6,000 Shoes

Now that would make poor Cinderella look pathetic wouldn’t it? All she had was one pair of glass slippers. Not even a pair of Nike’s!!!

I am writing about something I thought I’d never write about, or didn’t have to. But there is so much talk about it, that I finally decided to say something. Recently, it has been said that I have 6,000 pairs of shoes. It was said by a shoe designer of shoes my daughters and I used to wear, and somehow no longer do, that I have 6,000 pairs of shoes. Maybe it was said to annoy me, since I’m a very private person, or maybe the person who said it was just joking (I hope so!!). I paid no attention at first, but as the saying goes, “the story has legs”, and shoes!!! Although I just dismissed it as nonsense at first, it has now been reported in magazines and all over the internet that I have 6,000 pairs of shoes. Huh? Wow!!! Obviously, I don’t. But I have now had dozens of emails from friends, inquiries from strangers, and the 6,000 imaginary pairs of shoes have become legend. Styles change, brands alter slightly, and let’s face it, women are fickle about fashion. Designers that my daughters loved a year ago become less appealing to them a year later, brands we wear for a while change, and we move on to something else. It’s the nature of ‘fashion’, style, and people. We don’t do or wear the same things forever, we find something new, get excited about it, and embrace it, and then move on to something new after that. The shoe designs in question are gorgeous, but I guess we’ve worn other things for a while, new designers have appeared, and sometimes you just forget old favorites (although i still have many of those old favorites in my closet!! But not 6,000 of them. That’s a mythical number).

I have 5 daughters, and we often love shopping together, and admittedly, when we walk into a store together, and shop together, it is often a nice purchase when you multiply even a modest purchase times six. And I’m sure we make some store owners very happy when we shop together as a group. We spend a lot of time together, and do a lot of things together, it’s just more fun that way. But I wanted to reassure you that I don’t have 6,000 pairs of shoes. I love shoes, but that would be too much even for me. Like everyone, I have my current favorites that I seem to wear every day. I mostly seem to wear black shoes, and once in a while fall in love with a pair of red ones. And I recently cleaned out my closets again, something I try to do every spring, and get rid of the things I just don’t wear, the fashion mistakes (sometimes I really wonder what I was thinking, when I buy something that looks too young for me, is unflattering, or just looks silly on me!!), and try to keep my closets, and life, in good order.

So I hate to disappoint you, but I don’t have 6,000 pairs of shoes. I went to a dinner party in Paris the other day, and a man I don’t know who looked like he wouldn’t know a shoe from a rutabaga turned to me and said “do you really have 6,000 pairs of shoes?” He looked seriously disappointed when I said I didn’t. And it made me realize that I’d better say something, finally, to all those people out there who now think I have 6,000 pairs of shoes, and are thinking about it. So, I’m sorry. I have a bunch but nowhere near that many, I have about the same number of shoes as anyone else, and as usual I have my favorite current designers, and in a year or two, I’ll be on to something new. If I still wear them, I keep the old ones, if I don’t wear them, I don’t keep them. So I’m sorry to disappoint you about the 6,000 pairs of shoes……on to the next rumor.

Love, Danielle

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9 Comments so far
  1. P.J. May 11, 2010 2:29 pm

    I never before heard that rumor, but so what–you earn your own money, so you can buy how much of anything your heart desires. Don’t let the jealous folks get you down. The economy needs your purchases, so help us all and buy another pair!

  2. Lorraine May 11, 2010 4:59 pm

    Hi Danielle,
    I didn’t hear about this, but if I did, I would not have believed it anyway! Just goes to show you, you can’t believe everything you read!
    Love, Lorraine

  3. Janice Matthews May 14, 2010 12:10 pm

    Leave it to a man to say something stupid like that! You should have not taken it to heart and asked him why do you ask? What kind of man asks a question like that? And WHY CAN’T YOU HAVE 6000 shoes? Nick would have told him where to put his comment and the shoes! As I have said before, times are goofy and getting worse. Next time this comes up just say you don’t talk to men who don’t lavish their women with 6000 shoes……next please and keep moving. BE CAREFUL D. You are a target for stupid this and jealously. Take care dear.

  4. Fran May 14, 2010 2:20 pm

    Hi Danielle,

    I have one question I’m dying to ask you – about writing.

    How long does it usually take you to finish a first-draft – you’ve said before that once a book’s outline is complete you will sit down and finish the first draft writing 20 hours a day, no eating, no messages/phone calls etc.-
    my question is- how long do you write this intensively for to finish your first draft?

    One week? Two Weeks? Four Weeks?

    I’m an aspiring writer myself and you are such an incredible inspiration to me.

    Thanks

  5. definitely_confused May 14, 2010 9:42 pm

    next time whn som1 ask u the same question then jst tell them ..yes i hv 6000 shoes and a mansion to jst keep them …

    dan .. u r a wonderful writer… u potray real feelings of woman in ur novels .. how i woman keep her emotions tied and give support to everyone even if she is sad. Wat i hv learn from ur novel is tht if u love som1 then “love them love like a woman does” …

    Ajay..

  6. Joann June 1, 2010 5:10 pm

    How many pairs of shoes you own is none of the public’s business. So what. You earned each and every pair. Go out tonight Danielle and flaunt a beautiful pair of shoes. Love ya. J~

  7. Nicole Theron June 5, 2010 6:56 am

    Dear MS Steel,

    I read the rumour on a style blog and thought good for you! Even if you did own 6000 pairs so what?

    You have made your money from hard work so how you spend it is your business alone. I certainly do not see Jay Leno having to justify why he owns so many expensive cars (they are worth more than 10 000 shoes!).

    Please enjoy what you have in life, you are a caring person who had done a great deal for the homeless. So enjoy your shoes how many they may be. Good for you!

  8. Kim July 2, 2010 4:09 pm

    You have some many entries, where to catch up! Shoes! ;)) I thought it incredibly rude of the man to ask how many at your dinner. I would’ve had to ask him; how many he owns and how many ties he owns as well.

  9. Akinyemi Ronke July 13, 2010 8:02 am

    Hi Danielle, people can say whatever they want. You own the money you didn’t beg. Love you.