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Kicking up their heels: Love of fashionable footwear brings locals together for Shoe Club
By Rosemary Ford, Staff Writer
Shoes should be seen, not stored. That's the realization Georgetown native and lifelong shoe-lover Melissa O'Shea came to three years ago, when she felt that her prized pairs were languishing in the closet. O'Shea needed a girls' night out and wanted someplace to wear the neglected fancy footwear. She hit upon an idea. She gathered her girlfriends and got them to hoof it to Dali, a Somerville restaurant, wearing their strappiest stilettos. After an over-the-top evening (think catwalks and champagne flowing from pumps), she knew she'd hit on something. Shoe Club was born. "I had so much fun organizing the first one," said O'Shea, who now lives in Medford. Shoe Club celebrates shoes and the women who love them. Members (now numbering about 220) stride in style to a monthly meeting around the Boston area. Recently, Shoe Club convened in Haverhill - once a hub for shoe manufacturing - and next month, an event is planned in Andover. Boxford resident Chris Muto, 47, showed off her shoes - open-toed, two-inch-heeled, bright orange mules - at the recent Haverhill event, which started at Bistro 45 and moved on to The Peddler's Daughter. "It's always fun to come to this party and wear shoes you would not normally wear," she said. Shoe Club meetings bring anywhere from five to 50 people - sporting everything from heels to flats - to a local hot spot for socializing. When members arrived at Bistro 45, they immediately caused a stir posing for pictures with owner Michael Conneely and several customers. As the evening went on, members started dancing and singing with the band performing at The Peddler's Daughter. "It's hard to go out with the girls," said 36-year-old Tamee Akstin of Haverhill, enjoying her Shirley Temple and rubbing her pregnant belly. "It's a way to talk and just be a girl," said 35-year-old Valerie Meas of Haverhill. Members are mostly women (yes, there are some men who belong to the group) and range in age from 20 to 60. Some are married with kids; others are single. "I know a lot of men who love their shoes," said O'Shea, whose husband Anthony wore his Claiborne loafers to the Haverhill event. "Some men will wear a shoe that is not a white sneaker, and we would love to have you." No matter their age or background, Shoe Club members have in common an obsession with footwear. Most own nearly 100 pairs - or more. Designer names aren't necessary - either in members' collections or at club events - though Manolo Blahniks, Jimmy Choos and Prada tend to creep into many a conversation. Shoe Club isn't about buying shoes (though Barney's New York recently treated them to a special shopping event where Manolo, Jimmy, Prada and others were in attendance), it's about appreciating them. For the Haverhill outing, O'Shea sported a pair of peep-toe, gold-sequined wedge sandals that she picked up at Macy's for $53. "I wouldn't have had the opportunity to wear these otherwise, and that is the whole purpose of Shoe Club," O'Shea said. Ask her about her favorite pair, and there's no contest: her leopard-print, peep-toed, Manolo Blahnik pumps (Paris Hilton's got the same pair though she paid more than the discounted price of $400 O'Shea got). "They are the love of my life," O'Shea said (although she says she is pretty fond of her husband and dog, too). "I would sleep in them if I could." While most Shoe Club meetings are like the Haverhill event, it does occasionally mix things up. For example, O'Shea will hold a June meeting at Glory in Andover, has a Shoe and Collar event - for dogs and their owners who are shoe lovers - in Boston's South End set for August, and is planning a mother-daughter event later on this year. Apparently, an obsession with shoes can be genetic. "I think some people come out of the womb with that in them," said Akstin, whose toddler wears her own set of pumps. Belonging to Shoe Club doesn't cost anything, nor necessarily encourage the buying of shoes. "You don't have to be Beyonce to wear Manolos," said O'Shea, who doesn't officially promote the shoe designer but does invite people to get them and wear them - to Shoe Club. "Then you have to have a place to wear them," said O'Shea. "It's totally selfish. I want those shoes, but I work for a nonprofit and I can't wear stilettos to work."
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