Redefining Fabulous

Now that I'm home from Hollins, and have (hopefully!) answered everyone's questions about the experience, it's time to get back to tried and true Fabulous Shoe Night business. And there has been a lot going on behind the scenes. While it's been frenetically busy setting up new chapters near and far, making final touches on the new web site, training new chapter leaders, etc., the same issue seems to be popping up yet again.

Yep … the issue of "fabulousness."

I thought we had already covered this, but I suppose it bears repeating. Don't get me wrong … I fully admit to drooling over all those glossy magazines featuring high-end, ridiculously priced sky-scraper heels just loaded with ankle-breaking potential, but the term "fabulous" (at least for our purposes) includes shoes in every heel height … and price range. I could just cry in frustration every time someone asks me about the Fabulous Shoe Night concept, only to then sheepishly inform me that, "Oh, I can't go … my shoes aren't fabulous enough."

Just the thought that some assume only high-end shoes are somehow part of the membership "criteria" conjures up visions of mean girls.  You know the type … haughty, condescending and oh-so-label-conscious. Nope! Not us! In fact, I'm proud to say that this image couldn't be further from the truth of who we really are.

So I often find myself repeatedly clarifying what "fabulous" really means in Fabulous Shoe Night. While this is a membership organization, it is not exclusive in the sense that anyone, or any type of shoe, is excluded. We are proudly, unabashedly, determinedly inclusive. Anyone, with any type of shoe, is welcome at Fabulous Shoe Night. 

(Well … hold on a second. My "I'm-not-really-a-lawyer, I'm-just-married-to-one" side is clamoring to speak up for a minute. My use of the word  "anyone" means any woman. Much to our amusement, we have been receiving RSVP's to Fabulous Shoe Night events at our existing chapters from men. Are there fabulous men out there wearing fabulous shoes? Without a doubt. But this is a women's social group … sorry, guys. And … just being honest here, we can't help but wonder if some of you may even have had --gasp! --an ulterior motive!)

Fabulous Shoe Night is not about shoes, fabulous or not. While we certainly provide an occasion to wear  your fabulous shoes, what we're really about is friendship, meeting new people, networking, and an evening out that does a little good in the world. 

The word "fabulous" is so subjective, anyway. I can't tell you how many times I've pried my "fabulous" shoes off my sore and tender feet after a night out, put on my cozy slippers, and sighed with delicious relief. Now that feels fabulous! But what about looking fabulous? Do high-end shoes have the market on fabulousness? Not even close. While at an event once, a woman looked down at my shoes and stated, with near reverence, "Those are the Diors I've been lusting after!" I wanted to laugh out loud! What she confidently mistook as Christian Diors were actually … oh, the horror! … Steve Maddens. And while they are fabulous, they also cost about $1000 less! Now that felt fabulous.

Yes … believe it or not, Steve Maddens can be fabulous. And if you're of the mindset that only high-end designer labels translate to fabulous, then perhaps we're not the group for you. 

Sometimes I feel I need to write a disclaimer, similar in tone to the inscription on the Statue of Liberty, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free …" It would be smacked, dead-center, on the homepage of our website and rephrased as such … "Come to us in your Steve Maddens, Nine West, flip flops and Uggs …" Humor has always been the great equalizer, but here, the message is the same.

We at Fabulous Shoe Night are a lot of things, because we're made up of a lot of different types of women. But the one thing we're not is judgmental.

That's just not fabulous.