To wear dreams on one's feet is to begin to give a reality to

“To wear dreams on one’s feet is to begin to give a reality to one’s dreams.” Thus spoke Roger Vivier, master craftsman of elegance, designer of visions, and creator of shoes that became symbols of beauty and transformation. In these few luminous words, he revealed a truth far greater than the art of fashion — a truth about manifestation, purpose, and the sacred act of bringing imagination into form. For what are dreams, if not the invisible sketches of destiny? And what is creation, if not the courage to give them body, movement, and direction — to walk them into the world?

Vivier, known as the “Fragonard of the shoe,” was no mere cobbler of leather and silk. He was an artist who understood that the human spirit, like the body, needs something firm to stand upon. His creations adorned queens and icons — from Queen Elizabeth II, crowned in his bespoke heels, to Catherine Deneuve and Marlene Dietrich, whose steps turned his designs into living poetry. When he spoke of “wearing dreams,” he was not speaking only of shoes; he was speaking of the transformation that occurs when one dares to make their visions tangible, to step boldly into a reality that once existed only in the heart.

To wear dreams on one’s feet is to bring the heavens down to earth — to give motion to the invisible, and direction to the impossible. The feet are our contact with the world; they are the foundation upon which every journey begins. To clothe them in dreams is to declare: I will no longer let my aspirations drift above me like clouds; I will walk in them, live in them, become them. It is an act of courage, for it turns longing into commitment. The dream that has weight and form, the dream that moves — that is the beginning of destiny fulfilled.

The ancients understood this truth well. When the Greek hero Hermes, messenger of the gods, received his winged sandals, they symbolized not luxury, but transcendence — the power to move between the realms of thought and action, spirit and matter. Likewise, Vivier’s words remind us that it is not enough to dream; one must embody the dream. For thought without action is like a bird without wings — beautiful, but bound to the ground. When we take the first step, when we shape our dreams into something the world can see, touch, and follow, we awaken the forces that conspire with us.

Consider the story of Walt Disney, the man who built worlds from imagination. He began with nothing but sketches of a cheerful mouse, and yet he saw, within that small drawing, the spark of an empire of wonder. When others mocked his vision, he persisted — building, designing, and walking each day in the direction of what he imagined. He wore his dreams on his feet, quite literally, as he walked the grounds of a swamp that would one day become Disneyland. Every step upon that soil was a vow to his vision — a transformation of idea into ground, of imagination into reality.

So too must we learn to walk in our dreams. To live as though they were already real is not delusion; it is devotion. The musician who practices before the audience exists, the writer who fills pages before a publisher calls, the student who studies as though destiny were watching — all of these are acts of faith in motion. Each step taken in belief creates a rhythm that draws the dream closer. The universe, it is said, does not respond to idle wishes, but to movement — to the sound of footsteps approaching the horizon of intention.

Let this, then, be your lesson: do not let your dreams remain in the sky — bring them to earth, and walk in them. Dress your life in them, speak through them, act upon them. Write them down, craft them, wear them in the choices you make. For every great creation — from a song to a civilization — began with someone who dared to make the unseen seen. The dream must be felt in the body, not just the mind; lived in the present, not deferred to the future.

And so, remember Roger Vivier’s timeless wisdom: to wear dreams is not vanity, but vision. It is the soul’s declaration that what was once imagined now has the courage to exist. Step forward, therefore, with beauty, with purpose, and with faith — for every journey toward greatness begins with the same sacred act: putting your dreams beneath your feet, and walking boldly into the world.