Blogs, videos in a lovefest with sole
If Melissa O'Shea could become a shoe, this would be it.
Designer Manolo Blahnik. Leopard print. Peep toe exposing red-polished nails. D'Orsay-style cut, revealing a graceful arch.
"They just look so pretty," says the platinum blonde O'Shea, looking down to behold the pumps on her size 9 1/2 feet.
That's not to neglect the 200 other pairs of stilettos, sandals, boots, and sale-rack delights that sit neatly arranged in her Medford home, of course. "If I had a bigger house, I'd have more," she says with a chuckle.
Yes, she admits, it's an obsession. "Pretty close to a fetish."
Even if your shoe collection doesn't come close to rivaling O'Shea's - and even if you prefer to be flat-footed in Birkenstocks or canvas shoes - there's probably a bit of Carrie Bradshaw in you.
There is in every woman - at least that's Powderhouse Productions' take on the matter. The Somerville-based company recently launched shoetube.tv, a platform (pun most definitely intended) where women can unashamedly celebrate and obsess about shoes.
With the more than 70 blogs, devotees count down the days to the "Sex and the City" movie premiere, confess remorseful love of not-so-attractive Crocs, offer tips on resuscitating party shoes on hungover mornings, and express "shoe crushes."
There are also dozens of videos from an assembly of fashionista hosts: They instruct viewers on vamping like Las Vegas showgirls, spontaneously interview women on the street (about shoes, of course), and profile self-described "shoeologists" who ascertain personality traits through footwear.
Chief among those clips is "The Daily Shoe," in which saucy shoe vixen Austyn Mayfield features a different boot, clog, pump, stiletto or flat every morning. (And, yes, shoephiles, there are links to boutiques for instant "getification" of the daily featured shoe, which recently included sneakers by Taryn Rose and square-toe heels by Naughty Monkey.)
O'Shea, for her part, equates the site to "shoe porn." She visits it almost every day.
Indeed, Powderhouse seems to have struck on something, notes creative director and editor-in-chief Bill Lattanzi. Although he declines to divulge the site's revenues or number of unique users, he will say that, in just over a month, shoetube has gained a following not only in the United States, but also in Germany, France, and Brazil.
"Oprah by Labor Day," he fires back when asked about his aspirations for the site. "World domination."
He pauses, then adds with a smirk, "Shoe domination."
The footwear motif is something of a departure for Powderhouse, which specializes mainly in educational documentaries. The company, which started in 1994 in a windowless basement and now operates out of a third-floor office overlooking Davis Square, has a staff of about a dozen producers, editors, and marketers. Among their programs, which have appeared on such networks as TLC and PBS, is the "Extreme Engineering" series for the Discovery Channel.
Shoetube has a separate staff of about nine, plus six female video hosts around the country.
But for all of its trendiness, the site is not intended to transform women into Givenchy snobs. The site promotes a love for all shoes, from the shriek-inducing varieties of Louis Vuitton to the day-to-day brands we all scuff around in.
"These are the shoes we're in, the shoes we fantasize about," says the 25-year-old Mayfield, green suede Frye boots snug on her size 9 feet, gold eye shadow accenting her hazel eyes. "It could be gym shoes one day, stilettos the next."
Shoes allow for creative expression, she says; sometimes they are even works of art. A former Cole Haan salesgirl and longtime Paul Smith devotee with an "even 100" pairs of shoes, Mayfield was the perfect choice for the site.
But she doesn't just shoe shop: For her daily videos, she has mastered shoe and foot vocabulary, peppering her speech with such terms as "metatarsal," "D'Orsay," and "puff." (Only shoe fanatics can define those terms without a dictionary.)
Given her shoe-oriented brain, she admits to greeting people feet-first. "I haven't looked anybody in the eyes first since the 1990s," she says with a hearty laugh while sitting in Shoetube's pale-walled office.
Around her, stacked boxes of Ariat, Perlina, and Taryn Rose shoes tempt peeks; aqua and tan cowboy boots and giraffe-detailed pony hair loafers are passed back and forth between her oohing co-workers.
On this particular morning, Shoetube enthusiast Gwen Leung has brought a few choice beauties along for a field trip. The petite size 5s sit in neat pairs on the floor: gladiator-style heels with a multitude of pewter straps, stilettos with a cascade of black fringe, silver sandals with rhinestone butterflies.
"I like the different personalities you can have in a shoe," says the 31-year-old floral designer from Chelsea. Today, that persona is casual: Her red toe-nailed feet are tucked comfortably into flip-flops.
Leung owns about 80 pairs - mostly stilettos, which she puts through "surgery" by adding comfort-enhancing pads. Still, you won't get any confessions out of her. "I don't think I own enough for it to be called an obsession," she says.
O'Shea, on the other hand, readily admits to her fervor.
She estimates spending roughly $5,000 a year on shoes. And she is willing to go numb for the right pair, especially the skyscraper-high ones.
Four years ago, her devotion prompted her to start the Boston-based Hello Stiletto Shoe Club, which now links 1,200 members through their loyalty to often impractical - yet beautiful - shoes. The 36-year-old O'Shea used to work for a nonprofit dedicated to curing multiple sclerosis. But she recently chose to blend her obsession with her profession by running the club (and its website) full time.
"I wish I had a nice neat answer," she says, attempting to define the "why?" behind her affection. "I have an emotional reaction to shoes."
For example: A shiny fuchsia pump with a curled rose offset at the toe.
Pulling them out of a linen bag, she says, "I feel like Carmen Miranda in them," referring to the fashion icon better known for her millinery than footwear.
Instantly, her shoe-loving cohorts begin buzzing, passing the glamorous heels back and forth between well-manicured fingers.
"People pull out shoes, our voices get high-pitched, we squeal," Mayfield says over the din.
They continue in a frenzy, zipping back and forth about credible cobblers, religious experiences in Givenchy, effective blister busters, and the casualties suffered at the mottle-grounded Faneuil Hall.
Lattanzi (who owns nine pairs of shoes) motions around as he sums up the Shoetube experience: "This is it, except online."
