My name is Imelda....

Imelda Marcos. That's my nickname at work, as my colleagues have noticed the ten or eleven pairs of shoes peeping out from under my desk. And that's excluding my flip flops and roller-blades.

And I probably have a total of 30 or so pairs of shoes at home, I dont actually know as I've stopped counting.

I dont really deserve the nickname. I mean, unlike dear old Imelda, tai-tais around the world, and other fellow shopaholics, I do not own thousands and thousands of designer shoes. I own less than 50 pairs (I think), and none of them are designer shoes. I think I've only owned two pairs of 'designer footwear' in my life; one was a really comfy pair of walking shoes from Prada which I picked up on sale in Rome, and I have used them to death; the other was a not-so comfy pair from Bally, (also on sale in London) which I also used to death because I was young and vain and achy feet didnt matter as much then as it does to me now.

Now, I buy shoes from CK (that's Charles & Keith), NineWest, EasySpirit and Aerosoles (when they're on sale - they are overpriced in Singapore), Hush Puppies, Clarks, Crocs, and favourite Malaysian el-cheapo shoe-shop, Vincci. Oh how I wish I was back in the States, where I could buy shoes like Kenneth Cole, NineWest, etc, at a fraction of the price here in Singapore!

The thing about buying cheapo shoes - like from the Charles and Keith outlet - is that they are sooo cheap, for eg, I bought a pair of sandals for S$11 - that they act like disposable shoes. It doesnt matter if you get caught in the rain and your shoes are destroyed, just throw them away and buy another pair! You've only worn it three times and it now has a huge gaping hole? It doesnt matter, you can always buy another cheapo pair!

Oh I know, I should be thinking of quality, and not quantity, but when you are broke but have a shopping habit to support, you go for the cheap stuff.

Think of it this way:

$1000 for a pair of designer footwear which will last you a lifetime, but you'll have to wear the same boring smelly old shoes also for a lifetime;

vs

4 x $25 pairs of shoes, and with $900 in change, you can pay for a holiday in Thailand/Malaysia/ Indonesia, and even have a little extra left for spending money!

See the logic? Four pairs of new shoes AND a holiday too?

Enough said!