I wear an old pair of slip on shoes that I bought maybe 3 years ago at WalMart. They are falling apart and ugly but hey, they are comfortable and I just have to slip them on.
I keep saying I’m going to throw them away but cant seem to let them go.
Am I the only one who has trouble throwing away old shoes?
I’ve got a pair of brown loafers that I bought from SAS well over 20 years ago. They’re all stretched out so my feet slide around in them. They’ve got paint or other stains on them. The little leather trims won’t stay tied. But they’re perfect for grubby chores around the house and yard. They’re easy to slip on if I have to let the dog out in the middle of the night. They’re molded perfectly to my feet - they should be after 20+ years.
I bought 2 new pair of SAS loafers, but for some reason, I still have the crappy old ones. I can’t imagine what would make me toss them, despite knowing they are practically garbage. Maybe if the cat peed in them, I’d finally be forced to let them go…
Yup. My favourite pair of walking boots were so broken in that the soles were worn smooth (and unfixable).
They were as comfy as slippers, but unfit for hillwalking anymore - I couldn’t bear to just bin them, so stuck them on ebay to see if anyone had a use for them. They sold 
If it is a shoe I wear only around the house it must be extremely worn and dirty for me to part with it. I used to wear Dr. Scholl’s sandals with the wood sole as house slippers and they never wore out!
I will happily throw away old shoes, especially when I think how long hot sweaty feet have spent in them!
Nope, I have no sentimental attachment to shoes. I’ll keep an old pair for wearing in slushy nasty weather , but aside from that , it’s the garbage for shoes too shot to wear regularly.
I own exactly three pairs of footwear, all in my posession for at least six years. I never wear shoes in the house, and I don’t drive.
A pair of construction work boots, always worn for walking anywhere beyond the apartment complex, like shopping, library, or the bus stop. I bought them new 6 years ago at Walmart, maybe $25, and repaired a transversely split sole with superglue.
A pair or Rockport sneakers, that I wear out if I’m getting a ride, and only need to walk in the store or parking lot. They’re my dress-up shoes. I found them by the curb, somebody was moving and threw a lot of stuff out, they were a perfect fit, probably $75 when new.
A pair of blue Reeboks with velcro closures, slipped on and worn if my destination is within the apartment complex. like to the mailbox or dumpster. Bought them at Goodwill.
Why would I need more, and what’s wrong with those?
I hate throwing out old shoes. I walk a lot, so any pair of shoes that’s comfortable for a three-mile trek and don’t look like they were manufactured as some sort of sartorial punishment are treasures. I get them fixed when I can, but sometimes I’ve destroyed them to a point past saving.
A few of them get new life as critter toys. Rats are much like dogs, in that they like things that are satisfying to chew on and have an interesting smell. Mmmm, feet! My feet are small and my rats tend to get huge, but often they manage to smash into an old shoe for a nap anyway. Then they get tossed with the old bedding on cage-cleaning day.
I actually have trouble throwing out old clothes in general and I have a somewhat large collection of old hiking boots. But that’s mostly because they’re still good, and, as Peter Yarrow says, “The oldest shoes I have will always fit me.” Sneakers, which are my daily wear, don’t get kept for sentimental reasons, but I do keep a pile of ratty ones for painting the house and bottom painting the boat.
I will simply state I have a pair of boots 35 years old I still wear and let you draw your own conclusion.
Fortunately, as a cobbler I have some ability to fix them myself, but before I picked up that skill I used to pay to get them repaired on a regular basis.
I like old shoes, but can’t make myself keep more than one pair of old and ugly shoes. One pair, I can say they’re for yard work and house painting. Two pair, no - I don’t have an excuse for keeping two.
There’s also one pair of canvas slip-ons, one pair of walking shoes, and two pair that I can wear to the office. And one pair for weddings and things. I have to wear those every once in awhile or they’ll kill my feet. No, they don’t have heels. They look like expensive slippers, and like they should be comfortable, but they rub where my other shoes don’t.
old comfy shoes is like good sex. you don’t want to let it go.
Ever since I purged many dumpsters of stuff upon my last move, I’ve tried and largely succeeded in keeping my accumulations in check. When new shoes come in, old shoes must go out. I only buy comfortable shoes, so that’s not a factor because they’re all comfy shoes. Since I wear runners for work, when the sole starts to wear they go or I slip on wet floors. So I get some shoe-shopping urges sated by regularly replacing my work runners. The oldest footwear I think I have are my amazing LL Bean slippers.
I used to work for the company that invented the original boat shoe - Sperry. They used to come with a true lifetime warranty many years ago. I had to fly to one of their customer service centers to do a systems implementation and one of the reps got an irate call from a doctor who had bought the shoes over 15 years before and now the soles were worn out after heavy use. The rep explained that they would be happy to replace them for free but it was no longer possible to repair shoes that old with the newer components. He didn’t like that AT ALL. He wanted HIS shoes fixed and restored and not a new pair completely free. He eventually accepted that they couldn’t do it and he got his new pair rather than just having his old ones fixed but he wasn’t happy about it.
I asked the customer service manager how often that happens and she said it happened a few times a month. They even had a written procedure for reps to talk someone down from the ledge metaphorically speaking when they were so attached to their shoes that they refused to be rational.
So no, it isn’t just you. Some people really do get attached to their shoes.
Guilty. I wear out about 4 prs. of athletic shoes a year, and do I toss them? Nope, I shove them in the closet and think “Oh, I can wear these next time I paint.” Then I do. But after they’re covered with paint, do I throw them away? Nope. Then I think “Oh, I should save these for the NEXT time I paint” It’s idiotic, but they’re really in good shape, just the innards are smushed down.
I have two pairs of old sneakers that I wear when I mow the lawn or garden. Both are fucking annoying because now the soles are pulling away and rocks and dirt get inside pretty easily. But I don’t throw them out, because what am I going to do, wear my “good” sneakers? When I buy a new set of sneakers to replace the ones I wear everyday, then my current sneakers will get demoted to yardwork-only, and I’ll chuck the current yardwork-only ones.
This. Finally threw out a pair of old Nike sneakers when the sole came completely separated, but up till then they were fine for mowing the lawn and painting the deck.
Duct tape fixes floppy soles.
Also holes.
Have you ever seen the prom outfits made of duct tape?
For some reason, at age 53, my feet are still growing. So old shoes no longer fit. They get thrown out.
I was size 8.5 when I graduated from High School. I am up to 11.5 now.