Huntress Extraordinaire

This one is really about me, every now and then I think in the course of events we should reveal something about ourselves that makes the person behind the words more real. So, this one is about one small facet of my personality, one quirk.

I am an excellent huntress. No, I don’t hunt to feed my family. I don’t hunt Bambi for sport either. I don’t pay ridiculous sums of money to spend time on hunting ranches so others can herd turkey’s or boar to my blind where I can shoot them at will and later beat my chest at my prowess. I don’t squat in dank fields and shoot duck, pheasant or an occasional hapless friend either. I am nonetheless an extraordinarily talented huntress.

Are you curious yet what I hunt? Scratching your head and thinking to yourself, well what in the hades could this woman possibly be talking about if she doesn’t do any of the above. What would a woman of sound mind and reasonable intelligence hunt?

My prey of choice trips beautifully across the page.

Christian Louboutin	Gianmarco Lorenz	Marc Jacobs

That’s correct; my quarry the perfectly crafted towering high-heeled shoes. Though I favor stiletto’s I am not adverse to other forms, such as that lovely Marc Jacobs platform that simply screams my name and ‘Buy Me’ in a single breadth.

As you stare at these architectural beauties are you thinking to yourself, what is this woman talking about; shoes are not prey they are not a worthy adversary of the hunt. If you are thinking that you must be a man and I beg to differ with you. Shoes are indeed worthy prey requiring the commitment, skill and dedication of a hunter did they not I would never be the owner of so many trophy shoes, my collection would be much smaller than it is today; the soles worn away from far too much use.

Being a ‘girly girl’ for most of my life at least in my love shoes, I come by my hunting skills from long and dedicated practice. My fascination with shoes started young, my love of a grand towering perfectly crafted shoe simply pushes my avarice into high gear and my hunting instinct into overdrive. Lest you think I am deranged in my lust for these often-tortuous fashion accessories let me provide just a bit of background.

In my childhood, I wanted to dance, not just any dance but ballet. I loved the movement, the music and even my teachers who were in retrospect not often kind or welcoming. More importantly, to the issue of shoes though, I loved how I felt when the class was over and I took off my shoes. I loved that feeling of release and relief after two hours en pointe, with toes and arches brutalized, to finally relax and remove those sometimes-bloody slippers.  There was something learned that stayed, something masochistic perhaps that created the great hunter I am today.

Roger and Frances	Goggle	4 Photo Net

That brings us to the idea of hunting shoes as game, as an Art even. How does one hunt shoes? First, you have to know your target, your prime hunting grounds and your resources for the hunt. While Louboutin might be the dream prey realistically, these shoes don’t trip across our sights all that often. To be an expert hunter, to truly be in the game you will want to do the following:

1. Know your style preference
2. Know your designers, at every price tier and know what size you wear
3. Know your retail markets both brick and mortar and on-line
4. Sign up for all the preferred member clubs, sign up for e-mail notifications and shop there first
5. Know what you are shopping for when you shop, don’t just browse on a hope and a dream shop with purpose

Keep in mind you are shopping big game and others are out there competing for those very same beautiful shoes. You aren’t visiting your local Kohl’s, Baker or Payless; you have upped the ante you are in the big time now. You are hunting big game for the lowest price you can find.

Nordstrom Loeffler Randall		DSW Marc by Marc Jacobs
Retail: $625 Rack: $199		Retail: $350 DSW: $94
65% Discount			73% Discount

Just two examples of what you can do when you hunt carefully. My favorite hunting grounds you ask, that is easy;

1. DSW, Designer sale on-line and everything else Brick and Mortar
2. Nordstrom Rack, the designer racks first than the remainder
3. Neiman Marcus Last Call
4. Zappos

There are others of course, but the above are my favorites.

There are some other rules to hunting shoes. First, don’t be obsessive. Really at the end of the day they are just shoes, albeit beautiful and fun; we walk in them, dance in them, stomp across the ground in them, step in unmentionable things in them. Next, do buy them to fit there is nothing worse than a shoe that simply hurts when you wear all day. If you are unable to walk in the shoe, don’t buy it! Shoes are intended to be worn, seen and admired not just by you but also by others.

Third and last, always know what is in your closet and regularly recycle your shoes. If you haven’t worn a shoe in six months, it is unlikely you will drag it out to wear again, send it off to shoe heaven for someone else to get pleasure from; if you have taken good care of your shoes, you can donate them or even consign them. The only time it is allowable for you to not recycle is seasonal shoes, these can be stored if you are certain you will wear them again. Take care of your shoes, don’t leave them lying about in casual piles, display them as they deserve on racks specially made for them.

I am a huntress extraordinaire. Shoes are my favorite prey. I will admit to somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 pairs at any given time. I will also admit to being barefoot whenever I am not demonstrating my perfect balance in one of my pairs of towering 5” stiletto heels.