“Red shoes bring good luck.”

Discussing Dorothy’s ruby slippers, Smithsonian Magazine explains: "The shoes are a symbol of empowerment; they contain the magic that will ultimately get Dorothy home, but she must learn this for herself." The article traces how the slippers became cultural icons associated with fantasy and wish fulfillment. However, it frames them primarily as symbols of self-reliance and inner strength rather than as objects believed to bring good luck in a superstitious sense.

Bustle’s overview of red shoe symbolism notes that in many Western stories red shoes become shorthand for peril: "In Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Red Shoes,’ the titular footwear is a sinful indulgence that leads the heroine to a horrific fate. Later, in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 film, the shoes again represent an uncontrollable, destructive force." While the piece acknowledges that red shoes can also symbolize confidence and power in modern fashion, it emphasizes that historically they were often seen as dangerous or cursed rather than lucky charms.

In a survey of footwear folklore, the article contrasts different beliefs: "While the horseshoe became a widely recognized symbol of good luck and protection in Europe and North America, other shoe-related superstitions took a darker turn. Stories like Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Red Shoes’ portray red footwear as cursed objects that bring suffering to their wearer." The piece underscores that positive luck is more often associated with horseshoes than with red shoes, which are more commonly linked to misfortune in European tales.

Under the heading "Curse of the Red Shoes" the article states: "Many cultures consider red shoes a symbol of bad luck, and it’s believed that wearing red heels brings tragedy and misfortune." It presents this as a superstition linked to the tale of "The Red Shoes", in which a young girl becomes obsessed with a pair of red shoes and cannot stop dancing once she puts them on.

In this historical and cultural analysis of red shoes, fashion historian Hilary Davidson explains that red footwear has long been a "status symbol" for elites such as popes and kings and notes that by the 13th century "popes are wearing red" and monarchs use red shoes "as a sign of their divine power." The video also traces how Andersen’s 1845 fairy tale "The Red Shoes" transformed red shoes into a metaphor for sin and transgressive desire that leads to punishment, emphasizing the shoe’s association with danger and moral peril rather than straightforward good luck.

Across European and North American folklore, there is no widely documented, consistent belief that "red shoes" as a general category bring good luck. Instead, red shoes appear in specific stories (such as Andersen’s "The Red Shoes") where they are often cursed or morally dangerous, and in fashion or religious contexts where they symbolize power or passion. Isolated modern blog posts or local customs may treat red shoes as lucky, but this is not a broadly attested folk belief in major folklore surveys.

Retelling Hans Christian Andersen’s story, this version recounts that after Karen insists on wearing fancy red shoes, they become a curse: “Karen is literally carried or danced away by her dangerous red shoes into difficult situations she can no longer control.” Later, an angel commands: “He commanded the red shoes to dance until the girl withered in them. The shoes were told to dance to the houses of vain children and knock at their doors to see the consequences of vanity.” In this classic fairy‑tale tradition, red shoes function as a warning and punishment, not a source of luck.

Surveying centuries of imagery, the essay states: “For much of European art and literature, red footwear has signaled status, sexuality, or moral danger.” It discusses Andersen’s story in which “the red shoes literally drag Karen to her doom,” and contrasts it with later works like *The Wizard of Oz* where ruby slippers are protective and empowering. Overall, the piece argues that red shoes have carried layered meanings—luxury, desire, and peril—rather than serving as a simple good‑luck symbol in Western tradition.

The author writes: "Red shoes are powerful. In China, for example, red shoes were often considered to be ‘full of lucky’ as Eddie Izzard might say. Which is why in some traditions a bride’s red shoes were tossed from the roof to ensure marital fortune." The piece contrasts this with Western associations of red shoes with popes, royalty and transgression.

Ancient Origins writes that in many historical contexts, red footwear conveyed transgressive or ambivalent meanings: “For centuries red shoes were markers of power and excess, worn by kings, cardinals and courtesans.” In discussing Andersen’s tale and later films, it notes that red shoes became “a symbol of forbidden desire and the dangers of vanity.” Although the article mentions that red is sometimes used in charms for protection or to attract love, it does not present a widespread folk belief that simply wearing red shoes brings good luck.