We open on some strange goings-on! The Princess is being very negative in her room, while the Maid is standing outside her door saying things like "I'm sure you'll like them." The narrator asks the Princess what's going on, and she replies, "A bad thing". When he asks her to clarify, she remarks, "Shoes." The narrator is understandably puzzled, until the Princess clarifies that she dislikes new shoes. She blocks her door, but the Maid comes in through the window and convinces the Princess to try on the shoes, noting that they're only for special occasions. Upon putting the shoes on, the Princess changes her mind, in fact she doesn't want to take them off and screams when the Maid tells her to.
The Maid runs and tells the King and General, who are playing croquet, and the King says that, seeing as they're her shoes, the Princess can wear them, but she has to prevent them from being spoiled and if they do get spoiled, she won't get another pair.
The Princess struts around in the kitchen admiring her shoes, then later takes a bath with them on. Then, at lunch, the Chef tells her off for looking at her shoes instead of her sandwich as "it is a tour de force!", but the Princess doesn't know what that means. The pets then become frustrated with the Princess paying more attention to her shoes than them, and Puss starts doing tricks to try to get attention.
Later, the Princess is sitting on her windowsill, and the General invites her to "come for a gallop". The Princess declines, for fear of dirtying the shoes. He asks the Maid instead, but she's too busy.
That night, the Princess tries to wear her shoes to bed, but the Maid says no. The Princess tries to point out that her shoes are technically not in the bed since she's sticking her feet out, but the Queen insists that the Princess take off her shoes. The Princess complies, but doesn't want to leave them on the floor, so she puts them in the pets' basket.
The next day, the Princess looks out the window at Puss napping in a tree, the Prime Minister riding his tricycle, and her parents playing croquet. The narrator asks if she wants to play with them, but she says no because she doesn't want to spoil her shoes. The narrator suggests wearing a different pair, but the Princess is too attached to them. He points out that staying inside on a nice day must be hard, and she decides to go out for a "very careful" walk.
She goes outside, then cycles with the Prime Minister and plays ball with Scruff. The ball ends up waking Puss and landing in a mud puddle, dirtying the General's sash and the Maid's laundry. The Princess tries to give the ball another kick, but misses and ends up losing a shoe, which falls into the pond.
The Princess puts it back on, then climbs a tree, and then the Maid shows up, revealing that the Princess has been invited to a party. The Princess is initially excited, but then she looks down and sees that her shoes are dirty. She loses her appetite at lunch, then goes outside and broods. On her way back inside, the King asks if she's looking forward to the party, but she responds in the negative.
She throws away her shoes, but then she sees the Maid lamenting over her dirty laundry. The Maid notes that "good thing mud washes off", making the Princess realise that she can simply clean her shoes. She cleans them, but insists on wearing her wellies to the party instead since parties are "too messy".
This episode provides examples of
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Puss wears a top hat and bow tie when he's trying to get the Princess's attention. He later wears a nightcap to bed.
- Audible Gleam: When the Princess's shoes shine in the light, we hear a "ding" noise.
- Big "NO!": The first thing we hear the Princess say in this episode is "NO!" because she doesn't like new shoes for some reason.
- A Lesson Learned Too Well: The Princess realises that some occasions are too messy for her new shoes... but includes parties in that list.
- Loophole Abuse: The Princess tries to skirt the rule "Don't wear shoes in bed" by sticking her feet out from under the covers. The Queen doesn't allow this, though.
- Mourning an Object: Played with. The Princess is sad when she throws her dirty shoes away and says, "Bye-bye, shoes", but she doesn't treat it like a death. The Admiral, on the other hand, hums the funeral march even though they aren't even his shoes.
- Non-Nude Bathing: Downplayed. The Princess takes a bath mostly naked, but with her shoes on.
- Too Unhappy to Be Hungry: The Princess loses her appetite at lunchtime when she realises her shoes are dirty.
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