My First Heels

I would love to start collecting shoe stories- stories of women and their relationships with their shoes! So I'm starting with my shoes. My father bought me my very first pair of high heels when I was around ten years old. I might have been younger, I'm not sure. I don't remember if we were at a shoe store in the North Dartmouth mall or at the now departed store Ann & Hope, near where we lived. We were looking at shoes for me and I spotted a pair of light gray heels in my size. My dad said that it was about time I learned to walk in heels and he bought them for me. I don't remember how high the heels were- they probably weren't very high, but they were definitely the highest heel I had ever owned. Before that, I would clomp around in my mother's high heels when I played dress up. I was so happy to have the new shoes. I don't remember ever actually wearing them out in public, but I would definitely parade around the house, very proud of my grown up shoes!

One of the shoe memories that stands out the most was when I was learning to tie my laces. I'm not sure how old most kids are when they master the art of tying their shoes, but I have a feeling it took me longer than most kids. I remember wearing a pair of black patent leather shoes with blue laces to school. I was going to school in Providence, RI at the time- we had recently moved from London, I was around 6 years old. We had to change into sneakers for gym class and I was terrified because that meant that I had to retie my shoe laces when I put my black shoes back on. I tried to take my shoes off without untying my laces, but that didn't work. I remember sitting on a bench, struggling to tie my shoe laces. I was getting upset and probably mortified that I couldn't tie them properly, when all of a sudden a teacher came over and knelt down in front of me and tied my shoes for me. I remember her saying how I needed to learn to tie them myself, she said it in a nice way though. I was so grateful for her help. I probably did learn to tie my shoes soon after that. I'll always remember sitting on the bench, leaning over, trying to get them tied and help miraculously arriving- I can still remember the relief I felt, all these years later.

Well, this is the start of my shoe stories. I want to start hearing your stories too! We are going to have a section on our website where people can share. I think it would be wonderful to hear about women and their shoes! Until next time..