Lesse… I’ve got
1 pair black dress shoes
1 pair black “going out” shoes
1 pair brown casual/dressy shoes
1 pair boots
1 pair sneakers
1 pair sandals
1 pair flip-flops
Commonly worn footwear:
-Black leather lace-up shoes, suitable for office casual, business formal, and balck tie.
-Brown oiled-leather shoes, suitable for business casual & jeans
-New Balance cross trainers.
these account for 97% of my shoe-wearing.
Seldom worn / specialty footwear:
-black leather loafers for wedding & funeral (highly formal, highly painful) worn 3 times, including my wedding. Bought for Dad’s funeral; wasn’t in a shoe shopping mood at the time. 
-Good german hiking boots, worn when hiking in rockies, or when rocks / streambeds / scree slopes are anticipated.
-Old steel-toed safety work shoes, worn while working on landscaping / home maintenance / painting
-swim finns, for snorkeling
Weather outer-wear for feet (boots)
-stetchy rubber “rubbers” fit over shoes for rain or light snow
-rubber “mud” boots aka. gumboots for dealing with lots of mud / water in warmer circumstances.
-overshoe boots, that fit over shooes, but go above ankle, for going to work when there’s lots of snow.
-ankle “quick-zipper” boots, for quick trips to mall or visiting friends house where I will be expected to go about in socks.
- Sorel mid-calf -40rated snow boots, for serious cold & snow duty.
My first reaction was to say two shoes and runners, but I guess I was skipping a bunch of stuff. I am still feeling like the decision to buy the brown shoes and a brown belt was a bit of an extravagance on my part, but my wife insisted that it would help me keep my shoes far longer if I had two pairs, and could let one pair rest. I had always felt that a pair of balck shoes just went with everything…
I use shoe trees and mink oil to keep the leather from cracking & splitting, which otherwise is a real pain here in the driest city in the country.
This may make me appear stingy; it’s just that I’ve always felt there were better things to spend money on than shoes. Like consumer electronics, golf, ammunition, restaurants, travel, etc… you know… *fun * things…
I guess buying shoes for me has always been a bit like buying insurance: you need it, you have to choose a good product, but you just don’t enjoy it…
One pair for casual wear, one pair for more formal (or cold) wear.
Wow, shoes. Let’s see
In High School, it was cowboy boots and combat boots, both with spikes to go with the leather jacket. I boycotted gym on general principals and didn’t wear running shoes.
In college, I started off just like high school. Then I transfered to a military school. Got to keep the combat boots, even got new pairs, and now got bad military dress shoes.
After that, I had to get a real job, so I bought 3 hole semi-dressy Dr. Martens. Had to be somewhat the rebel. I then got a suit job and bought 3 pairs of black dress shoes, all different styles.
Now, I have one pair of running shoes, but I don’t run, even when chased. Cowboy boots, but I never wear them, combat boots, never wear them, snow boots from my days on the East Coast, never wear them. 3 pairs of dress shoes, Dr. Martens, clogs for working in a restaurant, and most importantly 2 pairs of Birkenstocks.
-one pair insulated csa work boots
-one pair black dress shoes
-one pair all purpose runners
= 3
I regularly wear four pairs of shoes:
-regular running shoes, for school, walking, etc.
-thongs (not sandals, thongs, damnit! I don’t care if the word also means a type of women’s undergarment, the shoes I have are called thongs!) I wear these in the summer. They’re cooler and are quicker to put on.
-dress shoes: formal occasions
-hiking boots: for hiking. They support my feet better than running shoes
I own other pairs of shoes, but I never use them and I don’t know why I have them. Some were gifts, I think.
I own two pairs. One pair of black Chuck Taylors, one pair of black loafers.
Okay, I took a quick count.
34 pair.
Do I win?
2 pairs of sandals, the good pair and the backup pair for wet days.
2 pairs of walking shoes, the new pair and the backup pair.
2 pairs of dress shoes, shiny for suits and dull for business casual.
1 pair of boots, twenty years old and just now wearing out.
I’m barefoot most of the time but wear the sandals for most of my trips in public. The walking shoes get used for my daily walks. It took a foot doctor to tell me that sandals were inappropriate for long distance walking but once I accepted that my foot health improved dramatically. When one pair of sandals or walking shoes get too ratty to use I buy a new pair, the previous good pair becomes the backup/wet weather pair and the ratty ones get thrown out. I get about four months out of a pair of walking shoes and about six months from the sandals before they get downgraded to backup status.
I do have a pair of knee high hand made buffalo hide boots I bought at a ren faire but I have surprisingly few occasions when they are appropriate footwear.
Three pairs.
1)Running/Athletic shoes
2)Brown dress shoes
3)Black Doc Marten boots
Need:
1 pair of black leather shoes for work.
1 pair of sneakers for the gym.
Could also use:
1 extra pair of sneakers for outside.
1 pair of sandals for summer
1 extra pair of leather shoes, just for whenever.
Work: Black suede.
Formal: Black shiny.
Casual: Black suede boots.
Home: bare feet.
Speciality “shoes”
Country: Hiking boots.
Running: Running shoes/Trainers
Gardening/painting: old worn-out running shoes. (these surely don’t count?)
I’m definitely in the more than five pairs is decadent camp.
1 pair black dress - for job interviews and client visits.
1 pair decent looking Rockports - for work.
1 pair incredibly ratty but incredibly comfortable 10 year old sneakers - for weekends.
1 pair slippers - for around the house.
This is my usual lineup. I don’t buy new until the old is ready for the garbage. The sneakers have been ready for the garbage for some time, but I just can’t bring myself to get rid of them.
What are penny loafers?
And to answer the OP,
1 pair leather sandals
1 pair winter boots
2 pairs running shoes
2 pairs black dress shoes
Here’s hoping that you have shoe trees in your shoes - they really do help. Also, don’t wear the same shoes two days in a row (you’ll rot them from the inside out).
My shoe line-up:
Dress
Black, cap-toes oxfords (Johnston-Murphy)
Black, tassel loafers (Bostonian)
Black, tassel loafters (Florsheim)
Black wing-tips (Johnston-Murphy)
Black loafers (Gucci)
Black patent leather tuxedo pumps (Johnston Murphy)
Cordovan tassel loafers (Hush Puppy)
Casual
English tan split-toed oxfords (Cole Hahn)
English tan woven-toed loafers (Cole Hahn)
Brown suede oxfords (Bostonian)
Deck shoes (Sperry)
K-Swiss tennis shoes
Nike cross trainers
Black engineer boots (Red Wing)
Cordovan loafers (Cole Hahn)
I like good shoes.
I wasn’t going to post in this thread, but out of curiosity I counted my shoes and was surprised to find that I had many more than I would have guessed.
white runners - everyday use
white gym / basketball shoes - indoor only
dark grey / black waterproof walking shoes
black casual leather shoes
brown casual leather shoes
black dress shoes - very shiny
canvas deck shoes
Teva sandals
heavyweight leather hiking boots
leather / fiberglass insulated ice climbing boots
plastic insulated alpine climbing boots
insulated overboots (like a supergaiter) - not technically a shoe, I guess
extreme cold weather insulated boots
steel toed insulated workboots
lightweight Magnum tactical boots
wetsuit boots
diving drysuit overboots
deck/sailing boots
Here’s a photo for reference. They are loafers without fringe or tassels. They have that little notch on top into which kids would sometimes wedge pennies.
Curious – what would you call those shoes colloquially?
I love shoes, but do not own many that I love…I have just started to build the perfect shoe collection.
Doc Martins, 8-hole black, kept immaculate.
Johnston & Murphy, brown ankle-high, high gloss dress
??? (Some German company, very nice though, c. $250), ankle-high black dress
Raichle, light hiking Gortex, grey
Oldies:
Doc creepers, black lace-ups, falling apart
Teva’s, don’t like them, never wear.
Vans, black lace-ups, never wear
Bata black dress, ankle high w/ clog-soles, winter wear.
Hi-Tec grey tennis shoes, rarely worn.
Raichle, old light-hike, wear for hunting.
Caribou winter boots, still used after 15 years.
Raichle, HEAVY hiking, occasional use after 15 years
I am going to buy more next week when in the USA.
-Tcat
shoes for every purpose:
brown doc marten work boots
black nike monarch cross trainers for work in warm weather
brown columbia insulated boots for extra cold weather
red/white nike monarch cross trainers in my gym bag
nike flip flops in my gym bag for shower wear
white nike monarch cross trainers for casual wear
brown doc marten boots for casual wear
brown doc marten low shoes for casual wear
black doc marten wing tips for dress
brown doc marten wing tips for dress
brown doc marten sandals
brown birkenstock sandals
grey house slippers
brown fleece lined house slippers
still in the box, waiting for the need:
white nike monarch cross trainers (that was one great sale!!!)
blue columbia insulated boots (also a great sale)
Four pair, here.
- fuzzy slippers, worn around the house and for trips to the dumpster.
- sneakers, for good weather (March/April through September/November)
- steel-toed, insulated boots for bad weather, and special occaisions - hiking, working in mud, etc.
- dress shoes, for self-torture. After all, why suffer with just a tie?