Celebrities are secretly battling more than just addictions to drugs and alcohol

$4,175 Balenciaga Shoes and heel collections of over 5,000 pairs

Hugely oversized, custom built, walk in shoe closets containing thousands of shoes

Marathon shopping sprees purchasing hundreds of pairs of shoes

Some celebrities find themselves unable to stop at buying one or two pairs of shoes, frivolously spending their cash on hundreds of pairs of shoes in just a few days. These spendthrift A-listers will take extreme measures to satisfy their designer heel habit. In some cases, they impulsively purchase high end pumps that don’t even fit! At what point does a passion for shoes turn into an obsession? This is where the addictive side of their personality sets in, and that’s where things start to get out of control!

Housewife Desperate for Christian Louboutins

Take Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria for example; at a recent shoot for In Style magazine she gave us a rare glimpse into her closet and showed just how much she loves shopping for shoes and clothes! She mentions her Christian Louboutin espadrille wedges and the pain they cause her to wear despite the fact that her Uggs are much more comfortable! That’s dedication for you girls.

Overall Celebrity Shoe Addict Rating For Eva Longoria (Out of 5 stars):

• ShoeAholic Rating: 5 stars
• Fashionista Rating: 4 Stars (Especially as Gabby in Desperate Housewives!)
• SpendAholic Rating: 3 Stars

Is Over One Thousand Pairs Excessive?

Perhaps one of the most dramatic cases of a celebrity shoe addict is that of singing superstar Mariah Carey. A recent Celebrity Fashion Watch article glimpse into her closet revealed just how much she loves her shoes by showing us her wall to wall collection of various styles and designers. Now before we reveal the amount of shoes Mariah owns, let’s look at just how many of these were purchased out of necessity and how many pairs are just a case of frivolous overspending or addiction. It is perfectly acceptable to want to have various different shoes for different occasions and to compliment specific outfits but if we were to reveal to you that Mariah actually has over 1000 pairs of shoes on display in her massive walk in closet would you still think that is normal? I wonder when that point comes when she just begins buying them out of habit, seeing a pair of shoes and having to buy them rather than just wanting them?!

Overall Celebrity Shoe Addict Rating For Mariah Carey (Out of 5 stars):

• ShoeAholic Rating: 5 stars (A true celebrity shoe addict!)
• Fashionista Rating: 3 stars
• SpendAholic Rating: 5 stars (She loves to flash the cash!)

Paula’s Guilty Pleasures Tagged and Numbered

American Idol Judge Paula Abdul also has some guilty shoe pleasures and can be seen in the images below in her walk in closet surrounded by shoes. As revealed by In Style Mag, most of her collection is made up from heels; being just over 5 feet means that she definitely needs that extra height boost and heels always make an outfit look more glamorous. Surely this must mean that her feet suffer though? Wearing heels all the time could definitely lead to long term problems, is it really worth it to look taller and add to her ever growing shoe collection?

What is perhaps even more interesting is that she has all of her shoes and outfits tagged and numbered so that she can quickly and easily pick them out for trips and vacations, sensible for when you travel a lot but this could also be seen as slightly obsessive behaviour, needing to have full control over her shoe addiction and almost justifying how many shoes she owns by labeling them for different occasions and events.

Overall Celebrity Shoe Addict Rating For Paula Abdul (Out of 5 stars):

• ShoeAholic Rating: 4 stars (She even organizes them!)
• Fashionista Rating: 3 stars
• SpendAholic Rating: 3 stars

Life Imitates Art Even with Shoe Addiction!

Something that I’ve also been pondering is how the media effects and feeds shoe addictions. Take the hit TV show Sex and the City for example; its lead star Sarah Jessica Parker plays shoe addict Carrie Bradshaw and the series gives the distinct impression that it is acceptable and normal to own hundreds of pairs of expensive shoes. Carrie’s fave’s in the movie as seen in FabSugar are the classic Manolo Blahnik. She can also be seen sporting some killer Dior heels from Spring 2007 in the FabSugar images from the SATC movie below. Is she perhaps partially responsible for this out of control addiction that is taking over the celebrity world? Sarah herself recently made the first steps towards admitting her addiction by stating: “My name is Sarah Jessica, and I own well over 100 pairs of Manolo Blahniks.” Well done Sarah, well done.

Overall Celebrity Shoe Addict Rating For Sarah Jessica Parker (Out of 5 stars):

• ShoeAholic Rating: 5 stars (A true celebrity shoe addict!)
• Fashionista Rating: 5 stars (She inspires new trends with her styles!)
• SpendAholic Rating: 1 star (Those Manolo’s are pricy!)

I Lost Count … Somewhere Between Two or Three Thousand Pairs?

Another famous celebrity shoe addict is of course Celine Dion. As reported by FemaleFirst the singing superstar admitted on the UK TV show This Morning that: “My hobbies are shopping and golfing. I own between two and three thousand pairs of shoes.” Being a mother is clearly her number one role as she goes on to talk about her family, and expresses a wish to have another child in the future. But when you have as much money as Celine has, who can blame her for over indulging every now and again on footwear!

Overall Celebrity Shoe Addict Rating For Celine Dion (Out of 5 stars):

• ShoeAholic Rating: 5 stars (A definite celebrity shoe addict!)
• Fashionista Rating: 2 stars
• SpendAholic Rating: 4 stars (That collection must have set her back a tidy sum!)

Victoria Running Out of Closet Space

Some stars take shoe addiction to dazzling new heights however, like Victoria Beckham. She was recently spotted in 6 inch spiked Marc Jacobs Stiletto’s barely able to keep herself upright as she teetered around the mall, probably on the hunt for more shoes to add to her collection! The woman is clearly a hardcore celebrity shoe addict! According to HollyScoop , in the April issue of U.K.’s Vogue Magazine, Victoria admits to using toilet paper to enhance her high heel collection. “If they don’t have my size I just stick toilet paper in…If that’s what it takes to get a nice shoe. More recently, ContactMusic has reported that the shoe-obsessed Beckham has vowed to ditch her addiction to shoes in 2009 since she is quickly running out of closet space to store her enormous collection. She says, “I just adore them but I’ve bought so many. And I only really wear them a few times. My shoe wardrobe can’t contain any more, so it’s becoming a bit of a joke. “I think I need to draw the line somewhere and lose some shoes.”

Overall Celebrity Shoe Addict Rating For Victoria Beckham (Out of 5 stars):

• ShoeAholic Rating: 5 stars (A true celebrity shoe addict!)
• Fashionista Rating: 4 stars (One of the most photographed female celebs)
• SpendAholic Rating: 4 stars (Her love of Marc Jacobs shoes must add up!)

Beyonce Can’t Pass Beyond a Shoe Store

One celebrity who isn’t ashamed about her shoe addiction is Beyonce! As Sponkit reported, she embraces her inner shoe addict and was recently quoted by the Daily Express as saying: “I love those super-high shoes that are out at the moment. I’m addicted.” The singing sensation cannot resist buying a pair whenever she goes shopping and always makes sure her wardrobe is full of high heels. The singer admits she can’t resist expensive stilettos every time she passes a footwear store. Free shoes from modeling shoots are another big addiction for Beyonce. With a figure like hers we can hardly blame her for showing her legs off! ConcreteLoop was able to identify the fancy heels Beyonce was showing off at the American Music Awards as Balenciaga Front Cage Sandals from their Fall 07 Collection price tagged at a whopping $4,175!

Overall Celebrity Shoe Addict Rating For Beyonce (Out of 5 stars):

• ShoeAholic Rating: 3 stars
• Fashionista Rating: 4 stars (Her outfits are fierce!)
• SpendAholic Rating: 4 stars (Those Balenciagas carry a hefty price tag!)

Christine’s Collection Needs a Ladder on Wheels

The Grammy winning pop singer needs to use a ladder on wheels to reach her enormous shoe collection. The shoe-wall is filled from floor to ceiling with her prized heel collection. At 27, she became pregnant with her first child, Max Liron. Unfortunately, her weight gain of 40 pounds during her pregnancy not only affected her hips, but also her foot size. Her petite feet ballooned from a size five-and-a-half to a size seven in flats. This jeapordized her being able to fit into her massive collection of shoes. According to a report from Undercover, Christina revealed that she was overjoyed when she returned to her regular size soon after the birth of her son. She said: “Thank God my feet went back to normal. I would have been so depressed if I had to get rid of my shoe collection!” Some of her favorite designers (as see in the images) are Christian Louboutin and YSL.

Overall Celebrity Shoe Addict Rating For Christina Aguilera (Out of 5 stars):

• ShoeAholic Rating: 3 stars
• Fashionista Rating: 3 stars
• SpendAholic Rating: 2 stars

Kiera Collects Shoes in the Wrong Size

The Academy Award-nominated English actress is a self-confessed shoeaholic. Kiera admitted that she is so obsessed with shoes that she will purchase pairs that don’t even fit. The dazzling beauty will splurge on footwear that is too big and too small just so she can gaze at her prized possessions on display in their boxes. As reported by FemaleFirst, in an interview with Britain’s Grazia Magazine, she said: “I have shoes I’ve never taken out of the box. I even have shoes that don’t fit.” Kiera also added “I look at them and go, ‘Oh it doesn’t matter that I can’t wear them - they’re so pretty!’” Whether the designer heels fit has no bearing on whether Kiera opens her pocketbook. According to U.K.’s Daily Mail Online, Kiera admitted ‘If I see a pair of shoes that I adore and they haven’t got them in my size, I still have to have them.

The stunning actress, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Pride and Prejudice, can be seen sporting a ravishing assortment of shoes in September’s Vogue (as seen in the image). Ms. Knightley donned extravagent high heels by designers like Louis Vutton, Balenciaga and Prada. This was highly appropriate given her penchant for designer heels.

Overall Celebrity Shoe Addict Rating For Kiera Knightley (Out of 5 stars):

• ShoeAholic Rating: 5 stars (Purchasing shoes in the wrong size is excessive)
• Fashionista Rating: 4 stars
• SpendAholic Rating: 3 stars

Lindsay Lohan Crowned the Queen of ShoeAholics

We save the best for last with our profiles of A-list celebrity shoeaholics. Lindsay Lohan, the American actress and pop music singer rose to stardom with leading roles in such films as Freaky Friday, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and Mean Girls. Well, she could have also played a starring role in a movie titled “Confessions of a Celeb ShoeAholic!” As reported by VipGlamour, the movies actress told British magazine Elle about her record setting shoe collecion which even stacked up against Imelda Marcos She confessed “I own 5,000 pairs of shoes. It’s mad.” By her own admission her collection is ludicrous, but designers such as Stella McCartney keep on supplying her with new items to wear. “I do love fashion. Stella McCartney sends me loads of free stuff.” As shown in our images, she can frequently be seen shoe shopping even between movie shoot breaks.

In a ChinaDaily article, LiLo admits that shoes make her smile and sexy stilettos stop her from feeling depressed. “If I’m having a bad day, I put on a pair of stilettos, some red lipstick and a great dress and I go shopping!” In a great article found on FantasticToe entitled “Shoe Collections of The Stars”, a very methodical analysis was done which concluded that Lindsay’s shoe collection is worth approximately $1,500,00 and would take 6.85 years to wear each pair only once.

Overall Celebrity Shoe Addict Rating For Lindsay Lohan (Out of 5 stars):

• ShoeAholic Rating: 5 stars (5,000 pair collection worth an estimated $1,500,000)
• Fashionista Rating: 4 stars
• SpendAholic Rating: 5 stars

So, the celebrities we featured here are pretty addicted that’s for sure; even to the point of dwarfing the collection of 2,700 shoes owned by the infamous shoe addict Imelda Marcos. You can be sure there will be some future celebrity shoeaholic who will surpass even these collections. If you enjoyed this article you may want to also check out our Shoes of Power post.

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