why girls love shoes

Long before spiked heels with exotic names (Louboutin, anyone?) became objects of desire, chicks have been shoe-crazy. But recently, we got proof of exactly how crazy: While sales of most things have plummeted thanks to the recession, footwear sales have gone up compared to the same period last year. Yes, buying a pair of shoes has always had near-supernatural effects — like instantly updating an outfit from last year or just making you feel hotter than hell — but that doesn't fully explain how footwear is beating the odds in sales. Trust science to have the answer: Turns out, we've always been wired for shoe lust, even when the going gets tough.

Happy Feet

First of all, there's some serious mood-boosting going on when you try on any kind of apparel. "The neurotransmitter dopamine is released, providing a feel-good high, similar to taking a drug," says Martin Lindstrom, a branding expert for Fortune 100 companies and author of Buyology: Truth and Lies about Why We Buy. "The dopamine increases until you swipe your debit card." Usually, the high then flat lines, and guilt starts creeping in. except, that is, when the item you're purchasing is a pair of shoes. "Shoppers rationalize shoes as a practical buy — something they can wear multiple times a week — so they hold on to that pleasurable feeling longer," says Lindstrom.

But it's not just dopamine at work. Shoes' mood-altering traits also come from another brain reaction, says Lindstrom. Buying new footwear stimulates an area of the brain's prefrontal cortex termed the collecting spot. "Shoes are a collector's item, whether women realize they perceive them that way or not," says Suzanne Ferriss,
PhD, editor of Footnotes: On Shoes. Just think of how they're often stored artfully on
shoe trees and shelves. "They're like sculptures," says Ferriss. As a result, collecting each type provides a mini-adrenaline rush similar to the satisfaction a stamp collector gets when he acquires a rare find.

A Higher Power

All those wonderful feelings are intensified when you choose high heels...but again, its biology, not Jimmy Choo, at work. “Like most animals, we're wired to associate height with power," says Helen Fisher, PhD, professor of anthropology at Rutgers University. "High heels can literally raise your status because you're taller when you wear them. “Heels carry historical significance as well, adding to their appeal. In previous centuries, only the wealthy wore high heels — everyone else had practical footwear to do manual labor. "Shoes were a measure of class," says Fisher, "and
we still have a bit of that mind-set ingrained in us."  (Azodi 2010)

Sources:

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/fashion/advice/a3331/women-love-shoes/ by Mina Azodi October 2010

http://fashionismyonlydrug.blogspot.co.za/2012/02/celebrity-closets.html

http://www.shefinds.com/2012/the-7-shoes-every-woman-should-own-quick-check-your-closet/

http://la-confidential-magazine.com/what-were-reading-rachel-zoe-new-la-office-fall-pumpkin-food