Counterpoint!!
I have several levels of
disagreement with the node above.
First, I have lived with enough women over the years, and while, yes, many loved to shop for shoes, their shoe ownership was not often terribly disproportionate to their ownership of other kinds of
clothes. Women have a variety of options for covering their tops for example, from
bikini tops to
t-shirts to
blouses to
sundresses. But a dozen blouses hung in a
closet or t-shirts folded in a
drawer simply takes up much less space than the matching number of
shoes, not foldable or flattenable. Like
birds with bright
plumage,
balance has to be maintained, and so the available combinations of tops and bottoms and possibly even
hats and
handbags demands a shoe range sufficient to match up to the likely combinations of these other articles and accessories. In that light, the number of shoes owned by the typical woman is simply probably not far out of proportion to other clothing holdings (they just take up more space), and so, not "
ridiculous."
Now, second, we have
evolutionary biology to contend with. Men historically tended toward being
hunters, women toward being
gatherers. Shopping is gathering behavior, and just as
biology compels men to enjoy watching team sports and oggling titties in displays of sociable team-mindedness (good for hunting) and
virility, so are women compelled to show what good gatherers they are by making the search and taking the best picks. Tastes vary, naturally, but the fundament remains unchanged. The male ideal of women with red
lips and long
legs and
milk-filled
bosums, all features for which survival benefits may be considered, is a call to respond with a well-adorned supply of
lipstick,
high heels, and
silicone implants.
And, third, I doubt that women pass upon the purchase of clothes based on impending body shape changes, but buy shoes with the expectation that they'll keep their fit no matter what. Feet get fat like any other body part. But, shoes also take more of a beating than other articles of clothing because they are walked on all day, and so likely do need replacing more frequently -- and who is going to throw out a good old pair over a scuff? Better just to move it further back in the closet. In case of an emergency.