The cull diary - My shoe collection revisted

A year ago now I blogged about culling my shoes HERE & HERE.  I thought I would revisit where I stand in the shoe department especially now after a few recent purchases (I will do a quarterly shopping wrap up post in the coming days).

So I had 72 pairs at the beginning of this year, and after my big shoes cull I whittled that number down to 45 pairs.

These days without counting my slippers and sneakers, I own a total of 37 pairs (a pair I store at work is not pictured below).  Not bad for a woman who once owned in excess of 120 pairs!

Here they are in all their glory - together with some commentary.

Chloe "Silverados", ACNE "Pistols' in contrast , Isabel Marant "Dickers" in anthracite and taupe

Apart from the Chloe booties (which I love love love, but just not with everything), the other three pairs are regularly worn.  I would even consider repurchasing each pair upon it wearing out.  Which fortunately is now possible given that some designers are now repeating their most popular items.  What a great "trend"!
 
Row 1: Witchery black wedges, Witchery brown wedges, Wittner bow heels, Witchery leopard loafers.  Row 2: Robert Clergerie platform sandals, Country Road tan heels, Country Road black heels, Country Road pointy heels

Having now re-read last year's post detailing my shoe collection, the Witchery brown wedges will be culled this weekend (I'll give them to my mum).  I think I may have worn them once this year and I recall them hurting my toes.  Also, the Witchery leopard loafers are cute, but they are not the first pair I grab to wear. Potentially I will cull these too.  We shall see.

Marni heels, Miu Miu heels, Marc Jacobs bow heels, Marc Jacobs studded heels, Marc Jacobs 60s pumps

The Marni and Miu Miu heels, although not regularly worn, get whipped out when the occasion calls for them... they look great and the they are comfortable.  I can't say the same for the MJ heels. Although I like the look of these three MJ pairs, they just don't get worn given their height and lack of platform. My 30+ year old feet just can't handle them anymore. Sad.

Row 1: D&G pumps, Guess pumps, Chloe "Jodie" pumps, Wittner pink heels, Witchery cream  heels.  Row 2: Marni at H&M sandals, Country Road leopard sandals, Witchery gold sandals, Urban Soul tassel sandals.  Row 3: Country Road ballet flats in blue, green and red, Witchery tan ballet flats.  Row 4: J.Crew "Cece" flats, Marc Jacobs "Maddie", Witchery embellished flats, Urban Soul flats

I love the Chloe pumps, but the other 4 pairs on the top shelf do not get any love.  I think I'll definitely cull the D&G pumps and I will look at replacing the Wittner and Witchery heels with a single pair in a light tone but with lower heels. It seems that 7 cm is the most I can handle these days without a platform.

All my ballet flats are regularly worn except the MJ Maddies.  They are a little bit too small for me, yet I just can't seem to let go.  Why is that?

Robert Robert heeled boots, Country Road over the knee flat boots.

I have worn the heeled boots only once or twice in the past year, but I am keeping them until I can find a suitable replacement.  The Country Road boots have been worn a lot and they are ok but just not perfect. I'll look to replace these too.

Since undertaking my big shoe cull earlier in the year and in the course of this last year I have determined the following when it comes to shoe shopping:

1. My feet can no longer handle high heels, so I will no longer buy them.
2. Nice mid-heels are hard to find.
3. It's worth splurging on well made shoes that will be worn regularly. Putting such shoes on and wearing them is a pleasure.  Buying cheaper shoes in a similar style becomes a nonoccurence.  You actually save money in the long term.
4. There is one caveat on the above statement: ballet flats.  I jump at the opportunity to buy ballet flats on sale. Although I can appreciate Lanvin, Chanel and Repetto flats, I cannot imagine paying the big bucks for them since I buy flats for walking in properly, as in to and from work.  Each and every pair I own apart from the J.Crew and MJ flats was purchased for less than $50.
Published by on
Filed under: , , ,

14 comments:

  1. Anonymous29 December 2012 at 22:23

    I am in the midst of doing this too. I've also stopped buying heels because I honestly just don't wear them, no matter how pretty they are.

    If you're looking for a good mid-sized heel then the J.Crew Valentinas are good. Low heel but not a kitten heel and great quality leather.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mycatssaymeow30 December 2012 at 15:32

      The J.Crew Valentinas look nice... I am irritated though how the price goes up when you change from the US site to the AU site. May have to use my mail forwarder if I ever shop on that site!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous30 December 2012 at 17:31

      Oh don't get me started on that! I tend to only buy from their sale stock and have registered as an 'Insider' so I get free shipping.

      Delete
  2. electrocat29 December 2012 at 23:26

    You have a very nice shoe collection!

    I'm 1/2 way through my clothes and shoes cull too...I got rid of 5 pairs today.
    Do you clean/polish them after every wear?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mycatssaymeow30 December 2012 at 15:37

      Thanks electrocat... the result many years of collection.

      I don't polish after every wear, but I do wipe the insoles with a baby wipe after every wear if I'm going bear foot. I find this prevents - how do I put it - smelliness :)

      I also topy sole the pairs I wear a lot (both IM Dickers have been topy soled).

      Delete
  3. Sue30 December 2012 at 00:10

    Oh gosh - that's so neat and tidy. I started doing a cull two days before Christmas like you do and still haven't put everything back. I never know where to start and just go for everything all at once and then it looks like my bedroom has been burgled. Do you have all your shoes out all the time or do you store away depending on whether it's summer or winter? I notice there is a pair of sandals on the shelf but nothing like a pair of flip flops and is it just the two pairs of long boots that you have?

    I think my optimum heel height is about the same as yours - 7cm to be on the comfortable side though I can manage 10cm at a push.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mycatssaymeow30 December 2012 at 15:45

      Hi Sue, I actually finally got around to unpacking our suitcases and boxes last night, so our bedroom looked like it had been burgled too!

      All my shoes are stored in the same cupboards with doors (IKEA billy book cases) all year round. I find this way I don't forget about any of them (although, as I discovered this year, I still don't wear all of them).

      I actually do own a pair of flip flops but I only wear them around the house on occasion (so they are classified as slippers). They actually hurt me in between my toes if I wear them for too long! They live in the bathroom to wear when I am cleaning it.

      Yes - only two long boots after major culling down. My two favourites (a Wichery long pair and a Country Road biker boot) were laid to rest earlier in the year. I found that last Winter I pretty much lived in my Pistols and Dickers.

      Delete
  4. michaela30 December 2012 at 11:53

    Your shoes are so beautiful! And so nicely stored!! Mine are unfortunately all in their boxes in my wardrobe (nowhere for them to be stored nicely)
    Just wondering about the CR flats - are they durable? I'm so hesitant to buy cheap flats (like the ones from Rubi etc) because they fall apart after 2 wears, and like you mentioned - you waste money in the long run.
    xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mycatssaymeow30 December 2012 at 15:53

      I used to store all my shoes in the original boxes too, but found that they used up too much space. I always dreamed about owning shoe shelves so got some from IKEA and in my old house I had them lining the hallway. Now we have a sizable bedroom so they are in there for now.

      Yes I think the CR flats are durable. My last pair lasted 1 year plus and I used it as a walking shoe. I ended up wearing a hole through the leather sole which would have not happened had I topy soled them. I didn't bother topy soling that particular pair as they were half a size too small for me. The uppers were still in perfect condition though. The CR coloured flats are currently $49.95 btw!

      I can't wear Rubi etc because they are synthetic... I feel like my feet would boil off my body. Definitely worth waiting for a sale and buying all leather or at least leather upper and lining.

      Delete
  5. mycatssaymeow30 December 2012 at 15:34

    I think I finally got it this year after buying the Mimco wedge booties... I wore them only once which resulted in agony. I immediately culled them. WASTE.OF.TIME.AND.MONEY.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kay HermosaVogue30 December 2012 at 21:52

    I LOVE the MJ Maddies and both your pairs of knee-high boots.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mycatssaymeow22 January 2013 at 21:50

      I remember how excited I was to buy the Maddies all those years ago... my first designer pair if I remember correctly :)

      Delete
  7. Unknown11 January 2013 at 08:41

    You have such a nice collection of shoes! I love your thought process about quality and wear to justify what to buy.

    xx Mandi
    www.findmeamuse.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mycatssaymeow22 January 2013 at 21:48

      Thanks for your comment.
      I really thought that this whole process of mine would be over by now, but it really has turned out to be very on going.

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)