Sorting Shoes

Why do people have so many shoes?  I am always a little surprised by this as I have never been a shoe girl. Shoes don’t really interest me and I find it hard to believe that some people have literally hundreds of pairs. Sometimes I wonder if it is, in fact, an urban myth. 

Don’t get me wrong, shoes are important.  Our feet are important as they have to carry our weight around all our lives.  So shoes should be comfortable and help our feet get through our day.  At least, that is what I think.  Of course, one would like them to look nice too.  When I was younger I used to have what we called court shoes which I wore for work and I did a lot of walking in them.  However, although the heels were not enormously high, I still wonder if I damaged my knees walking on hard paving stones in these shoes. When I look around me today I notice that most women don’t wear heels, especially when using public transport, as this invariably involves some walking.  Which begs the question, who buys all these heels?  Do people feel they ought to have some pairs or are they tempted by the pretty colours and shapes and then, do these shoes languish for years in some wardrobe until they are discarded due to lack of room and lack of use? I cannot answer such mysteries but this fate has certainly overtaken some of my own shoes.

For myself, I had quite a few pairs of shoes, sandals and boots, 37 pairs in fact and I decided that it was time to cut down.  So many of them had not been worn for a long time. 

High boots – I had three pairs of high boots and I decided to only keep one, mainly because I find they make my legs ache if I wear them indoors or for any length of time.  I really only need one pair for extreme weather when I am outside all the time. 

Ankle boots – I had seven pairs of ankle boots.  I love ankle boots, they are extremely useful in the winter and I wear them most of the time.  I had four black pairs, one brown and one red pair.  Out go the red and brown.  The red were cute but I never wore them. As for the brown pair, well I just don’t like brown but thought I could try the look;  jeans, brown boots, white shirt.  Didn’t work for me.  Out went a couple of black heeled ones as they were too high to be really comfortable.   So now I have one flat pair, one pair with low heels and one pair with medium heels to wear with dresses and skirts.  I don’t have any ballerinas as I find them very uncomfortable, they either pinch my toes or fall off my heels all the time.

Shoes – three pairs of flats reduced to two for dancing. Three pairs of heels reduced to two for special occasions – thinking about reducing that to one.

Sandals with heels – five pairs of heels, way too much.  Out went the uncomfortable ones leaving two pairs.

Flat sandals – five pairs of flats and five pairs of flip-flop types, most very worn.  Down to two pairs of sandals and one pair of flip-flops.

Summer canvas shoes – four pairs down to two

Lace-up shoes – two pairs down to one pair for walking

Sports shoes and trainers – two pairs, one for fitness and one for running.

Overall total – 37 pairs reduced to 16, so I have achieved my 50% goal.

(All shoes I didn’t keep were donated to charity unless too worn).