If the Shoe Fits

One of the favorite annual events of my childhood, along with Christmas and my birthday, was the yearly airing of the television production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella starring Lesley Ann Warren in the title role. Lesley Anne was just luminous, and I was entranced each time I watched her win the Prince (played by Stuart Damon).


I looked forward to seeing it all year, and my friends and I would often watch it together. We would sing along with all the songs we loved so much, envisioning ourselves being lifted from our everyday drudgery by the love of our very own Prince Charming.

My love of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella never really diminished. I still get that same warm and fuzzy feeling every time I catch a clip of Lesley Ann in the role on You Tube. So when I heard that the Robert Morris University Summer Colonial Theatre (where I like to spend my summers) was doing the show this year, I was excited. I was thrilled when I was cast as the Stepmother.

Although I am now old enough to be Cinderella’s, well, mother, I do still share one characteristic with her. It’s about our feet.

We were talking one night at rehearsal about how unusual it was that no other woman in the kingdom wore the same size shoe as Cinderella, and our director shared her theory that perhaps it wasn’t a matter of size, that perhaps Cinderella had misshapen feet. My husband immediately turned and looked at me.

Let me set one thing straight right now. I do NOT have misshapen feet. They are an unusual size, to be sure- short, with an unnaturally wide instep, a narrow heel, and a high arch. This makes it hard to find shoes that fit, but does not exactly qualify me for a circus side show or anything.

I don’t know what Cinderella did for footwear before the Fairy Godmother showed up, but for years I ran around in 8 ½ W shoes that cost $19.99 or less at one of the discount shoe chains. These shoes did not fit me, but I didn’t know that at the time because I had never experienced a shoe that fit.

My fairy godmother showed up in the form of a salesperson at Lady Foot Locker, where I went when I joined a gym and decided that I wanted a good pair of sneakers to work out in. She measured my foot and informed me, much to both our surprise, that I actually should be wearing a 7WW, which she assured me would be hard to find. They did not carry shoes that size, and so she referred me to the Easy Spirit store across the way in the mall.

The Easy Spirit sneakers I purchased that day were so comfortable that my spirit actually was easier when I had them on. I wanted to wear them every day. I began to wonder if shoes that actually fit my foot came in other styles. As it turns out, they do, and it seems that only Easy Spirit makes them.

So, I set out on a lifelong quest, with shoes that fit as my Dulcinea. Each shoe purchase is its own little scavenger hunt. First you have to find a style that comes in a 7WW, and then find a 7WW that is actually in stock. Once I started wearing loafers and pumps that fit, I discovered that my feet were slightly different sizes, which means the more adjustable the shoe and/or straps, the better. And I never could wear heels and I still can’t. However, with time and patience, I have acquired a small wardrobe of Easy Spirit shoes, suitable for all occasions.

Easy Spirit shoes have changed my life just the way that glass slipper changed Cinderella’s. Wearing shoes that fit has been a revelation to me, a luxury I never imagined would happen to me. And my feet and I are living happily ever after.

Robert Morris University’s Summer Colonial Theatre presents Rodger & Hammerstein’s Cinderella July 28 – 31 in Robert Morris University’s Massey Theatre. Curtain is at 8pm, Thursday – Saturday with a 2pm matinee on Sunday. Tickets are $10 and will be available at the door.  For more information about the show - http://www.rmu.edu/theatre