walk a mile in mine. they've got four-inch heels.

never, ever, ever underestimate the power of a good pair of shoes.

maybe it's a pisces thing (we do, after all, have a raging foot fetish), but i personally believe that nothing makes you feel like a sexier beast than a really, really fabulous pair of shoes. (well, maybe a heap of confidence and self-assurance, but those are out of the frame for this particular tirade)

i was thinking about this last night as i was strutting my way to bar reis for a little social r and r on its stupendous back patio, wearing these black sandals i have (open-toed mules with a kitten heel, for you fashion whores out there)...and i realized that frequently, when i go out, it is all a question of the shoe that determines whether it is a strawberry bitch cake night or a frumpy i-am-too-horrible-to-talk-to-anyone kind of night. stiletto boots: sexy. motorcycle boots: not so much. badass, but not sexy.

okay, so it's a crutch. i know this. i know that i should be utterly fabulous whether i'm wearing a cocktail dress or a burlap sack. to think otherwise is shallow...but to be honest, fabulous shoes have been a really big part of my growing up process. i started learning how to walk in them without falling flat on my ass when i started job hunting. by the time i'd gotten myself a job, i had declared victory over the high-heel traipse. i learned that my neighborhood was not in fact a scary place to walk around at night while fortified by giant, terrfying spice girl sneakers (they make me very tall and very hardcore). i was wearing my highest heels on september 11, when i came to the conclusion that if i can hurdle a park bench in three and a half inch heels, i can bloody well do just about anything.

the amazing shoe is a hallmark of my passage into adulthood and self-confidence...and that's pretty sexy, think. that's why great shoes give me all the power in the world, whether it's a giant heel or a giant motorcycle boot. they remind me that, somewhere deep inside, underneath all the insecurity and the self-loathing, I CAN BE FABULOUS.i just need to be reminded occasionally.

and there you go.