by Rosanna Carlucci

The night air was thick and heavy; she found it hard to breathe. The ground beneath her was wet with rain and tears, but she didn’t care, she had had enough. Each alley way and nightclub knew her name; she was the lady who sang the blues, the lady with the ruby red shoes.

Everyone had thought she was a fool, leaving it all behind for a sweet talking saxophone player she hardly knew. The beat of her quickened pace against the pavement reminded her of the night they found each other, both running from the rain in a crowded bus shelter. The same night she sold her soul for a broken microphone and a drunken crowd in some club across town, just to be with him.

And now night after night the heartache would spill from her mouth and consume every beating heart in the room. She would gaze into the audience hoping he was there, despite everything, she looked. She cursed the day he took the smile from her face, the beat from her heart, and the light from her soul. He left with no warning and no reason, just an empty glass of gin and a hollow heart.

She clung to the memories of Friday night movies and Saturday morning bookshops. The swarm of butterflies that once inhabited her stomach had flown away and all she had now was her song and those shoes. They would make things right, they would take her home…

Every woman needs a pair of red shoes.  From the moment Dorothy clicked her heels three times and said those five magic words, red shoes have come to represent a combination of innocent seduction and an escape from reality; something intriguingly different.  Since their debut in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, the “ruby red slipper” has become an icon. For Dorothy, her ruby red slippers became a form of escape, her ticket back home.

Today red shoes continue to captivate and lure the unexpected. Many designers such as Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik and Ferragamo have reinvented this classic. More recently, designer Miuccia Prada has designed the most perfect pair of modern day ruby red slippers for her Miu Miu label. The gorgeous, mouth-watering heels are exclusive to Miu Miu boutiques and are perfect for playing dress up or making a statement.

*Trivia: In 1953 shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo designed a ruby red stiletto for Marilyn Monroe to be worn in the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The shoes sold at Christies auction for approx. $40,000 in 1999.