Marcel, did you poo in the shoe?

What is it that is so difficult for the male gender to understand about shoes? It's a girl thing, ok? Just deal with it.

I'm pretty sure in our 8+ years of marriage, I have received more eye-rolls over shoes than any other topic. I've also heard the phrase "You bought ANOTHER pair of shoes?!" more times than I care to remember. I have a thing for shoes. You know, me and 80% of the female population. At least I know I'm not alone.

You see, not long ago, I came home from Dillards with these beauties. Cute, right? A very practical peep toe Jessica Simpson pump with a 4 inch heel. The response from my better half was "why do you NEED another pair of shoes?" Um, excuse me? What is this NEED you speak of? There is no NEED. Since when is that a prerequisite for purchasing footwear?

However, I tried my best to explain that I would, indeed, get quite a bit of use out of these new additions to my growing collection. I wear a lot of items that call for a black shoe and in Arizona, an open toe is acceptable year-round. Not to mention I work in a professional environment and wear heels 5 days a week.

Toby's rebuttal to my valid argument was, I felt, rhetorical. He said "what about the 5 other pairs of black heels in the closet". Oh, honey. Honey, honey, honey. He simply can't understand can he? It's that pesky Y chromosome.

I took a deep breath and explained that while I do own 5 other pairs of black heel, they are all slightly different.

I have a pair of black leather kitten heel sandals with a cute silver buckle detail. They are very acceptable with a longer skirt and I quite often wear them with dress pants because of their height. They look just like these only black.
I picked up a knock-out pair of Paris Hilton black stilettos on sale at Kitson last winter seen here. As you can tell they are TOTALLY different than the Jessica Simpson ones I purchased more recently. They have a closed toe and that cute gem detail on the toe. To be honest, I've never actually worn them out of the house because they kill my feet, but I love them all the same!

Then there are my closed toe patent leather ones with the gold buckle that are not too high and not too low. And who doesn't love a patent leather shoe?
Then there's the pair I bought as an homage to my Grandma Smith. They are a rounded toe Mary Jane with a funky hourglass shaped heel. My Grandma had multiple pairs of Mary Janes with a funky heel. Don't mock me. I love these shoes!
My personal favorites are a pair I bought at Nordstrom at least 5 years ago. They are really high, have a peep toe and are slingbacks with a crocodile textured leather. They are by far the most comfortable shoes I own. I adore them.
After these same lengthy and valid arguments, Toby respectfully waved his white flag and surrendered. I'm hoping he remembers this little episode the next time I bring home something in an animal print.