“Oh, ooh, that's tough to say.”

I mean, why shoes and not, like, bracelets?

“You know, it actually started off as a hat thing and then it just migrated down.”

Really?

“Yeah, it moved from the top of my head to my feet. And I think it had a lot to do with [dance] also. I spent so many years having to watch my footwear because my teacher would yell at me if I wore shoes that would damage my feet. So when they retired me, I finally got to wear fun shoes. No one was looking over my shoulder anymore.”

So what does the future hold for proudly shoedicted Angie? She has admitted in the past that her shoe-centric budget has interfered with her ability to make “adult” purchases, such as a house or other property. Does she see herself cutting down on the shoe intake any time soon? In a word, no.

“But,” she tells me, “your shoe survey really impressed on me that I have to make that first round of reductions. I mean, this is getting ridiculous. I don't have anywhere to put them all anymore.”