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We place value on things. Its what makes us human. Since the dawn of bartering, paying a premium for something that has a cheaper equivalent has been a topic of intense debate. We all instinctively have our biases towards one side of the argument or another. Some of us will pay a premium for better quality or the perception of it. Some of us will not pay that premium and be happy with something that does the same thing, or at least is believed to do the same thing.

Its the same debate with designer shoes. Shoes, by their very place on our body, can be a plainly functional item. They are the closest contact with the ground, they cushion the repetitive fatigue on our joints and bones, and they keep our little toes warm when its cold out. They are an item that can become dirty and well worn. Yet, why do men and women alike see it fit to pay exorbitant amounts of money to buy premium or designer footwear when another shoe can do the same thing?

The answer isn't so simple. Disregard shoes built for a functional purpose like steel-toe boots or basketball high-tops. While there are premium work boots and premium basketball shoes, these can be worth the money since they have a direct relation to someone's well-being than a shoe made strictly as a fashion or designer item. Imagine telling a construction worker to take a shoe that can't withstand the weight of a dropped brick, or a basketball player to buy a shoe that does not protect him/her from rolling an ankle. Surely these 'needs' are different from wanting to be the first on the block with designer shoes.

Or are they? Maybe not. Ultimately, people will pay a premium for things that will allow them the most success or minimize risk to some aspect of themselves. In this case, its a pair of Jimmy Choos that are valued as keeping up someone's self-image, but it may as well be a BMW or a Gucci bag.

So the question of worth depends on how much someone values what the latest, greatest fashionable shoe does for their image, let alone actually function. We all instinctively place value on things like this or choose to economize and spend the money on other things. This is what capitalism allows us to do, and human nature directs us to do. Expensive or designer shoes are indeed worth it to the people that buy them, because we all define value and and worth on the items we buy.

Learn more about this author, E.P. Ventura.
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