Imelda Marcos's shoe collection continues to grow

Imelda Marcos' famous collection of shoes is larger now than when she was the first lady of the Philippines. Marcos, 70, says her present assortment of shoes is growing rapidly and could be more than 3,000 pairs.

Marcos says most of the shoes were gifts.

The former first lady says she is tired of being ridiculed for her footwear collection and accuses reporters of being racist and prejudiced by only focusing on the shoes and not her accomplishments.

Her husband, Ferdinand Marcos was ousted from power in 1986 during a people's uprising. When they fled the presidential palace in Manila, she left behind more than 1,200 pairs of shoes.

They included a pair with lights that blinked when she danced.

Ferdinand Marcos' successor, Corazon Aquino had Mrs. Marcos' shoes displayed in the palace as a symbol of the former first lady's extravagance.

Marcos says sympathizers continue to send her shoes, thinking that she must be shoeless. "They do not want a former first lady to be without shoes," she says.