In the show Sex In The City, Carrie has hundreds of pairs of really expensive shoes. I thought that was just a cute tic on her part, but at work today, several women admitted to having over 100 pairs of shoes at home.
Sorry, but WTF?!
Maybe it is a guy thing, but I cannot fathom why anybody would need more than ten pairs of shoes, and even that seems excessive.
What is the “thing” with women and shoes? Is is a foot fetish or what?
I’d find the concept of having more than 10 pairs of shoes bizarre, let alone over a hundred, and I’m female. I guess it’s just different things for different people? 
I think odd-socks is right. I know men with more shoes than I own.
I’m a female, and I can count my pairs of shoes on one hand: a formal pair, an all-purpose pair, sneakers, and sandals for summer. That’s about it.
Don’t see any reason to have dozens and dozens of them. I guess some people like to collect them the way people collect anything else as a hobby?
Women and Shoes: When Is Enough Enough?
NEVER!!! 
I think for some women, shoes are a status symbol, much like the latest gadget can be for guys. Also, shoes tend to fit even if you have gained five pounds–something that can’t be said for other items. I am sure that there are other reasons, and I sure as heck don’t speak for all women here, but those are my theories.
Caveat: I generally buy maybe one or two pairs of shoes a year–almost always from Payless–so take my thoughts with some salt.
I have quite a few pairs of shoes. Why? I have a very varied wardrobe, so I need a varied shoe selection to match. I don’t spend hundreds on each pair though. The same goes for bags.
Plus, I just like them.
Here in the office, I definately have the fewest pairs of shoes…but I’ve also been an impovrished student the longest.
We’re mostly girls, but the other American (male) has three times the number of shoes I have. I came with two pairs and have bought another pair of formal shoes (black, so they go with anything I own) and a pair of boots to survive the Aberdeen blizzarding.
I don’t get the point. Buy a pair that feels good, wear them until they fall apart. Repeat as needed.
AL
for some girls I know, “enough” will be when Mrs. Marcos is jealous.
Tir has a few pairs of shoes, but prefers her SWAT boots for day to day wear. Can’t say I blame her 
They’re flipping vicous boots they are. I much prefer my high heeled ankle boots.
I own, probably less than 10 pairs of shoes/boots in all - the ankle boots, the flat soft soled ones I use for driving, one pair of trainers, three or four pairs of dressy formal shoes. I’m assuming that the astro-turf and soccer boots don’t count.
I currently have 6 pairs of black pumps in my office, two more at home and the pair I am wearing. That’s just about perfect on the black pump front. I wear them at work every day and they MUST be comfy and they must fit my mood.
I am notorius for finding shoes I like and buying two or three in differnt colors or the same color if it is the perfect black all purpose medium heel shoe.
Then there is the casual footwear, the sport footwear, the birki’s for summer and early fall, and formal shoes and formal open toed.
There are as many reasons to own shoes as there are the emotions they appeal to when you see them and try them on.
Do I currently own a hundred pair of shoes? No, but I have in the past, and while I don’t think I will again, it could happen.
Me too. After giving in and getting rid of quite a few pairs, I’m down to about 25 pairs of shoes. (From around 40.) Thing is, I have had many of those shoes for years - I’m not growing out of them so I just end up keeping them, and thus my shoe collection seems to just… grow and grow.
I am a 20-year-old American female and I am here to say that I hate buying shoes.
I own approximately 6 pairs of shoes. Two pairs of sandals, shower shoes, a pair of huge freaking knee-high lace-up platform boots, a pair of sneakers with holes in the toes and a pair of lace-up black ankle boots that are my normal everyday wear. The only ones with actual heels (as opposed to platforms), are those ankle boots, and they are chunky and maybe 2 and a half inches.
My sister, on the other hand, owns probably 40-50 pairs of shoes. All with heels. High ones. Spiky ones. I don’t know how she walks. From what I can tell she’s got about 7 pairs of essentially identical high-heeled black ankle boots. I’m sure if asked about them she would give me a detailed rundown of their differences, but they all look the same to me.
Shoes are nice, and would like to have another pair or two of big chunky black boots, but I so utterly despise shopping for shoes, that it is unlikely. I think the problem is that I have reeeally big feet. Ladies 11W, at the moment, IIRC. And it is bloody impossible to find cheap shoes (of course they have to be cheap, Payless, baby!) that fit. So when I do, I wear them for eternity.
I cannot fathom, however, the concept of owning more than like, 10 pairs. A hundred?! That’s freaking insane. Where on earth would you put them all?
Different strokes, as they say.
I have well over 100 pairs of shoes. I like them, I like to wear different ones, I get lots of compliments on them. I have heels, very high heels, flats, sneakers, boots, running shoes, walking shoes, leather, suede, satin, black, beige, strappy, pumps, sandels, slides, and platforms.
I’ve been to people’s houses where they have more than 5,000 CDs. Why? They can’t possibly listen to all of them with any regularity. Other people have plasma TVs. Why? A $200 Sony shows the same picture. Some people hang expensive paintings on their walls. Why? A print from Michael’s is way cheaper and less bother. Some people buy a Ferrari or a Mercedes. Why? A Honda will get you where they want to go. Some people buy DVDs or videos. Why? It’s not like they’re going to watch them every day and they could just rent them.
“Collecting” shoes is no more strange than anything else.
Female, American.
I have…let’s see…four pairs of sneakers, one pair of combat boots, & a couple pairs of ‘dressier’ shoes. That comes to…seven pairs.
And yeah, I figure the shoe thing is like any other sort of collection.
Another American female checking in!
I fit somewhere in the middle, maybe 10 pairs of shoes…
Brown boots, black lace up Justin Ropers (those are boots too), 2 pairs of black heels (one patent and one suede), one pair of brown loafers, one pair of running shoes, two pairs of slippers (Eeyore and penguins), and maybe a pair or two in storage I am forgetting about.
I have seen other shoes I want, but I can’t afford them right now. While I don’t think that I would want to own 100 pairs of shoes, or pay $100’s of dollars for them, it’s true that women cannot get away with wearing just a few pairs of shoes like men can.
And Carson from QE says you guys need more shoes too! ~grins~
~J
I agree that seems equally excessive.
, Uh, no. It saves space, has a different aspect ratio, and higher picture quality.
Because paintings appreciate in value. It’s a good investment.
But it won’t impress the ladies. There are a myriad reasons why a Ferrarri is better than a honda, and a bunch of reasons why a Mercedes is better.
They go out of print, and you can’t always rent the DVDs with extended features…I like the director’s commentaries, being a film buff.
You only gave two examples of “collecting”: CDs and DVDs. Maybe the art example, but that is a lower set (fewer than hundreds or thousands of pieces) and again, they gain value. The car and the tv aren’t examples of collecting, they are examples of high-end merchandise. A better comparison would be $400 shoes versus payless shoes.
I agree that being into shoes is no less whacky than being into movies, cars, or music. Different strokes, and all. The art thing, though…I have to give more respect to art collectors than music or shoe collectors.
I can’t really explain what the big deal is with shoes for myself. It’s not unusual for me to see a pair of shoes I really like, which would not go with anything in my wardrobe. Instead of shrugging my shoulders and moving on, I buy them, and then buy some clothing to wear with them. I don’t stop to think about it that often, but I have added in a thread recently that I look at guys’ shoes as well (ones they are wearing). If the shoes they are wearing are something out of the ordinary, and still appealing to me, I will have a small attraction for that person, regardless of their other attributes.
I could probably explain some of it, by pointing to my mom, since she’s quite a shoe maven. I’ve slept in new shoes though, I just didn’t want to take them off yet, and I think even my mom would point and laugh if I told her that. So short answer: Enough is enough, when I no longer have feet.
This is me to a tee, right down to the black ankle boots (of which I have 3 pairs) only I wear size 10W usually. Some are 11W because of the design, where I need a little more space for my high arches.
I can see having lots of different shoes for different outfits, but anything over 20 seems excessive to me. I have 8 pairs of shoes, one pair will be gotten rid of soon and I really want to find a pair of calf high boots that will fit me and get a few cool knee length skirts to go with them.
I have:[ul]
[li]Black ankles, lace up, no real heel[/li][li]Black ankles, zip up, 1 ½" heel[/li][li]Black ankles, lace up, winter boots (furry stuff inside, nice and toasty in the snow and cold)[/li][li]Teva’s 10 years old and only starting to fall apart though they look a little dirty[/li][li]Clarks bought last summer and just as comfy as my Teva’s[/li][li]Sneakers, bought for comfort and to wear to the gym[/li][li]Water walkers which I got when participating in some opening ceremony, worn twice[/li][li]Mocassins for when my feet get cold in winter[/li][/ul]
If I had a little more variety of wardrobe I would probably have maybe 2 more pairs of shoes. You don’t need hundreds of shoes, just enough to do what you need.
Shoes good! Must have many pairs of shoes!
Between LilMiss and I, we have at least 70 pairs of shoes. That’s AFTER the shoe purge we did this past September (it was a sad, sad day, lemmee tell you). I have never spent more than $80 for a pair of shoes, in fact most are clearance rack. I would LIKE to own a pair of Manolos, but it will never be in my budget.
Why shoes? I will admit to a quasi foot fetish. Not like licking toes kind of fetish. More of a “I feel great when I wear this shoe”, and “Wow, those shoes are COOL” thing. Some look at faces first, I look at shoes first. Some shoes evoke memories. My mucked up Keds slip-ons remind me of the fun me, my sis, and some friends had slipping in the mud at a concert. My patent FMPs remind me of a particularly wonderful date. Some of my fascination may have to do with the fact that I have relatively large feet (wear a 10 - 11), and finding nice shoes that don’t make my feet look like a clowns or battleships is a good thing. In that regard, I kinda lucked out. There’s a consignment shop near me that specializes in plus sizes. Many of the goods were owned by trannys. If they’re willing to give up gorgeous shoes in my size, well, they must be bought! LilMiss is also dealing with having relatively large feet. At age 10, she wears a women’s 7 1/2 or 8 (most of her friends wear 4-6). She’s realizing there’s a LARGE variety of “grown up” shoes- no pink tennies for her.