Pairs Of Shoes

"If the shoe fits, wear it. If the shoe doesn't fit but it looks good, wear it anyway."This seems to be the motto of millions of American women who have suffered debilitating problems as a result of wearing ill-fitting shoes. Although shoes are meant to protect the feet from injury, for many women they do just the opposite.The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons reports that more than 43 million Americans, most of them women, have trouble with their feet, usually from wearing shoes that do not fit. Surveys indicate that 80 percent of women wear shoes that hurt their feet, and more than 70 percent of women have developed painful foot deformities as a result.

Myrna Kaplan had already picked out one pair of shoes by Olivia Rose Tal, and was trying on another. She liked the stylish wedge, but didn't love it. If only the front had a neat little twist, like another pair she had at home. That twist was so snappy. And comfortable. "Can you do a black twist?" Kaplan, of Guilford, asked Dorinne Tal, the shoes' designer, as she waved the sample shoe in the air. "Of course!" Tal said, her favorite phrase of the afternoon. And with that happy accommodation, Kaplan bought that pair of wedges, plus three more.

You know a confident woman when you see one. There's something in her stride, in her lifted chin. Her complexion glows, her posture commands attention. Something about a confident woman makes you want to know her, or at least know more about her. Mary Kay Ash, the late founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, once said, "While clothes may not make the woman, they certainly have a strong effect on her self-confidence - which, I believe, does make the woman." Which is exactly why we wanted to get to know the four fashionable women profiled below.

NEWSWEEK magazine reported today that it has obtained transcripts of tape-recorded conversations between Sun columnist Susan Reimer and herself.Apparently unable to get her husband and children to listen to her, Reimer has been thinking out loud recently, the newsweekly reported, and her so-called dearest friends have been recording her comments in an apparent attempt to bolster their own grand jury testimony and to protect themselves against any future appearances...

ON SUNDAY'S anniversary of the terrorist attacks, the ringing of the telephone interrupts a tender reverential moment. I am watching the National Football League offer patriotic pre-game tribute to the fallen of Sept. 11, 2001. It's always stirring to see such gentleness displayed for 30 seconds by the NFL before its young gladiators throw forearms into each other's windpipes. But now comes the phone call. "You should come down here," the voice says. It's my wife. "I'm watching a tribute to the fallen," I explain.

By Nadine Khtikian's count, Americans can do their part to end poverty in west Africa just by donating a pair of used sneakers. It may seem an odd approach, but since January, Khtikian has been collecting athletic shoes from around Baltimore with the aim of shipping thousands of sneakers to Ghana, where they will be refurbished and sold. Half of the proceeds will go toward training a needy farm family in environmentally sound agricultural techniques. At $3 each, 500 pairs of shoes will pay for a water pump, a well, a bicycle, chickens, assorted trees and additional items.

Iris Hill Green, a medical secretary and Middle River mother of two, knows the best time for shopping: on her lunch hour, when no one's pulling at her to detour into the toy store.During the work week, she'll sneak away to the Fashion Bug or White Marsh Mall, to browse uninterrupted. Green is also aware that looking good is a part of her job. "Doctors like it when you reflect their office," she says. Even during Saturday morning office hours, Green comes to work in a flowing summer dress made of her favorite fabric, rayon.

When Kim and Brian Gross picked up their 1-year-old daughter Riley from day care, she was often barefoot -- even in the winter. Because the child's shoes were hard-soled, the day care workers took them off to let the youngster toddle more easily. It was only a matter of time before the socks came off, too. Frustrated in their search to find shoes flexible enough for their young child to wear through the day, the Cockeysville couple decided to design their own. Now Rileyroos, as the shoes are called, are sold in stores in Maryland and beyond.

The little one said a lot. Anchoring a row of nine nicely manicured toenails across Kelly Thomasson's flip-flops was one that was not only unshellacked, but altogether missing. The 28-year-old recreational runner from Pasadena had been wearing shoes that were too small, and the constant jamming of her feet into the tops of her sneakers took its toll - a common mistake that causes untold pain and, according to her and her husband, unsightly feet. At stake were her regular workouts on the road and at the gym. A friend and more experienced runner recommended she get some professional help, not from a doctor but an experienced retailer.

County police arrested a Baltimore woman at a Glen Burnie bus stop Wednesday on charges of stealing a $15 pair of shoes from a Payless Shoe Source.An employee at the store in the 7300 block of Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd. in Glen Burnie identified the woman, police said.Rhonda Michelle Penix, 31, of the 2200 block of Cindy Ave., was charged with theft.Glen Burnie man charged with stealing two VCRsCounty police charged a Glen Burnie man Wednesday with stealing two videocassette recorders together worth nearly $380 from a Kmart store in the 6700 block of Ritchie Highway.