Shoes and gender: a poll

But not an automated poll.

  1. Are you male, or are you female?

  2. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

Female, 5.

Female. I own about 100 pairs of shoes. Yes, I know it’s a stereotype…

At age 20 or 25 I’d’ve answered with about 20 pairs - I hadn’t yet built up what I needed for career wear. At 30 or 35, I had built up a much larger collection - probably 200 pairs. I hit 40, and decided that I was too old and too wise to wear uncomfortable shoes, so I’ve purged those. But I still need more than seems reasonable: basic black brown and navy pumps in .5, 1.5, 2.5, & 3.5 inch heels, sandals in different colors, boots (different colors and heel heights, of course!) Throw in some sneakers, a couple of pairs of frumpy clogs for grocery store runs or gardening, one or two (or three or four) pairs of strappy impractical shoes for formal occasions, and it’s easy to hit a number like 100.

Of course, my husband owns 3 pairs of work shoes, a pair of loafers, a pair of black wingtips, sneakers, and flip flops. That covers his needs for all occasions!

Male, probably 15 to 20. This includes dress shoes, boots, tennis shoes, running shoes, flip flops, and casual shoes.

Female, and maybe only a dozen pairs, which includes one pair of sandals, one of flip-flops, and two pairs of athletic shoes. I could use a few more pairs at least; I got rid of some recently. My husband has way more shoes than I do.

Male. 3: steel-toe boots, sneakers, and dress shoes. I pretty much only ever wear the boots.

Dude, nine.

Male. At least a dozen, but only wear 3 pairs (including a pair of sneakers and sandals)

Male - three.

Female. Let me think:

2 pr plain black flats
1 pr sneakers
1 pr boots
1 pr good sandals
2 pr crappy sandals
1 pr flipflops
1 pr fancy shoes

So let’s say 10. I buy new crappy sandals every year and wear them into the ground. I spend less than $20 or $25 and it makes me happy all summer, so I feel no guilt about it.

But shoes - shoes always look good, is what it is. Your feet don’t change as much as your ody, so fat or skinny, you can always find a pair of shoes that look nice.

My SO owns at least as many and maybe a couple more. He has this…attachment to shoes, and doesn’t get rid of old ones as fast as I do.

Male - about 15

Do you want us to count old shoes kept by the back door for working in the yard? $.50 flip flops? I probably have about 10 pairs of shoes like that, never worn away from the house, and another 20 or so pairs of “real” shoes. I’m a girl.

Female, 12 or so pairs, including more sandals than I need, a pair of good walking boots, couple of pairs of trainers and a pair of good shoes.

Female. I can only count the winter shoes at the moment because the summer ones are stored in another room.

Male, I’ve probalby got a dozen. I’ve got big feet, am hard on shoes and live a long way from where I can pick up a new pair. I’ve also got a problem where I end up buying a pair of dress shoes when I buy my suit yearly. I’ve gotten over that problem recently and have narrowed myself down to three pair of dress shoes.

2 running
2 flipflops
1 cleats
2 steel toes
2 casual
3 dress

Female… er, at least 20. Probably more like 40. I don’t know how it happens - I actually wear, like, three on a regular basis.

Male.

About a dozen, maybe less, including ski boots.

Male
two pairs of dress shoes
two pairs of sneakers
two pairs of running shoes
one pair of sandals

Feel like I should buy another pair of sandals to fix the pattern.
Oh and two pairs of winter boots, if you’re counting those

Female. 3 or 4 pair.
1 pair good sandals (Birkies)
2 pair of midrange flipflops
1 pair house shoes

I’m not sure if the house shoes should count as shoes, though.

Female, I have about 10 pairs. But I only wear a few on a regular basis. Some are specialty shoes like hiking boots or snow boots or pool shoes, which I only break out when we travel.

The six I actually wear are: good sneakers, dog-walking sneakers, driving-to-work shoes, brown work heels, black work heels, and other black work heels.

I plan to ask for some nice sandals for my birthday…I’ve been online shopping for a couple of weeks and haven’t found them yet.