If diamonds are a girl’s best friend, a pair of shoes may be her enemy.
With Christmas just around the corner, young women have recently been horrified to learn of the viral “shoe theory,” an old wives’ tale which suggests that gifting a significant other a pair of shoes means they’ll walk out of your life.
In other words, giving your beau a pair of kicks might cost you a pretty penny — and your relationship.
“Praying for all the girlfriends who got their boyfriends shoes for Christmas,” TikTok user Fay Holder wrote in a video earlier this month.
“POV: you and your bf [boyfriend] both bought each other shoes for Christmas, and you just found out about the shoe theory,” wrote fellow app user Chelsea Barbee in a clip this week.
While the superstition has been around for years, the viral jinx has only circulated on TikTok recently, with now-single ladies sharing their sole-baring tales of heartbreak online, including some who were dumped within a matter of weeks after receiving a pair of shoes.
One woman, who goes only by Cassie on TikTok, posted a clip of her laughing hysterically while recalling how she requested a pair of shoes for Christmas — knowing “full well” that she could be sabotaging her relationship — and it unfortunately “checked out.”
“When I [first heard about the shoe theory] I was like, ‘This seems dumb,'” a former skeptic, who goes only by Katie, admitted in a video last year. “But then I had a lightbulb moment. I had gifted an ex of mine a pair of shoes … and they definitely walked out of my life.”
However, not everyone is sold on the holiday hex. Some users believe if the shoe fits then the post-Yuletide break-up was merely indicative of a weak relationship.
“I keep seeing the ‘shoe theory,'” one TikToker named Brooke wrote in a video. “It’s NOT REAL if your [sic] in a STABLE HAPPY RELATIONSHIP.”
And in the case of an unhappy coupling, she added in the caption, you shouldn’t be “buying him shoes anyways.”
“If he leaves he’s simply not the one for you,” she concluded.
“I needed to see this thank you I got him shoes for Christmas and am spiraling,” responded one relieved viewer.
“I can’t count how many times I’ve bought my husband shoes for Christmas… 15+ years & happy as the day we got married,” assured another.