get to those ugly flipflops that I wish would go out of fashion:

3. Funky flower shoes that make me think of the 1970s, except not really:

4. Sandal boots that are inappropriate for both hot and cold weather:

5. You would think that sage green shoes wouldn't go with anything, but then you find out that they go with everything:

6.  Comfy shoes that make me wiggle my toes in joy:

7.  Rainbow shoes that I've almost worn out:

8. Shoes with puffy bow-things that make me think of 1950s slippers, except not:

9.  Another almost flipflops, but much cuter than those ugly rainbow things and not as cheap-looking as the weird sparkly ones:

10.  Oh, and taupe wedges!  Taupe, which is an awesome color for shoes, unlike nude which looks creepy: