by Cynthia Nelson

Created on: February 12, 2009   Last Updated: June 04, 2009

I am a recovering shoe shopaholic. I have been in recovery for about 2 years, and I haven't suffered a relapse in over a year. What do I consider a relapse? Going shopping for a pair of shoes to compliment my brand new outfit, and then buying three or more pairs instead of one. It hasn't been easy, but I have learned how to just say no to a buy one, get one half off sale. In addition, I have also led a friend into the recovery process.

There is nothing like finding that perfect pair of shoes, ones that not only look great on your feet, but also are comfortable to wear. I currently do not know how many shoes I own, but I have been able to part with several pairs over the years. I think that I inherited my shoe bug from my mother, who taught me the importance of owning a great pair of pumps. Although she has gone on to be with the Lord, I still have her awesome shoe collection, and I have actually incorporated them into my own. I know in my heart that this is what she wanted, for me to look fabulous and to have the appropriate pair of shoes to match my outfits.

I spent most of my teens and adult life in denial that I had the shoe shopaholic bug. I remember when they found out that Imelda Marcos had over three hundred pairs of shoes. I really couldn't figure out at the time why that was such a problem, I just thought that she was a very wise and lucky woman to have so many shoes. I have been through all the phases that one can go through with this bug. First, I had a "leather only" phase, when I would only wear leather shoes and refused to shop in discount shoe stores. Then I went through the "I don't care what kind of shoe it is, I'm trying to build up my shoe collection" phase. I would buy any shoe that I thought was cute, shop all the shoe clearance racks, and even save up to buy a pricier pair of shoes. The last phase that I went through was the "unusual shoe color" phase. This phase was probably the most dangerous and risky phase of all. I would buy shoes in odd neutral colors so that they could match maybe one color in a multi-color outfit. This type of shoe behavior is so risky because there is a chance that your shoes simply won't match your outfit, and then you stick out like a sore thumb.

It was when I had a job standing for long periods of time that I realized I had a problem. Before, I had no issue buying uncomfortable shoes for the sake of fashion, because I didn't wear them for long periods of time. However, when I had to stand on my feet for eight hours, I realized that I had to change my destructive and costly shoe behavior. I gave away all of my shoes that were too little or too uncomfortable for me to wear. Then I started a criterion for buying shoes, if they hurt my feet, if I don't need them, and I can't afford them, leave them in the store.

Although I do not have any children, I try to stress to my nieces and other young ladies as much as I can about the importance of owning a great pair of shoes. However, I do warn them that shoes can become addictive. I just don't want them to make the mistakes I did in my youth-buying shoes too small for my feet and cramming my foot into them, wearing shoes that were extremely uncomfortable because they turned my outfit into an ensemble, and giving into the multicolor Reebok phase of the late 80's (they were a gift, don't judge me). If you think that you are infected with the shoe shopaholic bug, don't wait, please seek help!

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