Juan Carlos Miranda
Special to
El Observador

It is nothing new that I have never had any qualms about expressing my thoughts and feelings about fashion and style. Moreover, I have never hid the fact how much I am in love with shoes–boy shoes that is–although I always find myself gravitating towards the beauty, complexity and elegance women shoes posses. I swear, women have the best shoes.

Every so often I hear my girlfriends talk about how much they love their shoes and what a ridiculous amount of pairs they own–not surprisingly. The footwear industry is a billion dollar industry which grows every year. Over 40% of 2012’s revenue came from the sales of women shoes. I bet you our ancestors didn’t have a multibillion dollar business in mind when they invented shoes.

So it’s not uncommon to hear women talk about wanting to get a new pair of Aldo shoes, or Steve Madden, heck, if they want to spend an arm and a leg they’d even go for the Louboutins or Brian Atwoods. It’s because of these commonalities many shoe brands and designers target the vast population of women. Which leads to my next question. What about us?

I mean, us gentlemen like to look good as well, and what a better way to do so than by wearing shoes that complement our outfit. True, you are not going to hear two dudes talking about the latest style of shoes at your local Starbucks, but they might as well be. It is 2013 after all people, the world did not end last year and it sure is not going to end in the next 50 years, so why not talk about men’s affinity with shoes. I own over 100 pairs of shoes, in styles ranging from the dressy loafers, to casual slip-ons and athletic sneakers. I know I should be ashamed to admit I don’t like wearing the same pair of shoes twice in one week and even more, I should feel bad for all those unfortunate people out there who don’t even have one decent pair to wear let alone a hundred. And you know what? I do. I feel bad. I feel horrible, but I have lived through that. I went from walking around bare foot on the dirt roads of Mexico to having all the shoes I could ever ask for, but that’s a different story.

Men find themselves drawn to the glamour and appeal of famous athletes and superstars and so they find themselves trying to imitate their style. Little by little these celebrities influence regular people like us into putting a little more effort into what we put on our feet. It could be the limited edition Jordans, or perhaps the latest Jeremy Scott Adidas. Whatever it is, as long as it’s hot and the latest, we’ve got to have it.

We crave glamour, we crave success and so we imitate those who have those qualities and soon enough we become addicted.

Hey, we’re only human.