Women's shoes and boots, why are they so desirable to have?

[Lacey Hadley]

As most of us have grown up we hear at how often men chuckle and make fun at women as to them buying shoes/boots. Most males grow up not being so enamoured at having a wide selection of shoes. Yes, I know some men are into shoes and boots too but most males grow up with maybe having at any one time 2-3 maybe 4 pairs of shoes/boots. Typically a pair of clean sneakers, maybe a pair of dressier shoes a pair or $h*t kickers for doing stuff around the home, maybe some have a need for work boots and some males may enjoy wearing Jesus Boots (sandals). From this selection as males most of us have things covered well enough.

But women, well most love having a large and often growing shoe collections. As a crossdresser I LOVE having and wearing many pairs of shoes and boots. I have more than enough pairs yet I find it so hard NOT to buy more for style and emotional reasons as to how they look and feel and make me feel especially when enfemme. Of course for me it's dressier shoes and of such lovely high heels. For me I buy and wear closed toe pumps. For me they make my guy feet look better, most guys do not have the prettiest of toes IMO. If you do then by all means go/add open toe shoes all the way. I buy either single sole or platform pumps with most often spike heels but I do have some pretty wedges. I love boots too, ankle boots, calf high boots, knee boots and even over the knee boots. Again spikes but too some wedges. Some of my boots are a bit more casual but most are dressy.

As a male I enjoy buying ladies sneakers that fit me too. I get them in simple colours or black. As much as it could be funky to the buying flashy colours or pink coloured ladies sneakers I wear these out and about endrab, so I do not want to stand out that much. Really the ladies sneakers I wear, look much like typical male sneakers and some I have bought are even unisex style, but I still buy the ladies size just to know for me inside my head I'm wearing ladies sized sneakers.

So most males do not get why women often have many shoes and boots, but it seems us as CD'ers can relate to said love. I guess it's just that ladies shoes and boots vary in so many styles, colours and over all look. High heels for me are near intoxicating. I LOVE IT WHEN I SEE A "GG" IN HEELS! Just like most males would. But I also look at her in such and want to wear the same heels. It's so interesting and in my head so much fun.

I recently went through my ladies shoe collection and noted that I have at this time 12 pairs of high(er) heeled pumps and 15 pairs of dress(y) boots, most higher heeled and yes 3 pairs of ladies sneakers. I just ordered another pair of gorgeous black spike (thin spiked heeled) pumps. I REALLY DO NOT NEED ANOTHER PAIR! BUT I JUST COULD NOT RESIST! It's an early Christmas present for Lacey. I can hardly wait to get them.

[DonnaT]

That's the lady (trans) side of our characteristics coming out in full force. Even though a number of women don't have the urge for a shoe collection.


As CDs we get to admire how they look on others, and feel great if they look as good on us. Completing the image, so to speak.

[Ralitsa]

well my theory on the subject is that in "guy mode" a person doesn't really need more than a few pairs of shoes and boots, because it is entirely functional. But in "gal mode" then it's more about style and fashion, and function is really secondary. I mean seriously, I'm not going to milk cows in a pair of cute heels any more than I'm wearing the above mentioned $&!t kickers with a pencil skirt, nylons, and fashionable blouse out to dinner.
Some people (women and men both) are not interested in fashion, and some are. But there seems to be a stereotype that women are the ones interested in clothes, fashion, and shoes, and men are the ones interested in football and punching each other. But that's wrong, there are individuals of either gender who are interested in those things and so to generalize on either subject is erroneous. Maybe, statistically there might be a few more of one gender or the other on each side of the questions, but I don't think it means anything.

However, I will say that I wasn't particularly interested in shoes until I really allowed myself to enjoy my clothes and to fully embrace my desire to wear them. When I started shopping for clothes that I liked, and looking at them with the eye toward what went well together and putting together an outfit, then I realized that I needed more shoes. Previously I only bought shoes if my old ones fell apart. Now when I look at shoes my first thought is about what I have to wear them with and whether I need them to fill a gap in my wardrobe. For example, maybe I have a turquoise dress that I've been wearing with white pumps, but then I find a pair of strappy heels in exactly the same color turquoise to match - well obviously I have to buy them to go with my dress.
But then the second thing I think when I see a pair of shoes that I like, is if I don't have anything to wear them with, I should just buy them anyway and then go shopping for some new outfits

So the other thing most guys don't get is when a woman looks in her closet at 20 dresses, 50 tops, 30 slacks, 40 skirts, and then says "I don't have anything to wear." But I totally get that. If someone looked in my closets they would say I have enough outfits to last until the end of the world. But I look at what I have and often think "I just don't see anything here that I want to wear today, I need to go shopping." Like maybe it just doesn't fit my mood, or the weather, or the occasion, or I've worn it recently, or it's not the color I want today, or I have a top I want to wear but no bottom that will go with it, or the other way around because one or the other is in the wash, or I don't have shoes and a purse that go with the outfit. If you do the math you can see that there are at least 8 variables, each with multiple possible values, so there are at least 4096 possible permutations. Now I have at most 200 outfits, which means that more than 95% of the time I will not have anything to wear.
But it's different if you don't really like clothes in general, because then you don't have to like your own clothes in particular. So you don't mind wearing something you don't really like, because there is nothing you do really like.

Luckily, the thrift store down the street is opening in 20 minutes so I can go shopping.

[Diana Michelle]

To assume all women have a shoe fetish as my one late husband used to refer to is very sexist. That said there are probably 40 pairs of shoes in my closet of varying styles. heels and flats as well as a couple of pairs of athletic shoes and that doesn't count the dozen or so pairs of fashion boots. My snow boots don't count. Yes I like shoes! The major difference is with men people may notice their suit or their tie or maybe a shirt. With women people, especially other women, tend to see the outfit as a whole. Add to that when wearing a skirt the entire shoe is exposed and maybe then you start to see why shoes are important to a woman.

My first husband wasn't quite as bad but my second one never understood how in spite of owning 6 pairs of black high heels I would stop and look at another pair of them. To him as with most men they were just black shoes. Not pumps, not patent leather or just plain leather, not sling-backs or peep toes or whatever just black shoes. I am not saying men don't have fashion sense nor do they want to look nice, they just don't understand all the nuances of women's fashion. Nothing wrong with loving shoes, many women do!

[Trudy]

There is something special about a woman in heels maybe that is why shoes, particularly heels, fascinates so many of us girls. Heels have a way of shaping a woman's legs and derriere. She seems to have a bit of an extra wiggle in her walk when she is in heels taking careful sure strides. All of these I am sure play a role in how we see women and as most of us look to achieve that "look" we naturally gravitate to heels. With boots there is always that sexy look, whether it is that "domimatrix" effect or for us more mature girls memories of the go-go boots of the 60's and 70's.

I have always been a bit of a shoe addict from the platform boots and heels of the late 70's when I first came out of the closet to the classic pumps of the businesswoman of the 80's as well as of the delicate dressy sandals of today I love them all! I am fortunate in possessing the resources to own many pairs. I probably have 40 pairs of shoes varying heel heights from flats to 5" pencil thin stilettoes. That number does take into consideration the 20 or so pairs of boots from riding boots to ankle booties to the classic knee high leather boot with a spike heel. My shoes and boots are as important accessory to my outfit as is my jewelry.

[Michelle Diane]

What's not to love about ladies shoes and boots. Simply look at the plethora of styles, heel heights, colours and finishes/accessories. When I could dress openly I must have had a good 25-30 pairs of womans shoes everything, pink trainers, flats, stilettos, wedges etc. Now in guy mode 1 have one pair of black dress shoes, 1 pair of hiking boots, 1 pair of RICS (Croc copy) 1pair of casuals and 1 pair of slippers. Guy shoes just don't do anything for me. They're nothing more than a way to keep your feet dry and socks clean. Ladies shoes on the other hand can lead to many things like matching your clothes to the shoes buying a purse or handbag to go with them. When was the last time a guy bought a wallet to go with his shoes?.........never, just boring.