On shoes

Shoes have always been a tricky area for me, mainly because I inherited the worst pair of feet in the world from my Father. If the shoes are wide enough for my ugly feet then they are too long and slide about. I haven’t worn heels for about ten years, but even so finding comfortable smart work shoes was almost impossible and I usually wore boots with trousers whenever I could. The best type of shoes for my feet, and this is confirmed by podiatrists, are lace-up trainers or technical walking shoes.

I was interested to find that research in 2013 concluded that on average women own twenty pairs of shoes, but only wear five and admit to owning one pair of shoes that have never been worn. I decided to review my pre- and post- Project 333 shoe collection to see how I compared with Mrs Average. When I started the Project I had nineteen pairs of shoes, ranging from black knee high leather boots (which leaked in rain and needed new heels), to fur-lined lace-up winter boots and several pairs of Birkenstocks that I’d had over ten years. I was almost exactly Mrs Average, and I even had one pair of blue leather loafer shoes that fitted the never-worn category as they never failed to cause a blister.

First, I weeded out the boots and shoes that were simply worn-out. Although there is an excellent shoe-mender in Chalus where I could have had the black boots re-heeled, the last time I wore then in the rain I came home with wet feet, so I decided these had reached the end of the road. Next were a couple of pairs of Clarks leather Mary Jane’s, uncomfortable, but kept simply because they were a good make. So, the only pair of Mary Jane’s that I can wear all day aren’t leather and cost only twenty pounds? So what? Birkenstocks go on for ever, and in my view fall into the technical category, however, the problem with the toe-post sandals is that I can’t really wear them with my dodgy feet. Hopefully they will find a new life via the clothing bank.

The result of my shoes cull is a Project collection of twelve pairs. Of these, two pairs are in the ‘black capsule’ category ie. funerals and formal events, one pair are the snow boots and the others are ‘muckers’ for gardening and the copious amounts of rain we have in the Limousin. The basic shoe collection now comprises:

ü  Merrell gortex lined walking shoes for winter

ü  Merrell lighter walking shoes for summer

ü  Quechua waterproof walking boots

ü  Aigle brown suede walking shoes for smarter/ town wear

ü  Hush Puppy suede ankle boots to wear with jeans

ü  Cream canvas Mary Janes

ü  Hi-tec summer walking sandals

ü  Black Birkenstock sandals

The only thing to add to the list are Crocs – a pair for the house and a pair in the camping car, which I wear instead of slippers - no furry lined ones yet!