I have to admit that my walking shoes are ugly. When I look down, my feet look too big, too wide, and too long. In my mind I have three images of beautiful shoes and beautiful feet.

As a girl, in National Geographic, I saw lovely children and young women being carried because they couldn’t walk. Their feet, with broken bones, had been bound since infancy.

My mother had dyed-to-match pointed-toe high heels in the 1950’s to 1960’s. I thought she was beautiful, but her shoes that matched each outfit caused bunions and mis-shapen toes.

Now I see powerful women like Nancy Pelosi wearing stilletos. The narrow six to seven inch heels are sharp and dangerous if used as a weapon. Stilletos make women taller, lengthen their legs, emphasize their bust, and typically cost $700 for executives. Clearly they don’t have any wiggle room for toes.

The term “wiggle room” comes from the Depression Era in the 1930’s.