From the first time human skin set foot on frigid snow or sun scorched sand it was clear to us as a species that bare feet simply WOULD NOT DO! It was then that the evolution of foot wear began. Born from necessity, the first shoes were nothing more than leather,fur and twine fashioned into a hap-hazard sheath from the elements. For centuries after this simple yet effective remedy was "good enough", but soon the world would change. With shifting style, status, and social standing our footwear had no choice but to change as well. After all we can't have women in elaborate gowns going to balls in fuzzy slippers made by cave men. From this point shoes changed primarily for function and occasion but still fell into two primary categories: work, and play. Vibrant colors and patterns were something of little importance as long as the shoe was fitting for the reason it was being worn. While the evolution continued, progress was slow. It wasn't until the untamed, unspeakable, UNCONCIENABL and risque "high heel" was introduced to the underground world of foot fetish film making and photography that modern foot wear really took on a life of its own. It was in this back alley basement discovery that self expression through footwear was truly  born.

History is filled with repression, judgment and fear. It has been a long road for women to prove our place in the world we live in. The right to self expression has replaced our genders suppression. Through blood, sweat, and tears we have earned our right to walk, talk, and dress how we want and where we want. There are many things in life that now allow us to express our selves: our jobs, our homes, our hobbies... but there is nothing that gives a woman the same feeling as admiring that one pair of shoes in the window day after day. Until you can finally call them yours as you slip them on your feet for the first time. Slowly savoring the sensation as you commit every texture and every seam to memory.

      A new pair of shoes represents many things, and the partnership between the shoes and the feet that wear them represents even more. As you remove your old shoes that were once shiny with that "new leather" smell you remember the day you bought them and how you felt the same as you do now. You remember all the places you and your shoes have gone together... And how many things you would never have experienced with out them. As you set them aside you feel a sense of bittersweet sadness which is subtly replaced by that same sense of excitement and renewal that you felt so long ago. will people see you differently with different shoes? Will you finally get that job that you have waited for, for so long? Will these shoes finally make him notice your legs? The world seems some how new... A little brighter with more possibilities. Even if only for a little while, you walk away feeling better about life. You think: "These shoes will take me some where!"

       Many would call this article "Materialistic", but in my opinion: The truth is that our shoes... Like our dogs have integrated them selves into our lives, and our lives would not have near the quality that they do now, if it were not for our shoes. Your shoes accompany you when you take your first steps. Your shoes are there on your first day of school, your first date, your first interview, Always pushing you forward, encouraging you, and giving you confidence. Your shoes are there to walk you down the isle on your wedding day and they are there to carry you home in the rain after a night gone bad. Our footwear becomes such an important part of out lives that they are surpassed by few other things and yet go completely unnoticed and taken for granted. It is their boots that carry our men to work and courageously carry us into battle... and when many others have quit or have fallen, it is out boots that carry us safely home. So all I ask is that the next time you strap your shoes to your feet, take a moment to appreciate what they really do for you. Though each pair may come and go, the presence of shoes in our lives is irreplaceable. You don't hear people wishing to be buried with their lap tops or their car keys but one phrase we have all heard and will hear again is: "I want to die with my boots ON!"