Decluttering the Shoes

[livingdeb]

It's a good time to declutter shoes since I basically wear the same three pair for everything. I have black sneakers for work, white sneakers for work and jogging, and black tennies for dancing. And 30 other pairs.



Part of the problem is that I have trouble finding shoes that fit, and so I often buy things that are almost good enough when I can't find things that are good enough. But that's not the only problem.

Hobbies

First, I have a lot of shoes for other hobbies:
1. roller skates
2. roller blades
3. climbing shoes
4. hiking boots
5. river sandals
6. house slippers
7. white sneakers (for jogging)
8. old white sneakers with burrs all over them (for gardening and painting)

Those are reasonable, and I'm keeping them all for now.

I also had some cleats I hadn't tried on in a while, but they were defective, so I got rid of them as well as a second pair of white sneakers covered in burrs.

Dance shoes

Then there are all the ballroom dance shoes. I'd like to have some fancy ones and some comfy ones. I kept:
9. black mary janes that I fear will be too loose in the heel but are fairly comfy so I want to try out and see how well they actually work before I get rid of them
10. black leather latin dance shoes that are fairly comfy but look like Wicked Witch of the West shoes, but they are real dance shoes in case I ever need any
11. the aforementioned black tennis shoes, which have a hole in the toe
12. black suede lace-ups which are supposed to be a replacement for the black tennis shoes and which I really should just try out and see whether they are good enough

I also had some very fancy silver ones that were disintegrating, so I got rid of them.

Dress shoes

Then there are dress shoes and other shoes to wear with dresses:
13. black comfy heels that are shredding on the interior but still look good on the exterior
14. black comfy heels that aren't quite as comfy but are not breaking down, so I'm keeping them as back-ups
15. black ballet slippers in case I just can't deal with wearing high heels anymore but still have to walk around in shoes
16. dark grey mary janes appropriate for work
17. white sandals, appropriate for summer, though I can't wear them to work because it's always freezing cold there

I got rid of some navy and white heels that are very high (plus the white ones are a little tight), plus some black ones that are a little tight in one place.

Work shoes

Then there are nicer looking work shoes. Part of me thinks, who cares, I'm keeping the same job for the next four years and then I'm not working anymore, so I really don't need to impress anyone anymore. On the other hand, I have been missing having brown shoes, and sometimes I do want to look a little more presentable. So:
18. brown leather slip-ons - comfy, but a little loose and the black ones I had did wear out more quickly than I would have liked
19. brown leather lace-ups that are so pretty but just a little tight
20. hunger green leather lace-ups that Robin likes and would go with a few outfits
21. the aforementioned black sneakers

I got rid of some black leather lace-ups that my heels keep sliding out of, brown leather lace-ups that are just too big, and a second pair of the black leather slip-ons which I just don't need since I have so many other black shoes I like.

Summer

Then I have less clunky stuff than jogging shoes for wearing with shorts:
22. white tennis shoes that are getting a little worn
23. white tennis shoes that are supposed to replace those, which seem okay around the house so I should try them out

I got rid of some tan tennis shoes that are just too stiff.

Now I've got the skates and climbing shoes in the closet, the work shoes and dance shoes on the shelf, the gardening shoes in a box under the dresser, and the rest in a cardboard dresser in the closet. Everything is easy to get to, and I know where everything is.

The rest are already in trash can outside or at Good Will, mostly because I was following Robin's example there.

So, 33 pair, minus 10 pair = 23 pair, including 3 that I need to try longer-term than just walking around the house, but which may not pass the test.