An Unexpected Footwear Obsession.

Shoes don't normally do it for me, and neither do bags, make-up, dresses or jewellery. I go primarily for comfort and practicality - and if something suits me and looks half-way decent, well then that's an added bonus!

And so it's partly for this reason that I have spent many a winter wearing very practical but clumpy work boots. And as the clumpy work boots also fit me perfectly I have never seen any reason to look elsewhere. (As per my favourite saying: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it").

And so I have been buying the same flat, androgenous lace-up boots year after year. (My mother calls them my bovver-boots*. She gave up trying to feminise me years ago).

But this year I was panicked to discover that they're not making my work boots any more!

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

And similar boots made by other companies just don't fit the same.

So I was forced to go shopping, which is not a fun pursuit for a non-feminine female. I could think of some better things to do with my time.

..in a good way.

After trying a few of the shops at my local shopping centre, and failing to find anything that would fit, I spotted Marks and Spencer. M&S, for me, has always seemed like a bit of an old lady shop, despite it's recent image overhaul with glamourous adverts featuring Twiggy and several other beautiful people. But I was in the vicinity and thought I would take a look anyhow.

I was expecting to see lots of ugly granny shoes, (and I know that's a bit rich coming from me, with my builder-style bovver boots..). But when I'd made my way through the very stylish knitwear section I came across row upon row of really beautiful shoes. Some of which I would happily wear!

There were some ultra-feminine styles (you know, with heels, pointy toes and sparkly bits and bobs), but there were also some semi-clumpy and some very clumpy boots! When did M&S become so in touch with what I like?

So for the first time ever, I was in shoe heaven! I spent a happy time trying on many different styles of clumpy boots, (the fact that there were many made me profoundly happy).

I eventually settled on some light-brown ones, boasting three different types of eyelets. They are slightly less bovver-boot than my normal footwear, (mum will be so pleased!), but they are my kind of style nonetheless. Plus they fit me perfectly, and are cosily lined for the cold winter weather we have ahead of us. (They even made me hanker for a really cold snap, just so that I can test them out).

As a testament to my usual masculine taste in boots, my daughter's reaction to these new ones, was "Wow, you bought high heels!" Yep, for me, these are, indeed, high heels...

I am actually now in the unusual predicament of liking several other styles that I saw that day, and I'm pining for them in a disturbingly female-type way. Shall I buy the Stormwear Duck Boots, the Hiker Boots, the Gentleman Boots or the Moccasin Boots I wonder?

And it's not just M&S boots. My visit there opened up something. Now I realise that there is a whole world of footwear out there! And it has unleashed within me a real boots obsession. Aaaaaargh!! I find myself looking at footwear websites, and whenever I'm in a place that sells boots I have to take a peak and I always see some that I want to buy.

Many people would think that it's normal for women to like footwear, but it's not normal for me, and it disturbs me slightly - makes me think that I'm changing somehow. Am I becoming more feminine? (Will it be dresses and make-up next?) Maybe I'm getting old; perhaps I'm going through some kind of midlife crisis...

Well as long as I don't act on it, I guess it can be a harmless obsession. Even though there are now a zillion boots that I could see myself owning, I can't really afford to go on a boot-buying spree, and morally, it would feel kind of wrong, (you know, while we need to eat and stuff).

But footwear for Christmas perhaps?