I Could Be My Shoe

I COULD BE MY SHOE (The Shoe Psychology)

It is important that we clothe our feet. When humans came to understand this need, I’m pretty sure they had no idea a much deeper need will stir up within them as a result of this discovery. We no longer just clothe our feet these days, but say who we are, what we do, what we like and even get others to know how our feet are shaped by the kind of foot wears we rock.

Foot wears can tell what weather it is, the story of our culture, where we’re going, if there’s an emergency, the kind of job we do, what festival it is and even how much we’re worth. A person’s shoe can tell you a whole lot about them and even go a little further to tell us a bit of what they think. Ok, I know I might have gone too far with my hype and talk about “the shoe psychology” but if you take an honest look at my statements above you would agree that I tell no lie.

Many Nigerians are fashionable fashion lovers who could give their last penny to come out right. Although some might choose to disagree, an average Nigerian would surely be dressed sweetly to church, a wedding or any other occasion. We all have our unique styles and though not all of us attend church, those that do grace the church with their presence. You’d have women in fancy slip-ons, sandals, shoes and slippers with a clutch bag, purse or hand bag to match or fit. Ladies in flat ballerina shoes, wedge heel sandals or shoes, stiletto heels, gladiator sandals or bootie shoes will have you stretching your neck to catch a glimpse. Guys on the other hand grace their feet with palm slippers, converses, chocks, high tops or any other kind of snickers laced with different colours of ropes to jazz up their appearance.

People wear different kinds of foot wears and tend to express their selves in them. Some women like me who have big flat feet (many Nigerian women do) prefer to walk in flat shoes like ballerina shoes, matted sandals or any simple cover shoe that would hold each foot together and allow us experience comfort in them. The story is however different for the hot chicks. They prefer to follow fashion trends and would wear nice chic flat sandals or slippers for casual outings, stiletto or wedge heeled shoes/sandals to work, weddings or parties. A few other women would wear anything (even a guy’s palm slippers or shoe) as long as they feel comfortable in them and can walk as haphazardly as they want to. They last category of females love fashion and want to look stylish but don’t know how to so they most times find themselves breeching one fashion code or another.

Nigeria is a place wear people like to get creative a lot and dare fashion. Boots hardly sell well here because the weather wouldn’t make you look sane wearing them. Ballerina shoes aren’t a crazy here either because unless its worn with a pair of socks (which many ladies feel odd wearing by the way,) no one really likes to see their toes stick out of their shoe. Besides although ballet is popular amongst us, we hardly really get the time, reason or opportunity to dance it anyways.

High heeled shoes and sandals work okay here but many ladies still find it hard to walk in them because of the topography of stony, bumpy, pot holed and generally bad roads. Those that rock heels against the odds remember to carry an extra pair of flat shoes or slippers in their hand bag or car as insurance.