IF THE SHOE FITS.

Byline: Barbara De Witt Fashion Editor

In need of a shoe fix?

Only you and your shoe salesman know for sure, but you've probably got a footwear fetish when if you're complaining you have nothing to wear even though your closet won't hold another pair of pumps.

Other signs include friends calling you Imelda behind your back, and the unbearable urge to click your heels together during anxiety attacks.

Having a passion for shoes doesn't hurt anybody. It's an innocent habit that helps support the fashion industry. And unlike Capri pants, they don't betray added pounds.

But maybe it's time to wean yourself down to the national average of only six new pairs of shoes a year.

Start with baby steps. Instead of going cold turkey after blowing a month's food budget on stiletto boots with embroidered roses, try sleeping in a cotton nightshirt covered with Thumbelina-sized shoe designs.

Try shoe-print scarves. Or put one of those new mini shoes on top of your computer and convince yourself you don't really need to wear shoes to enjoy them.

But use caution. All those adorable mini-me shoes on the market can become addictive.

A saleswoman at Macy's in Sherman Oaks says she's already sold out of ruby slipper brooches, and over at the the Museum Store in Canoga Park, a clerk reported customers buying entire collections of miniature shoes at one time.

The ceramic shoes - which are too big for Barbie and too small for Cinderella - are the brainchild of Petaluma artist and sculptor Raine. Called the Right Shoe collection because Raine only makes shoes for the right foot, the collectibles are sold at Nordstrom and gift shops.

Raine, who has designed other miniatures, is amazed at the popularity of her tiny shoes. ``I thought about what I'd love to have and shoes seemed so obvious. It's all about sculptural shapes, but even a person who may not like abstract art can relate to shoes,'' she says.

Raine adds that opulence and fantasy are back in style, and for those women who can't afford the designer shoes (or are too wobbly on skyscraper heels) her rhinestone-studded models priced at $12 to $20 a shoe are a perfect fit. Also a shoe-in are her shoe-shaped purses and music boxes. She's currently working on a line of jewelry with shoe charms, but there are others ahead of her.

Shoe charms from ``Wizard of Oz'' are at Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills; vintage button-top shoe charms on a bracelet are available at the Metropolitan Museum Web site; red enameled stiletto earrings were spotted in the window of Ben Bridge Jewelers in Thousand Oaks; and diamond-studded baby slippers by Aaron Basha are at numerous high-end jewelers.

Whether it's shoe-design jewelry, clothing, or Estee Lauder's new solid perfume compact with ballet slippers on top, there is a fascination about little shoes, admits Maggie Murray, spokeswoman for the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. ``It's like a trinket or a talisman for adults, and a flashback to playing with dolls. Then again, the trend may be inspired by recent shoe exhibitions around the world, including our Andrea Pfister exhibit that featured a red ballet slipper to hold your cell phone,'' she says.

Pfister wasn't the only designer to get creative with shoes. The late fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, who was most often associated with the color ``Shocking Pink,'' also designed hats shaped like a pink pump. And in the '80s there were telephones shaped like red high-heeled pumps.

Nostalgia, art or talisman - if the shoe fits wear it, says Murray.

Besides, the first step to getting over a bad habit is to acknowledge it. And for those on the road to recovery, Michelle Gagnon of the Emerald Forest in Studio City has just the ticket. It's the ``Queen of Shoes'' pillow in royal purple velvet accented with leopard print pumps.

Foot notes

The average woman has 12 pairs of shoes in her closet.

Women buy an average of six pairs of shoes a year.

American women spend $15 billion on shoes annually.

Black is the most popular color of shoes.

The average shoe size for women today is 8-1/2; in 1949 it was a size 6.

Until the 1820s, there were no left or right shoes.

People in the shoe business refer to themselves as ``shoe dogs.''

Marilyn Monroe was a fan of Ferragamo pumps.

Roger Vivier is credited with the invention of the vinyl thigh-high boot, the comma-heeled pump, and the square-toed shoe recently reintroduced by Prada.

Centuries ago, platform shoes were worn by butchers to keep their feet above pools of blood, while Greek and Roman nobility wore them to be taller than their slaves.

Mules and slides are similar, but toes are exposed in the slide.

- Information courtesy of Harper's Bazaar; Sears, Roebuck and Co.; Chicago Tribune; and ``Fairchild's Dictionary of Fashion'' by Charlotte Mankey Calasibetta.

CAPTION(S):

12 Photos, box

Photo: (1 -- 5 -- color) Right, from top left: Pumps as pins, $19.99, Macy's; The shoe addict's T-shirt, $18, from Artistic Wear at Fashion Square, Sherman Oaks; pin $19.99, Macy's; For well-heeled dreams, a shoe print nightshirt, $25, from the Museum Company stores; and Dorothy's ruby red slippers on hair pins, $14; bracelet, $32; and necklace, $30; all from Neiman Marcus, Beverly Hills.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer

(6 -- 8 -- color) Left; Leading the shoes-as-art parade are styles from Just the Right Shoe, $20, center, at Nordstrom and the Enchanted Attic, Thousand Oaks.

(9 -- 12 -- color) From top: Ballet slippers adorn Estee Lauder's solid perfume compact, $150, at Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills; footwear fiends can tie themselves up with shoes by Ferragamo on a silk scarf, $70 each, at Salvatore Ferragamo boutique in Beverly Hills; and a shoe purse, Just the Right Shoe, $30.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer

Box: Foot notes (See text)