We were invited to a birthday party of a girl whose family are from a higher income level than we are. DD had a nice dress on but her everyday shoes which are perfectly nice, new and good quality. All the other girls at the party were wearing gold, sequined, fancy pumps of some description or another. DD told me her feet were itchy, then she hid under the table and took off her shoes. I understood straight away why. She ran round barefoot for a while which was fine but when it was time to go outside, I insisted she put her shoes on. She started crying that her shoes were ugly and why didn't she have nice party shoes like the other girls. I, of course was fairly upset for her too, but didn't show it. Once I coaxed her into her shoes, she got involved with the games and seemed to enjoy the rest of the party. I'm left feeling uneasy though. I don't want her to feel like that again. It seems like the easiest answer would be to buy her some shoes - we're not on a tight budget. But, I don't want her to feel good because she has nice shoes. She's always going to experience situations like this. How can I explain to her that clothes don't matter, that she's really fortunate and priviledged, even though she feels like she doesn't measure up to the girls with fancy shoes?