April 12 - 200! The End!

What:  size 7.5 white strappy platform sandals
From:  Valerie Stevens (Hechts)
Purchased:  late July 1999
Cost:  $40

Y'all, you aren't going to believe this, but this is IT!  My 200th and final pair of shoes!  I had no idea it would end exactly on 200 (and initially I was going to count my slippers, since they take up room, too, and I have two more pairs, but I am DONE with this).

I decided a couple of months ago I would end on these, because I knew I'd never wear them.  These are the shoes I wore at my wedding!  And they are dang uncomfortable.  I really wanted something snazzy, and I did not want a standard wedding shoe from a wedding salon, so I spent the summer checking out shoes and just never found anything that I really, really wanted.  It's actually hard to find all white shoes - they all too often have a brown heel, or just something that makes them unworkable.  So I settled on these, and I did like them, even though it's not a great brand.  For 1999, these were snazzy - a high heel, a platform, all those straps.  But with my wide feet, those straps at the toes were just really, really not comfy at all.  I put them on again this morning and limped around - there's no way these are ever going on my feet.

So, even though I am totally sentimental, I decided on my own with no input from anyone that these were going to be discarded.  I know, I can't believe it myself.  But they're not that special (Hecht's store brand), and terribly uncomfortable, and even though they look a little modern with the straps and the platform, they elastic straps are already stiff and losing elasticity, and the heel is really clunky.  I am, with a great deal of fondness, going to gracefully let them go.

Bottom line:  discard!

So yeah - shoe-maggeddon.  I'll do a tally for April, then the grand tally. Give my another day or two.   I'm over all pleased, and I can hint I hit my discard total.

March 9 - uh oh!

What: size 8 black 2.5 inch heeled sandals
From: Nine West – I think maybe an outlet purchase?
Purchased: mid ‘90s
Cost: ~$30

So these are a match to my seafoam sandals, and I just never got around to wearing the black ones this past summer.  They've been crammed in my shoe wardrobe-y thing for years.   And so can you see what's happened?  The toes have totally curled up.

I hate to get rid of them, but I just don't think a) they can recover from the curl and b) they are really, truly worth saving.  I still have (and still love) the seafoam ones, but they've never been perfectly comfortable shoes.  And they are really old, and these black ones are really beat up.  I think I should ditch them.

I am really excited to lay out my entire shoe collection, though, because I think the state of my black shoes is really going to stun me - I think most of my black shoes are in really bad shape and need to go, but I've held onto them.  Black shoes, as I've written before, aren't as easy to find as a super bargain.  Super bargains are reserved for odder shoes that are left over.  I really do feel like I need to do a major upgrade of my black sandals.


Bottom line:  I want to see all my black sandals together, so I will hold onto these until April 8th, but I think they are going to go.

March 5 - blue strappy

What:  size 8 blue strappy sandals with rosette strap
From:  Unisa (bought unknown)
Purchased:  2001-02
Cost:  don't remember.  A bargain, though - you can still see a tiny bit of red sticker on the right shoe.  I kinda have this feeling I got these at a place like Nordstrom Rack, but really don't know.  Let's guess $20

Love these shoes!  Wore them for my friend Kdot's wedding.  (Love that Kdot let us chose our own shoes, so I could wear something snazzy!)They are great.  Well, they are mostly great.

Can you see, in the picture above that my pinky toe does not quite fit in the strap across my toes?  It sort of almost sneaks in there, but really, it's not contained by the toe strap.  Sigh.  The only thing worse than wide feet is narrow feet, as my friend Elaine can confirm.  I still like them, and they still work fine enough.

Bottom line:  keeper

March 2 - grey strappy sandals

What:  size 8 grey satin strappy sandals
From:  Talbots (outlet)
Purchased:  mid 00s
Cost:  $20

Grey is my go-to neutral.  Love it - grey and purple, grey and blue, grey and pink, grey and yellow.....do not love grey and brown, though.  Anyway, when I saw these on the clearance rack at Talbots I snapped them up years ago, and sadly they have never been worn.  I'm just not in a fancy party world any longer, I guess.  Someday! 

Bottom line:  keeper - they still fit

February 10 - gold brocade

What: size 8 gold brocade strappy sandals
From: Talbots (outlet)
Purchased: ~04
Cost: $15

Still just blowing through shoes, no real occasion to wear these. I had forgotten I had them when I bought these in 2010. They are fine, I wish I had a fancy occasion to wear them!

Bottom line: Keeper

February 9 - dressy sandals

What: size 7.5W silver sandals with beading
From: Fioni (otherwise known as Payless Shoes)
Purchased: hmm. mid 00s?
Cost: $15

I bought these for a wedding, I think, but I am drawing a blank. They're pretty simple silver dressy sandals, not super comfy (payless), but not unwearable. There's nothing wrong with them, might as well keep them in case I ever need silver sandals?

I am just trying to blow through the final (40!) pairs, and had no reason to wear these, but I did try them on.

Bottom line: keeper

September 3 - the black heels

What: black size 8 3.25 inch heeled strappy sandals
From: Tahari (Lord & Taylor)
Purchased: May 2010
Cost: $54

I believe these are the 5th pair I have purchased this year (though maybe they are the 4th or 6th or so). This year, I have been fascinated with "cage" shoes - those that seem to encase your whole foot in straps. All the rage. So when I saw these on the sale rack at L&T, I had to have them, although they were still pricey. I actually bought them at a higher price, but then they were marked lower the very next week so I got a price adjustment, thank goodness. I had been willing to spend the $70 or so, but it was really too much. Even $54 is too high. But these are cool shoes. I was happy to wear them out at my monthly mom's night out dinner, though we ate at a self serve pick your food up at the counter place (a nice one!) and I warned one of my friends I might need help picking up my food (there was a long flight of stairs involved). But I managed! The straps on these, aside from the very first strap across the toes, are black elastic. So relatively comfy. These are not quite as elaborate as many of the shoes out there, which are often platforms.

I don't know how long cage type shoes will be stylish, and I don't think I will get a ton of wear out of these. They certainly don't pass the professional test, unless maybe I was wearing wide leg trousers. Maybe. At two wearings, it's $26 per wear. I doubt I can get it down to single digits, but you never know, I do have 2 weddings to attend in the next few months so maybe they will get to come out of their box. Though one wedding is on a beach, so these might not be the best choice!

Bottom line: keeper

ps. I have to go back and revise my grey pointy shoes - a pricing error and a couple of better photos added. Also added a close up to my gold heels.

September 2 - orange flowers

What: orange-y low heel ankle strap sandals with flower
From: Nine West (the Union Station store)
Purchased: summer '02
Cost: $40

These may have been $30, not $40, but well go with the higher number. I bought them to wear to a wedding of a colleague, and then in '03 wore them to Ryan's wedding. Love these shoes. Always get a ton of compliments on them - that flower on the top is cute. I remember I bought a full-price (gasp!) dress from The Limited to wear, and then on my way through Union Station one day I popped in the Nine West store and just had to have these. They were on sale, I do remember that. A perfect match for the dress, and super comfortable and still quite charming shoes.

They were completely impractical to pack in my suitcase for New Zealand, but there was no way I wasn't bringing them. My fabulous photographer friend Tricia even snapped a photo in the parking lot after the wedding. See below for a better view. You can just see a peek of the dress, but it was cold and I was glad I had my black wrap.

I haven't worn them in a while. Not sure why, other than the whole work in my pajamas thing I have going on, though the color is a tough one. Hmm, maybe with my relatively new things have to GO, not MATCH philosophy I'll find more uses for these.

I have a bunch of shoes that are really distinctive or have unusual detailing (even though, now, in the harsh light of the computer screen I don't think these are all that special), and I guess I want to keep them "special" and not overwear them, or get them nicked up in daily wear. Now the shoe challenge will get those shoes out and featured, at least one day this fall/early winter (stay tuned for my zebra print flats with hot pink accent, or my leopard print with red velvet detailing!).

Bottom line: keeper!

August 28 - gold heels

What: gold strappy sandals with a 3 1/4 inch heel
From: Talbots (outlet)
Purchased: April 16, 2010
Cost: $20

My second pair of shoes in 2010. And, if not for this challenge, they'd probably still be unworn, so perhaps blogging shoes is a good thing.

Before my friend K. moved to Florida, we decided we needed to resurrect our Talbots outlet outings, which had gone by the wayside with children, work, and other priorities. So one last trip together and we had some good scores. At $20, these were impossible to resist, even if they aren't the most practical shoes in the world. I knew I had a big dressy work dinner in May, and last year I had worn my hot pink satin heels, so needed to wear something different this year. These were comfortable and cheap and I love metallics and I thought it was worth buying them in case they might go with whatever I ended up wearing to this fancy dinner. Well, ended up with a black dress and wearing new black heels, so these were in my shoe cupboard.

I'm going to admit they look a lot like another pair of gold shoes I bought from Talbots in the early 00s, which have never been worn. But those shoes are gold brocade, so totally different! I need to find an occasion to wear them. Hmm.

Anyway, wore these out to a party with jeans and a dressy top, and they worked great. They were a good buy. But they're never going to get a lot of wear, though over the next couple of years I'm sure I can get the per wear cost down to $2-4 or so. I need a more fabulous life to match my shoes.

Bottom line: keeper

eta: a close up picture. Love the material of these shoes. See the price tag? $39.99, plus they were 50% off. I guess it's sort of snakeskin, which is vastly different than the gold brocade heels I have (and have never once worn).

July 27 - blue

What: size 8.5AA, 3.25 inch navy blue strappy sandals
From: Talbots (outlet)
Purchased: late summer '08
Cost: $30

OK, the final pair of the same sandal (I have bronze and silver). Obviously, I love them. Bought these at the same time as the bronze ones. (and one pair was $25 and the other $35, who knows why, so split the difference and called them both $30).

Note these are NARROW width. If I can wear narrow shoes, this company is not truly offering a narrow width. If I had narrow feet I'd be annoyed by this sizing! Seriously, I had to examine all these shoes to figure out which were the narrow ones.

Bottom line: total keeper

July 25 - silver!

What: Size 8.5, 3.25 inch heeled strappy dark silver sandals
From: Talbots (outlet)
Purchased: summer '08
Cost: $35

Another pair of metallics! Love these. I have them in bronze, and in my write up, I said I bought another pair at the same time. Um, not these, actually. I bought these another trip (I think first). I bought blue ones when I bought the bronze ones.

So two things - I had to go back and revise the bronze write up, because I checked the size and they are 8.5s. No wonder they are so comfy. And, I actually measured the heel height - 3.25, not 2.5. And that heel height is totally fine. (daggone it, those gold wedges I keep eyeing are 3.25, which I was thinking was too high, but now I am back to thinking about them. Wish I could try them on.)

Bottom line: total keeper

July 15 - seafoam

What: size 8 seafoam 2.5 inch heeled sandals
From: Nine West – I think maybe an outlet purchase?
Purchased: mid ‘90s
Cost: ~$30

I have had these shoes FOREVER. And I have them in black, too. The black ones are, what else, quite beat up, but these have never gotten as much wearing as the black ones. I’ve had them so long I don’t remember getting them – but they were among the first good shoe purchases I made after moving to DC. They must have been cheap to buy two pairs at once, probably less than $30. I might have gotten them in FL. Just don’t remember. I used to wear these with a seafoam linen jacket, t-shirt, and white pants. There was also a skirt – maybe my lily Pulitzer one – that also was paired with these. I think they look great on, but both the black ones and these rub the outside of your foot, at the top strap, oddly. Never a blister, but after a fair amount of walking I end up with what I can only describe as a “hot spot” on my foot. Oh well, it’s worth it for as infrequently as I wear them!

Bottom line: keeper

Ps. The seafoam is an inside joke from college – my first car was a 1984 Chevy Cavalier of almost exactly this color, dubbed the ‘seafoam-mobile’ by my friends – you know, the whole marine biology/oceanography thing. I’ve had a soft spot for that seafoam-y color since then.

July 6 - bronze

What: Size 8.5, 3.25 inch bronze leather t-strap sandals
From: Talbots (outlet)
Purchased: late summer '08
Cost: $30

To keep up this shoe challenge, I've got to get through more of the heels, even if it is 100 degrees out and I need to walk to Target. These are actually super comfortable, and when I had a job in an office I used to do a lot of walking in heels. I'm a little out of practice.

We had drinks with KG the other night and we talked shoes and blogging. She told us she had just done a shoe sort and she has 78 pairs of summer shoes, but she's not sure how many other pairs she has. My guess going into this was I had more winter shoes than summer shoes, but I have bought a fair number of low heels or flats these past few years of motherhood plus working from home, so I might have more sandals now. We shall see, right, until I get bored with this challenge.

Anyway, I love metallic shoes, especially bronze. My first pair of bronze shoes were woven leather mules. I think I still have them in the attic, though my sister may have made me get rid of them in the great closet cleaning of '08.

Funny story about these shoes: So I bought them at the Talbots outlet, along with another pair of the same shoe but in silver (yes, true). I walked out with a big bag of stuff (yes, I was pregnant, and no, they don't sell maternity clothes - this is about shoes, not clothes, and this was the time period they were closing their kids and mens stores so I was also buying for E and R). Given it was the outlet and stuff was off season, the bag sat in a corner of our room for about a month before I unpacked it. And....no shoes. What? I could not figure out where the two pairs of cheap but still a fair amount of money for both shoes had gotten to. So I went back to the outlet, and at the check out said, um, is it possible I left a bag of shoes here? And sure enough, they had my bag of two shoes stashed under the counter. Apparently not an unusual occurence. They told me after a month they usually just put the items back on the floor to be resold, so I made it just in time to reclaim my shoes. I think I could write a book just about things that have happened to me at the Talbots outlet store.

The other thing I remember about these shoes is my sister, whose feet are at least a size bigger than mine, wore these out one night. So they are definitely loose and comfortable. Love them.

Bottom line: keeper

June 25 - the orange quest

What: size 7.5 strappy 2 inch heels orange sandals
From: Aerosoles (outlet)
Purchased: early 00's
Cost: $18

I used to be on an orange shoe quest (something to do with UVA football game attire, I think) and these are great looking sandals. Hmm, if I was really organized, I'd do my shoe exploration by color. A little tight, and too fussy with a buckle, but they look good. I like them. But another example of shoes that are now a little too casual for meetings, but too dressy for kicking around the house.

Bottom line: easy, definite keeper

June 24 - more extravangace

What: Size 8, lilac/pink and red cross strap wooden heels with studs sandals
From: Coach (Lord and Taylor)
Purchased: summer '04
Cost: ~$85

My only other pair of designer shoes, a total extravagance. Like the other pair of Coach shoes, also purchased at first markdown from L&T. I usually scoff at first markdown, but I saw these shoes and loved them. My friend Therese once asked me about keeping older things, and made the point of items going out of style. Which is a very valid point, but I don't operate at the edge of trendiness. I work in the classics, the basics. I don't snap things up pre-season, I buy them end of season (which is usually actually mid-season! Why summer sales start in July is crazy to me from a seller's perspective, but as a buyer I love it) and wear them the next year. I do have some shoes that were once wildly popular but now extremely dated (platforms!), but really, most of what I've worn so far this month is fairly timeless. Every once in a while though I get caught up. I saw these and for whatever reason fell in love. I've always thought they were way awesome-er than anyone else ever has - I've never gotten the compliments on them I think they deserve. But I love them. Haven't worn them for a while, so busted them out yeterday. The suede straps were stiff, but quickly loosened up and they were as comfortable as I remembered. Sure, perhaps dated, and they also need to be reheeled, but I still love them. And I have a summer skirt in those exact colors!

Bottom line: Keeper. But tell me, do you think they are dated?

June 14th - old favorites make a comeback

What: 2.5 inch strappy red sandals
From: Ann Taylor LOFT
Purchased: ~’02 or ‘03
Cost: $30

I haven’t worn these shoes in a long time, but I’ve always loved them. They look like they wouldn’t be comfortable, but they really are. I used to wear them all the time (pre-pregnancies) with a black skirt, white T, and red sweater, but since working from home I don’t think I’ve worn them once. The last time I remember wearing them – and that outfit - was a work trip to Hawai’i in Jan ’05, though I probably wore them every once in a while to work in ‘06 and ‘07. This is where the whole working from home thing works against me – they’re too informal for formal meetings, but too dressy for casually kicking around home. Yesterday I had to drop something off at an office, but no meeting, so I threw on a red t-shirt and black pants and these shoes. Still love them.

Bottom line: Keeper