When putting on my walking shoes this morning, I started wondering about shoehorn usage. I don’t use one in warm weather, because I always wear sandals. But in cool weather, with socks and lace-up shoes, I use one every day. Are shoehorns old-fashioned? Or a timeless, eternally useful device?
(I messed up my first try because I used old directions.)
I use a shoehorn often (weekly or even daily)
I use a shoehorn often when in season (i.e., with winter shoes but not sandals/summer shoes)
I use one a few times a year
I used to use one often in former sartorial circumstances (school, job, military, or with a uniform) but don’t any more
I use one in rare/quirky situations (one is provided in a self-service shoe emporium, e.g., DSW)
I never use one and have never used one
I don’t have any idea what a shoehorn is, and anyway, I’m not musical
I can’t relate to this poll, but I’d like to vote because I hate being left out
I’ve used a shoehorn maybe 10 times in my life. When I was a kid, I had a pair of Sunday shoes that just couldn’t be broken in, and the only way I could get my feet through that god-forsaken mouth was with a shoehorn.
I voted “something else” because while I did previously use one in conjunction with my Very Expensive Orthopedic Shoes We Can’t Afford To Replace Just Because You Ran The Heels Down, Young Lady, and I’ll use one in a shoe store, Mr. Legend uses one every time he puts on his shoes. I got him one of those hilariously long shoehorns after his hip replacement, since he was instructed not to bend over too far, and it was so handy he kept on using it.
I do, actually. Replaced some shoes last year, and the new ones that I like have a tongue attached to the uppers, which makes it a bit tricky to slide the feet in. Probably not really essential, but a shoehorn makes it easy to slip them on.
Never used a shoe horn until I had a hip replacement. For a while I was unable to bend over enough to put my shoes on. The physical therapist gave me a very long shoe horn which could be applied while sitting down but did not require bending at the hip too much. Worked a charm!
I haven’t used it since my hip has healed. I still keep it handy since it’s a fairly substantial hunk of metal about 2’ long. I’m thinking it could come in handy for whacking things that require whacking.
Mr. Legend’s hip replacement introduced our family to a variety of fun accessories! The sock applicator and the dressing stick are gathering dust now, but we ended up getting another reacher just so the other members of the family would quit borrowing his all the time. I would probably use the shoehorn, too, but most of my shoes are slip-on clog types nowadays.
I inherited long, narrow feet from my dad (who wears triple A width, thank god mine aren’t THAT narrow). Nearly all shoes that I buy are so loose to start with that I can just stick my feet in. Then I grab the laces on either size, pull back with all my might, and mostly manage to get them to an appropriate tightness.
I have ever used a shoehorn – for fancy leather dress shoes that are a genuine A width and not merely “narrow” (which tends to equate to roughly a B width and often verges on a C). But my everyday wear has been running shoes for a long time now and they come in “regular” / “wide” / “narrow” not lettered width sizes, so no shoehorn necessary.
“Other”. I often use my fingers, especially if my feet are a little swollen, but an actual shoehorn? No. The cats would probably run off with it even if I did buy one.
I’m mid-40s and have never needed one. My dad had one, maybe for boots? So I’ve seen them and had older relatives who use them. But never personally owned or used one. I remember when I was a teen some of my friends would joke about people who needed shoehorns to get their clothes on.
I voted “something else” because, while I have one, and while it sits next to the shoe rack by the front door where most of my usual selection of shoes are placed, I never actually bother to use it.
I can’t remember what sent me looking for a shoehorn in the recent past (recent being a relative term). Maybe it was when I broke my ankle. Anyway, I couldn’t find the regular short kind and wound up with the l-o-o-ong kind, in plastic. Very handy. Don’t have to bend over to use it.
I picked “I never use one and have never used one”, but my parents had one and I probably used it a few times as a kid just for the novelty of using a shoehorn. But I’ve never used one in my adult life, and I don’t even own one for that matter.
Cleaning out my mother’s house after she died, I found her shoehorn. I’d never used one so tried it out. What a wonderful invention! I use it every time I put on my tennis shoes. I love not having to struggle with my fingers to get them on. Until this thread, I didn’t know super long ones existed. I’ll have to check that out.
Shoehorns are one of those little inventions that make life easier, I use them most of the time I put my shoes on. We have several, mostly of metal, and I guess my wife has bought them all, because I don’t recall ever buying one, except the last one we acquired, a super long one we saw at IKEA. Cost only one €, they had a lot of them in the corner where they display cheap curious things. My wife likes it a lot, I still use the other ones, as I usually put my shoes on while sitting.
Now that this question has been raised I wonder whether you people use shoe trees. They are practical too, keep the shoes in shape. We prefer the wooden ones.
My father was a podiatrist, and while I was a child there were always several shoehorns around the house that he brought back from work. I used to play with them, but I don’t recall ever using one for its intended purpose.
ETA I also used to play with those foot-measuring tools with the sliding scales. Hours of fun.
Not only do I use a shoehorn, but I have three that are about two feet long (from IKEA, I believe) that I keep in different places (mainly, at the front door and the door to the garage) because they’re indispensable for getting into any shoes that are not sandals. They’re especially useful with sneakers where I generally don’t even bother with doing up shoelaces each time – I just leave them loosely tied and treat sneakers like slip-on loafers. Summer is nice because sandals are easier to get into and there is no struggle with socks, which I hate on basic principle.