My Search for Practical Shoes

Buying new shoes was on the top of my list this past summer while back-to-school shopping. When it comes to shoes, I am usually as simple as it gets. Give me the $2.50 flip flops from Old Navy in the basic colors, and I am set. This shopping trip, however, I was looking for real shoes. You know, the kind of shoes that actually provide support and protection for your feet. Surprisingly, I own very few of these kinds of shoes. One pair I admittedly have been wearing since high school because they go with basically every single outfit I own. I guess you could say that I am not the typical girl when it comes to shoes.

To my dismay, after looking through several stores in the search for practical shoes, I came out with nothing. I did, however, come across a pair of boots that I had seen last winter. They were brown, leather, high-heeled boots. The first time I had seen them, I chose not to buy them. My friends encouraged me to purchase them saying they looked good on me, but I decided I did not want to spend forty-five dollars on pair of unpractical boots. I admit that they were nice, but being the simple girl that I am, who has never even owned a pair of fashionable boots, decided they just were not what I was looking for. When I came across those same boots the second time, they were on sale for only twenty dollars. I tried them on again, loved them, and decided since they were on sale that maybe it would be okay to purchase them. I knew they were not exactly practical meaning they were high heels, but they were cute, my friends liked them, and I had never owned a pair of boots like that in my life. Feeling sorry for my lack of success, I decided to splurge and buy the boots.

What turned out to be a shopping trip looking for something that was a functional need—shoes—I came out with a pair of the most unpractical shoes ever. Though I have yet to wear those boots, I already regret buying them. I now realize that I bought those boots to fulfill a symbolic need not a functional need. I could prove to myself and others that I can wear cute boots just like every other girl. I even had my friend’s approval because I knew they thought the boots looked good on me as well. This does not change the fact that those boots are not practical for the snowy, Indiana weather, nor do I even own many outfits to wear those boots with. I’m still the simple girl that will wear flip flops till it snows. The boots may have been on sale, but I have yet to figure out what on earth I was thinking. Now that I realize this about myself, I hope to not make that mistake again.