the shoe test

Living in New York City means a lot of walking. When I moved here, I brought with me a collection of my cutest shoes. Now each pair is undergoing what I call "the shoe test." I can already say that Carrie and the rest of the S&C girls were crazy. There is no way you can wear heels in the city and act like they are as comfortable as sneakers. I recently watched an episode where Carrie nearly skipped down the street in her Monolo Blahniks. I am here to say that walking in the City with heels without grimacing is a sign of good acting.
So far my test has yielded the following results-
Steve Madden sandals with heels: fail
Steve Madden cowboy boots: pass
Puma sneakers: pass
Mossimo heels: fail
New Balance sneakers: pass
Steve Madden slides: pass
Anne Klein slides: still to be determined
Doc Marten sandals: pass
The pass/fail criterion was determined on the basis of whether my feet hurt excessively after walking only a few blocks, whether I could walk across a brick path without getting stuck in a crack, and whether the shoes cause blisters- after the cellulitis I developed from blisters in Thailand, I now take blisters very seriously.
Of course a whole new shoe test will be created once winter sets in. I won't care about the way they look as long as my feet are warm. Just one criterion. Okay, maybe not really. After all, I live in New York City. I have to maintain some degree of style.