Shoe Philosophy

I've been thinking about my philosophy on shoes lately...there are a lot of different philosophies out there, but I think there are two main categories that really influence your individual philosophy: cost versus quality and comfort versus fashion. I've used my incredible artistic and computer graphic skills to create the charts below to demonstrate my point (click on each one to see it larger).

On the cost/quality scale, I would probably say I'm about a 2 or 3. I mean, hey--I wouldn't be able to have 90+ pairs of shoes otherwise. It's hard for me to spend over $100 on one pair of shoes (not that I haven't done it before) when I know I could get 3 or 4 pairs for the same amount somewhere else.


On the comfort/fashion scale I'm probably about an 8 or 9. Which if you think about it, you kind of have to be if you're a 2 or 3 on the comfort/quality scale. Cheap shoes aren't always made to be super comfortable--I guess it costs too much to make them cute AND comfortable.

What's interesting is that one of my sisters is practically the opposite--she wants/needs her shoes to be comfortable and she is generally willing to pay for that.

I know it's possible to be close to a 10 on both scale cuz, hey, if you care about shoes enough to spent that kind of money on them then it's very possible that you care enough about how you look to endure a lot of pain for that look.

What I'm curious about is if there are people out there that are close to 1 on both scales. Can you care that much about comfort and still find cheap shoes that will work for you? I guess there are people out there that are crazy good at finding incredible deals. You'd probably have to be one of those people to be on the lower end of both these scales...

Anybody care to opine? Where do you fit on the two shoe philosophy scales? Do you think there are other significant factors that I've forgotten?

Buying shoes online

So in the last several months I have discovered several great websites for buying shoes online and thought I would share:

1 - Zappos.com: Can be pricey, but they are generally pretty quality shoes and they have free shipping both ways. They have some of the prettiest/most fun shoes I have seen.

2 - Shoebuy.com: Similar to Zappos--huge selection, free shipping both ways. In my experience (which is still limited) I have found some better deals at shoebuy.com, but not quite as many fun styles or colors in the price range I'm looking for. (I also posted a link for $$ off at shoebuy.com a few posts ago.)

3 - Shoedazzle.com: An interesting concept. It is similar to those CD or DVD clubs where they send you a selection each month except it does work a little differently. At the beginning of each month, they send you an e-mail letting you know your "showroom" for the month is ready. They give you a selection of 5-10 shoes in your showroom for you to choose from. Every pair costs $39.95. You can opt out each month so you're never required to buy anything (but if you don't opt out by a certain date, they charge you the $39.95 and you get a credit on your account).

4 - Justfab.com: Same idea as shoedazzle.com but I like having both so I get more selection options! :)

Also, I have finally updated my Current Shoes slide show below with several new pairs from the last 6 months. Look for the "New!" tag.