It's Shoemania!

For those who missed Channel 4 News last night, Fashionista was very interested to hear that she was not alone in having a shoe addiction. The C4 report referred to data from Bain and Company which showed that in 2009 the overall luxury market shrank by 8 per cent, but that sales of luxury shoes only fell by 0.5 %. In addition, for this year, Bain predicts that luxury shoe sales will bounce back by around 5 %, above other categories of goods in the luxury market.  There could be a number of reasons for this: many women prefer to invest in shoes since, although your weight may fluctuate over the seasons, your shoe size is fairly reliable to remain the same. Also, since most women can't afford to dress themselves head to toe in a their favourite label, by teaming a pair of designer heels with a high street dress, they can achieve the glamorous look for less.

The resilient nature of shoes sale perhaps explains the rationale for Selfridges' decision to expand their shoe department, due to open on 16 September. The new retail space covers 35,000 square foot and will display 4,000 shoes from over 150 brands. A dangerous prospect for the Imelda Marcos inside all of us!