OK, so my hubby's an academic with no fashion sense. He buys a pair of running shoes, wears them until they disintegrate (about a year and a half), then buys another pair. In reserve, he has some Doc Marten shoes that he wears to give talks. He also has some wingtips from when he was a teenager, some old Docs (boots) for doing anything messy, and a pair of cowboy boots that belonged to an uncle. That's it.
He thinks I have an obscene amount of shoes. I tell him I don't, that I probably have far less than the average, but he doesn't believe me.
The shoes I usually wear: a pair of black Kenneth Cole Reaction boots (all damn winter), and brown leather Timberland walking sandals (all damn summer). The sandals are 5 years old and the sole is disintegrating, so I just replaced them with some black leather Simple walking sandals (pic on request -- love 'em.) The boots are 2 years old.
In addition to those, I have shoes I occasionally wear: brown high-heeled boots, red beach thongs, b+w cloth print beach thongs, running shoes, black 9 West basic businessy shoes, brown leather mules (chunky sole), basketball shoes, old John Fluevog "Angels" boots that I wear for messy stuff.
Then I have four pairs of shoes that I used to wear all the time when I was working, and now keep just in case an occasion calls for one of them (wedding, giving a presentation, that kind of thing): Brown patent vintage-y high-heeled pumps, black suede vintage-y high heeled pumps (adore those shoes), brown high-heeled sandals, dark navy blue high-heeled pumps. (All ~3 inch heels.)
You don't need to describe each and every pair, of course, but I'm really curious about how many shoes other people have.
I'm a minimalist about shoes. I have brown clogs and black mules that I wear to work (and sometimes sneakers on Fridays). I have a favorite pair of brown Birkenstock sandals for weekends (and same sneakers for walking or shopping) plus white sandals in summer. I've had the Birks resoled twice - way cheaper than replacing them! Plus additional shoes I rarely wear - thongs, old/mucky sneakers, dressy black pumps.
But sozobe - I have a good friend who, at last count, has over 200 pairs of shoes. She keeps them in an extra bedroom in their original boxes. She writes on the boxes to make identification faster - color, fabric, etc. It's definitely an obsession.
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the prince
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 09:38 am
I just bought my 27th pair of shoes There are some which I havent worn for quite sometime, I should throw them away to make some room in my shoe rack - but I am sooooooooooooo possessive abt my shoes !!
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mac11
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 09:39 am
So, soz, shall we call you Imelda?
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Phoenix32890
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 09:45 am
My husband calls me Imelda, but I don't think that I deserve the name. I wear mostly sandals and sneakers (running shoes for you younger folks). Usually at the end of a season, I will buy a bunch on sale. I just threw out at least two dozen. They were always too good to throw out, but they were somehow, wrong. Now I have room for more!
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cicerone imposter
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 09:47 am
You actually want me to go into my closet to count? I'll just guess and say I have 15 pairs. c.i.
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the prince
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 09:48 am
Thank god, I feel so much less guilty abt my shoes now !
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jespah
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 09:49 am
Hmm, sneakers, 2 prs sandals, thongs, 2 prs winter boots, 1 pr fashion boots, I think 5 different prs pumps from back when I used to work in a formal-type office. I think that's it, except for a couple of old prs of sneakers for gardening and painting, and slippers which I tend to live in until they're held together by strings.
Oops, I said 6 - 10, probably should've been the next-higher increment. And I'm not a shoe maven, but I had one of these jobs wherein I had to look a certain way. Thank God I'm not doing that any more!
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urs53
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 10:05 am
I don't really think I have a lot of shoes because I'm always wearing the same. My favourites at the moment are: nice black slippers for work, Timberland moccassins, Timberland boat shoes, black sandals and white sandals - also very good for work, black Nike sneakers, Timberland boots for rainy and cold days. Then there are others, of course. A quick count brought me to 11 to 15. That did surprise me! But I think it's less than the number of twin sets I own. But that's another story.
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Monger
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 10:17 am
3 does it for me. -Sneakers, sandals, and a nice leather set for when I need a suit. Thas'it.
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Thomas
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 10:56 am
Re: How Many Pairs of Shoes Do You Have?
sozobe wrote:
OK, so my hubby's a physicist. Physicists have no fashion sense.
sozobe wrote:
You don't need to describe each and every pair, of course, but I'm really curious about how many shoes other people have.
As an admirer of Bill Clinton, I would answer that it all depends on what you mean by "have". I own over 10 pairs that I never wear, and every year, one of my new year's resolutions is to give them to charity at long last. But I never get around to doing it -- I'm an extremely lazy person, you know, so they just keep lying around in my drawer. In some abstract sense, you might say I "have" these shoes. But I haven't seen them in a long time. For all I know, they could well have disappeared into a parallel universe through a wormhole in space-time already. I'm trying not to get my hopes up though -- such things only happen to ball pens.
The list of shoes I actually use starts with two pair of Asics running shoes. But unfortunately I can't use them for anything but running. If I ever did, you'd be able to smell it on your side of the Atlantic. I have very sweaty feet, and the only shoes that keep them healthy are all-leather low shoes. I own, and frequently wear, four of them -- two brown ones, two black ones, all between one and four years old. They're from Milan, Italy, where they make very comfortable and good-looking shoes for a surprisingly reasonable price. No gimmicks. (As you so aptly observed, physicists have no fashion sense. If we don't keep our clothing choices simple and conservative, nasty things are doomed to happen, and people will prefer not to be publically seen in our company.) Finally, I have a pair of hiking boots which I use for hiking once a year, when I meet up with the Spanish part of my family for a week of hiking in Austria.
-- Thomas
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sozobe
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 11:13 am
Me? Imelda? I have 14 pairs, by my account above. (I forgot a pair of black cowboy boots that I keep only for sentimental reasons, though maybe I'll wear them again sometime.) If I adjust my definition of "have" as per Thomas, I can cut the total by about 6, since those are shoes I basically never wear, but want to keep for whatever reason. I wear one of two pairs of shoes 90% of the time.
And Thomas, yes, "have" here means "in your possession, in any manner", not just "wear." Sounds like you have a good deal more fashion sense than most physicists. (Some are just incredibly pitiful, I tell ya...)
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sozobe
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 11:15 am
Oh and Jes, where you work does make a huge difference. When I was Ms. Director/ Benevolent Dictator/ Dragon Lady, I really did need a lot of shoes, of a specific type. Now I can get away with the one pair of boots all winter/ one pair of sandals all summer thing.
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Thomas
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 11:53 am
On a slight tangent, have you ever read The 85 Ways to Tie a Tie by Yong Mao and Thomas Fink? The authors are both theoretical solid state physicists who developed an abstract representation of every possible tie-knot, found a rigorous definition of what an "aesthetic" tie-knot is, and, based on this definition, found the 85 most attractive realistically possible tie knots. It's a brilliant display of physical thinking, and behind the ultra-straight face of their theoretical approach, it's a marvelously fun book to read.
There is a little irony in the fact that I am reviewing this book. I am a modern American mathematician, well-schooled in the sartorial traditions of my field, and so would perhaps be a natural reviewer for a book entitled The Well-Wrinkled Tee Shirt or, perhaps, Wearing Sandals in the Snow. However, I teach at a liberal arts college, and so can wear a tie while teaching when I want to without risking my mathematical reputation -- of course, for conferences I pull my clothes out of the bottom of the dirty-laundry pile like everyone else. (My colleagues in the economics department scoff at my tie-wearing, considering it too infrequent to be taken seriously, but they are extremists -- I am pretty sure they wear ties with their pyjamas.) I have always liked tying ties, but, despite the fact that I study knot theory, like most people my tie-knot knowledge was cultural and accidental. I knew a couple of tie knots but not their names, nor could I recall where or when I learned them.
This wonderful little book by Thomas Fink and Yong Mao has changed my life. Now, when I tie a tie, I know what I am doing, and why. Fink and Mao have performed a great service for civilization, doing for tie-knot tying what Isaac Newton did for the motion of the heavens: lifting it from the darkness of secrecy, ritual and superstition to the light of rational, scientific good taste.
I enthusiastially affirm Gregory Buck's praise for the book, and I highly recommend it. It has changed my life too, tie-wise
-- Thomas
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sozobe
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 11:59 am
Hey, looks great! Thanks for the recommendation. ("Wearing Sandals in the Snow" -- Ha!!) I'd get it for E.G. except that he doesn't wear ties. He did for some talks when he was a grad student, and figured out it really wasn't done. Physicists wear: khakis. Long sleeved Oxford-type shirt. Preferably blue. MAYBE, in extreme cases, green. Belt. Shoes. Thassit.
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cjhsa
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 12:13 pm
I guess I am in the majority here, 11-15, but with a caveat. Some of my shoes are located in Michigan, where I vacation in summer, so I only have a chance to wear them a few weeks of the year.
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cicerone imposter
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 12:16 pm
Many of mine are boots or dress shoes which are worn infrequently. My Florsheims still look new, and I've had them for over 30 years. I bought them at 'cost' when I was an employee. c.i.
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ehBeth
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 05:58 pm
by the definition given, i'm a call-me Imelda (the only one admitting to it right now). but Imelda had 100's of pairs of shoes, 1000's perhaps.
I'm definitely under 100 pairs, perhaps even under 50, though I once was close to 200 pairs. Amazingly enough, no duplicates. Most of the shoes are kept in their original boxes, in a special cupboard that hamburger helped me set up. If it's not the original box, the shoe style and colour is written on the box.
Many of my shoes are 10 or even 20 years old. The good stuff lasts. I've discovered that if you follow the rule of never wearing a pair of shoes 2 days in a row, they will indeed last much longer.
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sozobe
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 06:26 pm
Oh really? I didn't know that rule. I go through shoes FAST, though I recently came to the DUH-ish conclusion that expensive shoes really are worth it. The cheap stuff lasts a year, the expensive stuff lasts 2-5 years and up. I was looking and looking and looking at local shoe stores for exactly the kind of sandals I wanted, thought "hmmm, I know exactly the kind of sandals I want, perhaps I should check the Internet", did so, and found some great ones. Not EXPENSIVE, but more than I usually pay.
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Piffka
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Mon 2 Jun, 2003 06:37 pm
Shoes? Well, let's see. I have good brown hiking boots, black Ariats for riding, LL Bean mud boots, rubber rain boots and some Australian Blundstones, plus a pair of tall fashion boots that I never wear. Sadly, I don't have a pair of cowboy boots anymore. Hmmm, there's also a pair of old hiking boots at the beachhouse along with some swimming shoes.
My pride and joy are three pairs of Bastad clogs, 25, 10 and 2 years old in navy, black & tan. I also have a pair of black insulated snow clogs for winter, and black suede Merrill slip-ons for summer that need to be replaced. I have three pairs of New Balance running shoes of varying vintage.
There are about six pair of office pumps, two in black, two in brown, taupe, taupe suede, and burgundy. These are never worn. I also have two pair of velvet flats in purple and red which I swear I will one day wear, one red and one purple. These are for dress-up -- I wore the purple ones on Friday to the ballet. Hmmm, a pair of light tan sandles and a pair of (wee-hoo) glittery silver dancing shoes, both with 4 inch heels, last worn at New Year's. Two pair of Birkenstocks, burgundy and light blue; some Danskos in brown -- they're nice, and a pair of mules in black leather. There are two pairs of black leather Eccos, one ties on the side, the other set slips-on -- they're not nearly as comfy as advertised.
My favorites of all these are the Blundstones and the 10-year-old Bastads.
There are some which I havent worn for quite sometime, I should throw them away to make some room in my shoe rack - but I am sooooooooooooo possessive abt my shoes !!
c.i.
c.i.
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