I have a pair of black Rockports that I wear four days a week and a pair of New Balance sneakers that I wear three days a week.
I also have a pair of “Fakenstocks” that I wear to run trash to the curb or to make a quick trip to a fast-food joint and a pair of Kenneth Cole dress boots that I wear about once or twice a year.
My closet is littered with the broken bodies of previous incarnations of the aforementioned shoes… I don’t know why I don’t toss them.
This thread seems like a good place to resurrect an essay I wrote about my shoes that appeared in the first issue of Teemings, called Shoes I Have Walked In. Your comments are encouraged.
Put me on the “as few pair as I can get away with” list.
I have:
2 pairs athletic shoes – I alternate days on the theory that it makes them last longer, although I’m not sure it’s true. Both have worn patches inside the heels, and one just lost a big chunk of tread this morning (it had been peeling away for a while, but I just couldn’t bring myself to face buying new ones.)
3 pairs of pumps – black, blue, brown. I keep all three pairs under my desk at work, to slip into in case someone who cares walks by. The brown ones date back to 1991, and the black ones have a hole on the bottom of the toe.
1 pair black loafers – For dressing up outside of work
2 pair sandals – one I bought so I could get away without socks on the weekend (I can’t wear sneakers without socks) and one my Mom bought me while we were on vacation.
Reading some of these lists, I’m thinking about all of the money I’m saving by not buying shoes. Maybe I should at least spring for a few pairs without holes, though.
Shoes. I have so many.
There’s the pair of Doc Martens that I spent my rent money on. Then there’s the pair of combat boots that my sister bought me for Christmas.
A pair of high heels from high school. (Egad!)
7 (count’em!) pairs of Spice Girl lookin’ platforms (My fave ones are the ones with a 5 3/4" heel on them.)
5 pairs of Vans. For skateboarding.
4 pairs of Converse All Stars. (Chuck Taylor is the man!)
2 pairs of Airwalks. (For aforemetioned skating)
1 pair of Barbie shoes (I don’t know what the style is called.)
3 pairs of black slip on loafers, the kind with the buckles.
1 pair of red velvet Gucci platform sandals (that match the one red velvet dress I have)
Various pairs of tennis shoes
A few pairs of good tennis shoes
3 pairs of Converse All Star low-tops
Too many more to mention. Pretty good that I knew all of this from memory. My mom says I have a shoe fetish because when I was little I could only wear one pair of shoes. I had that whole pigeon-toe thing going on, and I had to wear the Buster Browns with the bar in the middle of them. Now, I hit clearance shoe racks like my life depends on it!
Let’s see, first there’s the one pair of dress shoes, a nice pair of Kenneth Cole black square toed shoes. These are fun in the winter due to their complete lack of tread. I can slide over twenty feet with only a couple steps to get up to speed. Granted, I look like a fool around campus, but it’s just so much fun.
Then there’s the sneakers. There are several pairs of these.
First is the new ones, Adidas indoor soccer shoes, selected for light weight and easy fit into bike toe clips.
Next is the red Adidas Gazelles, selected because they look so damn cool.
Also, some Adidas trail running shoes, since I do run sometimes, and regular running shoes don’t last as long.
For mostly indoor use, I have a Adidas sandals.
For rare occasions that other ones are wet, dirty, or something, I have some white Adidas Stan Smiths that I’ve had for six years or so.
Lastly, aside from several old pairs that I have stored away rather than discarded, I have a pair of jungle boots, which I’ve discovered are not meant for winter, even with thick wool socks.
In order of oftenness of wearing:
[ul]
[li] Justin workboots[/li][li] Skechers Sport running shoes[/li][li] Corcoran II Field Boots[/li][li] Wal*Mart off-brand sandals[/li][/ul]
I think your preoccupation with shoes means that at this stage of life you are (mildly) obsessed with being successful.
I heard/read somewhere that you know how successful a person is by looking at his/her shoes (in the context of figuring out a good neighborhood/country to live in - i.e. if people around you wear good shoes, it’s an upscale neighborhood).
The shoes I brought with me to college are as follows:
One pair of black mid-calf lace up boots
One pair of black oxfords (which cause the sucking wound on my ankle, thanksverymuch!)
One pair of sky-blue skateboard sneakers
One pair of blue-and-white running shoes
One pair of brown sandals
One pair of black and white flip flops
Two pairs of black strappy dress shoes
Too bad I couldn’t find my 4-inch brown platform sandals before I moved…
I am proud to say that I went to Europe for a month with one pair of shoes. The ones I’m wearing right now, as a matter of fact.
They are oxblood Doc Martens, with a funky dress-shoe design. Tres cool. Suitable for hiking in the Alps, biking across the Netherlands, or dancing in Paris.
My other shoes are black, oily suede steel caps. I wear those while biking because the steel shank offers great, solid biking support, and they look good with a suit.
I also have sandals which I wear to the beach (and that’s all I wear at the beach ), running shoes, squash court shoes.
I own 2 pairs of shoes that I don’t wear much. Black wingtips (real nice, but I haven’t broken them in yet, and it may be several years at the rate I’m going), and my shoes with the wafer-thin sole. Those kick ass on the dance floor.
I also own winter boots, but those are a leftover from my Montreal days.
I thought of the shoe-cleaning devotees this morning upon opening my bathroom closet and decided to recommend my terrific suede and nubuck cleaner. It doesn’t even have a name, just Suede and Nubuck Cleaner. It comes with a white block that looks like a big eraser, and that’s what you do – erase over the tops of your suede shoes. Then, with the brush that comes with it, bruch off the ick and perk up the suede. It was recommended to me at a shoe repair shop: “If this don’t get ‘em clean, nuttin’ will.” They were right.
Reading this thread has made me realize that I may be a sick, sick man.
At the moment I am wearing a pair of Florsheim comfortech slip-on walking shoes, off-white.
I also own:
A pair of shiney black leather Florsheim loafers.
A pair of black leather lace-up Hush Puppies.
A pair of brown leather 'Streetcar’s loafers probably Hush Puppy.
A pair of brown leather cowboy boots I’ve had for over 30 years. All they say inside is “Spanish leather”.
A pair of tan canvas-toppped boat shoes from L.L. Bean.
A pair of white canvas-toppped boat shoes from who knows where.
A pair of blue canvas-toppped boat shoes from who knows where.
A pair of converse running shoes.
A good pair of white New Balance walking shoes.
A not-so-good pair of white New Balance walking shoes, for going to the gym.
A pair of vinyl(!?) tennies for mowing the lawn, painting, etc.
A pair of Merrell Jungle Moc Ventilators, grey, that I got at the Hush Puppy outlet store in Michigan a couple of weeks ago.
A pair of green leather Duck Boots.
A pair of knee-high rubber boots I got while we were installing new sewer pipe at the kids place.
A pair of hirache sandles.
A pair of Speedo flip-flops.
A pair of nondiscript flip-flops.
A pair of green fleece high-top house shoe type things.
A pair of suede house slippers.
A pair of Mallard Duck slippers.
A pair of snowmobile boots. Do I have a snowmobile? Nooooo!
You guys have no idea how relieved I am to find I’m nearly normal in this regard. I’m way to old to be developing new hangups. In fact, I think I’ll reward myself with a new pair of oxblood oxfords and some silk socks.
Aw, hell, UncleBeer, I thought I was weird about shoes till I saw this thread. This restores my faith in my own sanity.
Let’s see if I can remember 'em all:
Brown Skechers casual shoes (wearing 'em right now)
Black Skechers hiking boots (great for wintertime and sturdy as all hell)
Black square-toe Florsheim dress shoes - perfect for dress-up occasions
Black cap-toe Florsheims - a little less dressy than the square-toe, good with khakis
Brown cap-toe oxfords
Black square-toe monk-strap no-namers with a big-ass buckle on them
2 pairs Adidas running shoes (one new, waiting for old pair to wear out)
New Balance 804 trail running shoes - literally the most comfortable damn shoes I’ve ever owned. I would marry those things if it wasn’t illegal.
Timberland sandals for warm weather
Oh, yeah, and new white Converse high-tops for basketball. (Can anyone explain the new trend that says hightops have to look like goddamn spaceships? And ZIPPERS? What the heck is a ZIPPER doing on an athletic shoe? ::sound of head exploding under the stress of an abrupt paradigm shift:: )
Oh Lord - I have about 25 pairs of shoes (and if my budget allowed it, I’d have more). I love shoes! You can never have too many. The one body part I do like on me is my calves - so I try to show them off with heels of all kinds. Shoes are so fun becuase I always dress casual and conservative (jeans, tank top, khakis, etc.) but add a kick-ass pair of shoes and you feel great! Oh yea, and I hate flats with a passion. You can honestly tell a lot about a person by their shoes.
In order of how often I wear them, this is every pair of shoes I currently own:
Skechers cross-trainers with reflective trim that greatly amuses me
Tan high-heeled calf-high square-toe boots
Pink fuzzy slippers
Dark brown Union Bay lace-up hiking boots (on sale for $5! 90% off!)
Black Guess canvas boots (they’re actually men’s)
Same as the tan boots above, but black
Black low-heel dress sandals
Wouldn’t “The Bastard Sons of Dr. Scholl” make a…nevermind.
So, about the shoes…lessee…I’m pretty much a “comfortable shoe” kind of gal. Generally I don’t buy heels but do go for the platform kind that have a large sole. (This gives me the height without the bunions.)
I have some sketchers sneakers that I wear just about every day. And some platform keds for when I don’t want the sketchers. Oh, and some of those soccer-type slip on’s for when I don’t feel like tying my shoes.
A pair of black platform-ish slip-ons that I wear to work during summer, and also some very similar to those only with a strap for the heel. Black loafers for work in winter. And black Mary Janes which I call my “sexy shoes”. I have to be in the right mood to wear those. Mr. Sunshine thinks they look great with my nightie but what does he know?
And that’s pretty much it for the shoes I wear. Now, for the giant box of shoes I haven’t worn in at least 3 years…
), running shoes, squash court shoes.