Keeping The Numbers Down

Apparently, I did not get the shoe gene that many of my clients have. I own very few pairs of shoes. I have a shoe bag in my front closet that holds 10 pairs of shoes, and all my everyday footwear fits there, spanning all four seasons. In addition to those ten pairs (a mix of sneakers, shoes, and sandals), there are three pairs of boots that live on the floor under the jackets: one for rain, one for snow, and one for winter warmth.

(Full disclosure: I do have a few pairs of shoes that I keep in a closet in another room because they are worn so infrequently: dressy shoes, water shoes, and tap shoes. )

One of the ways that I keep my shoe collection small is to only buy a new pair when I need it. As I mentioned in a recent post called The Burden of Ownership, my warm winter Ugg boots were leaking so I replaced them. I didn’t need to create space for the new boots because I donated the Uggs and the new boots went right into their empty spot.

But as I mentioned in the post Don’t Buy It Unless You Need It, a year ago I ordered two pairs of shoes from my favorite shoe manufacturer because they were going out of business. One of them was a direct replacement for a pair I was already wearing (which I got rid of), but the other pair was an addition to my wardrobe.

It didn’t come up as an issue until recently. I generally rotate between two pairs of season-appropriate shoes, and I leave those out by the front door. However, since I’m wearing nothing but boots these days, I want to put all other shoes in the shoe bag. The problem is that I’m out of slots.

So I’ve decided to take one pair from my shoe bag and move it to the closet with the infrequently-worn shoes. What pair did I select? My workout sneakers. I used to wear them twice a week when I worked out with my personal trainer, as we used to do part of our workout in the hallway outside my apartment. However, during the pandemic we moved all of our activities indoors, and we never went back to the old way. Since I’m working out on my living room rug or on a yoga mat, I am doing it barefoot.

So the workout sneakers went into the other room, which gave me a great opportunity to review my infrequently-worn shoes and remind myself what I have. And in the entryway closet, I relocated or tossed a few other things from my shoe bag so that only footwear remains there. (No insoles or bags.) The extra pair of shoes now has its rightful space.

Having all my everyday shoes in one place — and arranged so that I can see them all — ensures that I don’t forget what I own. Less is more!