The Island Shoe Girl's Blog

How does a shoe girl balance island living in a pair of Manolos? One step at a time. Photo by Jean Thornton

Once upon a time, in the far, far away land of Ohio, the Island Shoe Girl began her life in the most ordinary of ways.   With 10 toes and 10 fingers, I was just your average baby girl for the first few years.  It wasn’t until about the age of three that I became a shoe girl when my Mom bought me a pair of black patent leather Mary Jane shoes.   Paired with my lacy ankle socks I thought I had found the perfect style and I was in love with my look.  That very same day I saw the ad in the Sunday paper showing white patent leather Mary Jane shoes!  I fell in love for the SECOND time in my short life, and I immediately began to justify the need for a pair in each color, convinced my three year old life would be tragic without them.  My parents gave in and a shoe girl was born. 

As I grew, so did my love of shoes and the amount of time spent admiring their graceful forms in fashion magazines.  From Jellies in every color to pairs of kitten heels, the more mature I got, the more mature the shoes got.  Silver tap shoes for recitals were replaced by high heels for high school dances.  I endured a painful big toe reconstruction surgery and months on crutches for the joy of cramming my foot into closed toe pumps!  By the time college came around, my school girl crush on shoes had blossomed into a love affair that required a shelving system.  While studying the human mind and its ability to form addictions in graduate school I was also beginning to understand my own shoe addiction and what it was about those fabulous heels that brought on must-have urges to buy more and more shoes. 

I discovered at an early age that shoes are just simply shoes for countless people; they go on feet and protect toes from the outside world.  Many prefer them to be low to the ground and require comfort in their fit.  For me shoes are the perfect mix of fantasy and reality, an impractical yet vital need at the same time. When a person sees an amazingly perfect pencil thin stiletto it baffles their mind to understand how anyone can walk on them.  And it rightfully should baffle their minds!  It takes a skill and grace that requires years to master completely.  If it is mastered, the image of a woman in stunning heels is one of true mystique and wonder.  Yes, it is this thought makes my heart melt when I dream of the day when the red soles of Christian Louboutin booties are under my feet. 

 While I was falling in love with shoes I was also coming to the sad realization that I would have to pay for these fabulous creations.  And that is when I feel in love with another mix of fantasy and reality—Key West, Florida.    A strange twist of internet fate brought my well-heeled feet to an island 1400 miles away from the only streets they had ever known in Ohio and introduced them to the challenge of walking in sand.     A funny thing happened as I was shaking the sand out of my pumps; I discovered that as much as I loved shoes, I also loved helping others.  An unexpected internship at a homeless shelter had a girl who mainly noticed shoe soles taking a hard look at human souls. Something clicked and I knew that this was the future for me and my shoes.  So without much hesitation I moved away from the malls and shoe stores of Ohio to the small shops and flip flop vendors of Key West.                                                                          

Just like the mystery of shoes, my life became a jumble of costumes and make-believe in everyday events.  Key West can be viewed as paradise found, yet so many others have lost themselves and find the streets, beaches and mangroves as their homes.  Helping the homeless maybe an admirable life choice, but accomplishing it in designer heels creates a different spin on my Mother Teresa ways.  I believe that while looking for the beauty of human souls, you can also share the beauty of luxury soles. 

And that is how a shoe girl found a life on an island.  But just because you love shoes and you live on an island that does not necessarily make you The Island Shoe Girl.  No, that title has another story behind it and it has just as much fantasy and reality involved.  But it all began with a perfectly normal little girl who fell in love with two pairs of shoes in the same day and kept right on going.