The way to a woman's heart is through her feet

Christine, a hotel owner, is a successful businesswoman and by no means easily led, but when confronted with the myriad delights of a shoe-shop window, she admits she is powerless to resist. And she is not alone.

When it comes to a pretty pair of sandals, carefully crafted slip- ons or the latest trendy trainers, countless women simply can't say no. Whether cleaning lady, pensioner or pop star, full-time mother or executive manager, from time to time women feel the need to go out and buy themselves a new pair of shoes.

To ease a bad conscience, they'll gladly persuade themselves that the objects of their desire are nothing short of a basic necessity. Neither an overdraft, nor the prospect of sore feet coupled with bemused and disapproving looks from husband, father, sons or male friends will deter them in their new endeavour.

"You should see my collection of stilettos!" laughs Maja Schulze- Lackner, a fashion designer based in Munich. When it comes to footwear, she is adamant: "A pretty dress needs pretty shoes."

Coco Chanel, the erstwhile first lady of the fashion world, was even less forgiving: "Poor shoes ruin a woman's style," she reportedly said - music to the ears of the shoe industry. Although turnover for 1999 was down slightly on the previous year, the German shoe association in Offenbach nevertheless puts the value of shoes sold in the federal republic last year at some 6.3 billion marks, or 2.8 billion dollars.

"You put your right foot in, your right foot out..."; children are taught to focus on their shoes at a very early age and little girls cannot help but notice that Cinderella's prince will accept her only on condition that her foot fits the most delicate of slippers.

What could possibly explain those same girls' need to strut around the house in Mummy's pumps? And what that drives a grown woman to break open her piggy bank and squander the last of her savings following a chance encounter with a pair of bilious green sandals?

As the cultural historian Professor Karen Ellwanger reveals, it was not until the second half of the 19th century and the invention of the lady's bootee that women were finally provided with a fashionable footwear alternative for use out of doors. The bootee effectively "pushed back the boundaries which governed their range of movement," she says.

On the other hand, the psychoanalyst Claudia Sies from Neuss believes an obsession with shoes may point to insecurity in women who lack self-confidence. "They need a disproportionate amount of admiration," she explains, and collect shoes as a means of dissipating "nervous tension".

Furthermore, Sies views shoe mania as an unambiguous "sexual advance" aimed at members of the opposite sex. She maintains that by directing men's attention to their feet, women can exploit their need for protection.

(la/dpa)