Shoes!

[pensnest]

How many pairs of shoes do you own?

Now my dressing room is set up, I have a tall bookshelf upon which most of my footwear is displayed. It's surprisingly difficult to make an accurate count, but including the pair of boots which has to stay in the wardrobe (too tall), the trainers I actually wear all the time, and the pair of chorus performance shoes I wear for concerts, I think I have twenty four pairs. Possibly twenty-five.

It sounds like quite a lot (although my hairdresser has 72 pairs of shoes), but they do mostly have different functions:
—smart shoes with highish heels (in burgundy, pink, and black);
—smart shoes with lowish heels (in gold, red, and black);
—smartish ankle boots;
—summer shoes/sandals (blue, red);
—smartish flat shoes (brown, burgundy, silver, black);
—casual flat shoes/trainers (sage green, black, blue, gold, sequinned black, white with flowers);
—shiny party shoes (multicolour glittery, gold, black dance shoes)
—tall grey boots
—multiglittered chorus performance shoes.

Okay, so… twenty-four. The old blue trainers and the flat blacks may have to be jettisoned soon anyway for reasons of (a) falling apart and (b) not actually fitting me properly, but they're sometimes useful anyway. There are also some tap shoes and two pairs of sequinned slippers… which I've decided don't count towards the total.

I should probably pass the white floral Docs along to someone who yearns for them, if I can find such a someone. Any Campers with size 42 feet who'd like to try them? I'm very fond of them, but they don't quite work on my feet.

The newest additions were acquired yesterday, when I augmented my foot wardrobe by a pair of gold facetted Nike trainers from a charity shop.

So, how many pairs of shoes do you own?

Comments

[ratcreature]

(randomly dropping by via network...)
Eight pairs: winter boots, hiking boots, one pair of trainers, one pair of sandals, one pair of black dress shoes (men's dress shoes), and three pairs of vibram toe shoes in different variants. I might have a pair of holey converse sneakers still lying around somewhere, which I stopped wearing because the holes got too large but I don't remember whether I ever threw them out. Also I have felt slippers for indoors but I don't think of those as shoes.

[pensnest]

This seems like a very practical collection, although the toe shoes remind my of my Beast's toe socks, which are like fat black spiders infesting the house when they are laid out to dry.

[ratcreature]

Yeah, I never got into wearing women's shoes because ever since I was a teenager my feet have been too large for the women's shoes in standard sizes. And I never could be bothered to go to special stores so I defaulted to men's footwear.

[dine]

two pairs Birkenstocks, plus some ugly carpet slippers

shoes are definitely not my thing *g*

[pensnest]

Wow—they really aren't!!

[word_geek]

I have 2 pairs of sandals, a pair of black closed toed flats that I wear a LOT, and about 3 pairs of back upclosed toed shoes, one in tan, that I wear when I fix those. Then there's a pair of fit bit shoes I never cleaned after a walk, some fitbit sandals from when I had planter fascitis. Also some proper walking shoes which are not especially comfy after a long walk (previous pair lasted 20 years and were amazing) and the same brand of knee high lined walking boots that are mysteriously much more comfortable. I bought those instead of getting wellies,which was a good decision, even if I only wear them occasionally. Amazing when it snows. I am the only person in my office with warm feet.

Oh, and I think 3 pairs of boots of various heights. And I think I still have my wedding shoes, which were dyed to match and never worn again.

H

[pensnest]

I'm beginning to worry that I am the only person on my reading list who owns frivolous shoes!

[ephemera]

1 pair work-appropriate sandals, about to collapse
1 pair work-appropriate sandals, replacements to the above, but getting worn about half the time.
1 pair ankle books (for wearing with trousers)
1 pair knee-high boots (for wearing with leggings/dresses)
1 pair knee-high boots still in their box on standby for when the above give out

2 pairs silly-goth-platform-boots (3 and 6 inch lifts respectively - very very rarely worn, but I can't bring myself to get rid of them)
1 pair silly-goth-Fluvog-boots (aka my wedding boots) (similarly rarely worn but both sentimental, expensive, and beautiful, so *hoards*)

1 pair trainers, which give me blisters, but would be wearable in an emergency.
1 pair slip-on sandals, which give me blisters, but are good enough to shove on and hang out laundry / take out the bins/ similar around the house.

So - nine, but really 3 pairs in regular use.

I need to track down a new source of sandals - the pair about to collapse are Sketchers FitFlops line, which has been my go-to for years, but I discovered when I went to replace them isn't something they do any more - as well as spares for the ankle boots, and better spares for the knee boots, because I'm ridiculously hard to fit (43 narrow, with wide calves, narrow ankles, and high arches, and sensitive skin that blisters easily) and waiting until things break in unrepairable ways to start shopping leads to me emergency buying things that hurt to avoid being un-shod, and that's expensive and un-fun. The spare knee boots are the right model to fit me, but a fabric I expect to wear very badly.

[pensnest]

*Buying* shoes is a bit tiresome for me, at size 8 (41-42), and more so now that I need to accommodate the orthopaedic inserts (which ruled out some very pretty brogues last time I was in Hotter). But as you need a size larger, I suspect it must be really hard to find shoes actually in the shops that work for you.

I feel you should wear the goth platform boots when you need to intimidate people at work!

[chalcopyrite]

If I carefully do not count flipflops or slippers, I think I get eleven? Tall boots, short boots, ankle boots, one pair of fancy heels, several pairs of trainers/walking shoes, and assorted sandals, some of which are duplicates.
...Wait, I forgot the walking/hiking boots downstairs, and the steel-toed boots but those are functional (or were).

I just did a quick pruning of the shoe-tree; I think another eight? ten? pairs are waiting to go to the charity shop or collection bin.

Completely unrelated to the above, I do in fact have size 42 feet. ::looks shifty::

[pensnest]

Aha! And can I interest you in a very cute pair of floral Docs, barely worn? They're the up-to-the-ankle style, eight pairs of eyelets (see icon).

[turlough]

For the first time I wish my feet were larger. Your floral Docs are awesome!

Before my back got bad I owned far too many pretty high-heeled shoes but these days my shoe collection is very modest: 1 pair of black rubber boots, 1 pair of black winter boots, 1 pair of black sandals, 1 pair of purple canvas sneakers, 1 pair of orange canvas shoes, 1 pair of smartish flat shoes in pink, and finally 1 pair of very smart shoes in black suede from the 1940s inhereited from my grandmother. All in all just seven pairs.

[pensnest]

I forgot to include my wellies, mostly because they live in the cupboard downstairs rather than with the collection. But they're specialist items, not shoes.

1940s suede shoes! How awesome is that!

[rikes]

Let's see. Turns out I have twenty pairs, which is a ridiculous number as I am not a shoe person, and I try not to own too many unnecessary Things. Also, there's not a lot of room in my hall. I would love a bookshelf for my shoes! *envious* I have decided not to buy any more, apart from replacing the essentials if necessary.

I could get the everyday shoe number down to half of that if I could find a good pair that is both comfy and dainty enough to look good with dresses. I love dresses but not the shoes they require. D:


winter:
warm winter boots (two pairs)
tall black leather boots

sports:
gym shoes
running shoes
waterproof trainers

work:
safety boots
gumboots

party:
sparkly heels
black heels

everyday:
sporty sandals
beige casual shoes
black sandals
black wedge heels
pink ballet flats
beige ballet flats
black ballet flats
fake crocs

workplace:
sandals

[pensnest]

Many's the time I have declined to wear a dress or skirt because I didn't want to spend the time in shoes that would go with it. I can't deal with ballet flats, though - definitely *too* flat for me. But your collection looks much more like mine than some of the others!

[brandywine28]

Fewer than 24, I can tell you that much! But you really can't go by me -- I hate clothes/shoe shopping so much I'll do literally anything to avoid it; I've had shoes fall apart while they were still on my feet, they were so old and worn.

Floral docs! Now that's my kind of shoe! A 42 probably wouldn't work for me, though. My feet are kind of oddly shaped: small but wide. They look like fat little squares. :)

[pensnest]

I still treasure the memory of a pair of red-brown Mary Janes that I loved dearly—comfortable and beautiful even though they were cheap. I bought them as a student and didn't realise I should have bought another four pairs the same...

Buying shoes is exciting for me, and yet fraught with disappointments.

[vae]

Um, I will have to catalogue as I don't know!

1 x walking boots
2 x trainers (black, white/purple)
1 x smart shoes with a high (for me) heel
1 x smart shoes with a low heel (need replacing)
1 x flat summer shoes
1 x flat summer sandals
1 x heeled summer sandals (smart, probably too high for me to wear until next year)
1 x knee high boots
1 x mid calf boots
2 x ankle boots

So... 12? That doesn't seem too bad. I may have forgotten some. Sadly my Docs days are behind me, I used to absolutely live in them but my last pair broke me rather than me managing to break them in, so I am now defaulted to Skechers for my comfy shoes.

[pensnest]

I don't think I've ever quite gotten on friendly terms with my Docs, which is a pity because they seemed like such a good idea at the time.

I just live in my trainers, basically. All else is frivolity. But I am a very frivolous person.

[topaz119]

I'm afraid to go count.

[pensnest]

Now that is my kind of answer!