When I was in fifth grade, my mom bought me a pair of Sperry Topsiders. We had vacationed on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina that summer and Topsiders were THE thing on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Teenage boys with bleached blond hair wore them with their khaki Bermuda shorts and polo shirts. Moms wore them with their madras knee-length skirts and polo shirts. Dads wore them with their golf pants and polo shirts. Sperry Topsiders were everywhere, perfectly at home among the salty smell of seafood, the reassuring lighthouse in Harbor Town, and the alligators.
You know that phenomenon that occurs when you go into a home/design store and see a beautiful room display with gorgeous accessories and fabrics, and you buy one little dish and you take it home and you unwrap it and you set it on the counter and you sit there and say “Uh…why did I buy this?” Because once you take the dish home and it’s no longer in its native environment with all the fabrics and accessories and compatible colors…it doesn’t really fit?
Well, that’s how I felt about my Topsiders once we returned home to the midwest and I started school in the fall. No one in my town—I mean, no one—had Topsiders. They just hadn’t become mainstream yet. And once I got to school that first day and took a look at my feet, I realized just how weird Topsiders were. “These shoes are really weird,” I said to myself as I watched all my friends walk the halls of my school in Famolare sandals and Bass penny loafers. Take yourself back to fifth grade. The first day of school. Remember your feelings—all the confusion and self consciousness and fear of wearing weird things. Are you there yet? Do you remember? Good, because you’ll completely understand when I tell you that I marched to the office, asked to use the phone, and called my mom and begged her to bring me my Nike tennis shoes, the ones with the red swoosh.
“Why?” my mom asked. “What’s wrong with your Topsiders, Ree Ree?”
“Mom, they’re WEIRD!” I screamed, as quietly as I could lest Loretta the School Secretary become hip to my plight.
“They are not weird,” my mom said. “You wore them in Hilton Head!” My dog Bunker barked in the background.
“But MOM,” I whispered hysterically. “We’re not in Hilton Head anymore, and Julie’s wearing FAMOLARES!”
“Well, you can wear something else tomorrow,” my mother replied, refusing to indulge me. “Just go enjoy your first day of school!”
“But my feet hurt,” I tried.
“Bye, Sweetie,” my mom said.
“I can’t walk…” I tried again. And my mom hung up and went about her business.
Wasn’t that a beautiful story?
I packed away my Topsiders after that first day of school, and by the time Topsiders became cool—and man, did they EVER become cool—a few years later, my feet had grown and my good ol’ authentic Topsiders were too small for me.
That’s what I get for being self conscious!
But guess what I just found?
You’ll never guess.
So I won’t make you guess.
I’ll just show you.
Metallic Sperry Topsiders.
Forget thirteen-inch-high wedges. I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted anything so much in my life.
I feel the fifth grade girl in me deserves them.
Lotsa Love,
Pioneer Woman
This post is part of BlogHer‘s “Putting It All Together”, a collaborative video series I’m participating in this spring. I’ll periodically blog about a range of topics ranging from clothes to shoes (and a few other things), and I’ll be featuring some of your feedback and comments in some short videos we’ll be shooting here at the ranch.
Ree Drummond is the founder of The Pioneer Woman and a lover of butter, basset hounds and life on the ranch! Ree started her blog in 2006, and now millions visit ThePioneerWoman.com every month for her trusted recipes and fun family stories. Here’s what she has been up to since it all began:
New York Times Bestselling Author
Ree has written two memoirs (Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, and Frontier Follies) plus nine bestselling cookbooks:
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl (2009)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier (2012)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays (2013)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime (2015)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come and Get It! (2017)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: The New Frontier (2019)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Super Easy (2021)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinner’s Ready! (2023)
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: The Essential Recipes (2025)
Food Network Host
Since 2011, Ree has been sharing simple, family-friendly recipes—and the occasional kitchen prank!—on her award-winning show The Pioneer Woman, filmed right on Drummond Ranch. Ree is also a regular judge on Food Network competitions, including Christmas Cookie Challenge.
Founder, The Pioneer Woman Collection
Ree has been creating and selling kitchen and home products at Walmart since 2015 and she’s involved in designing every piece and pattern. The line now includes best-selling appliances (you have to see the floral blender!), plus hundreds of pieces of cookware, tableware, and more. Ree doesn’t like to play favorites but the Agatha print has a special place in her heart.
Restaurant and Hotel Owner
Together with her husband Ladd, Ree has opened several bustling businesses in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, including The Pioneer Woman Mercantile—a bakery, restaurant, and general store that draws visitors from across the country (many come for the biscuits alone!), P-Town Pizza, Charlie’s Ice Cream Shop, and The Boarding House, a charming hotel with eight different rooms decorated by Ree and Ladd.
Media Personality
Ree appears regularly on national TV shows like Today, Good Morning America and more—all while managing to keep flour off her shirt.
Wife, Mom and…Grandma!
Ree’s kids (daughters Alex and Paige and sons Bryce and Todd) are all grown up, and as of December 2024, Ree is the proud grandma of the cutest baby ever, Sofia Scott, born to Alex and her husband Mauricio. Ree still cooks for Ladd (and the kids when they’re home), and she also looks after a few mischievous ranch dogs.
