The In Her Shoes campaign starts today. What’s your shoe story?

Today marks the start of the In Her Shoes campaign.

It’s a part of the global celebrations around International Women’s Day on March 8 and aims to bring focus on to the stories of immigrant and refugee women in Australia. The Australian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Alliance hopes that by sharing these stories these women can grow to become a key voice in Australia.

Stories will be told through the universal metaphor of the shoe. Women of all ages and backrounds are encouraged to upload photos and videos (you could win a $300 pair of shoes for your efforts) about their shoe story with an aim of creating a greater empathy for all women in Australia.

Here is mine.

I own 36 38 pairs of shoes. Including thongs.

It wasn’t until I was recently asked to count them that I became aware of the number. I’m no Imelda but that’s more than enough shoes than a girl could possibly need in a week, isn’t it?

I don’t have them all beautifully displayed. That is the wardrobe of my dreams. No, they are squirrelled away in boxes in my small wardrobe and under my bed.

The squirrelling is as much a storage necessity as it is a means to staying in permanent denial as to how many pairs I actually own.

It’s a far cry from my childhood.

I remember being bought Clarks sandals for school. But even those seemed too constricting some days.

I don’t know how we did it but it was not uncommon for my brothers and I to head off to school shoeless. Even in winter.

I don’t know why. I think it was the semi-done thing. Uniforms were not compulsory and workplace health and safety was far from a concern.

I do know I coveted a friends pair of  ”slaps” (fancy black velvet thongs on a seagrass platform) but never did manage to own a pair. Maybe I was refusing to wear shoes that weren’t cool? Staging a shoe strike, if you like.

I also remember the day that my soon-to-become grandparents arrived from the UK on their first visit to Australia.

Not only had their middle daughter moved in with my dad but we three kids bounded up the back steps after riding our bikes home, super excited to say gidday …  completely barefoot and quite ferral.

The fact that we were footwear-free is still talked about 30-plus years later.

It could have something to do with why I now go weak at the knees ankles over a new shoe purchase. Well, that’s my justification and I’m sticking to it

What’s your shoe story?