After my son died, I could barely leave the house. I know it sounds crazy, but spending over $1,000 on Mary Janes finally made me want to dance again.

Before strip malls and e-commerce made shoe shopping mundane, one fast-talking, chain-smoking, small-town salesman elevated footwear hustling to an art form.

In a desolate desert ghost town, hundreds of road trippers from around the world have left their hearts and soles dangling from California’s unlikeliest tourist attraction.

I never thought I was pretty enough to be a fashion model—but little did I know that my fabulous feet most definitely were.