17 per season (summer and winter) seems more realistic when having seasonal extremes. Pre YLF I had very few pair, but have learned that the right footwear can make an outfit sing. If it's comfortable, fills a niche, and one has the room, go for it.

I'm afraid to count because I am fast closing in on triple digits.

Somewhere out there are several women who are barefoot because I have the shoe allocation for all of us...

I remember when I used to read the alreadypretty blog, she surely had at least thirty or even forty pairs of boots alone (many of which looked, to my eye, extremely similar to each other). I have no idea where she stored them. And tons of other shoes. It was astonishing.

I would want maybe a few more pairs of shoes, but the thought of having more than thirty or so is off-putting...storage is definitely a concern, combined with my penchant for shoes that aren't cheap (though far from the potential for shoe priciness). It does become sobering when you look at a few pairs of shoes and realize it's the equivalent to airfare to Paris, or something like that.

About the reality check - it's more of a self-check in for me. I know I did a huge amount of purging (laid out all my shoes on bedroom floor and even compared them against each other - keep one or other style) and donated about half of my closet recently to Goodwill.
My objective was to have all the shoes I owned fit into three shoe organizer hanging things and have none put away in boxes or under bed storage like they had been. And i did that.

Working in apparel retail is bad for shopping : mid way through the day, if you decide your feet hurt, it's so easy to jump over to shoe dept and pick up a new pair. And practical side of me would say "just get the black - you can always use them". So accumulation over the years, along with not purging something that was still in good shape was inevitable.
Plus, the employee discount, ability to jump on any great deal immediately, well you get the picture.

I am on a one in/one out plan now

I just sort of estimated:
19 pairs of flats - ballet/oxfords/driving mocs
17 sandals (including 6 flip flops - I was going to take that down to one pair but DD/neice can wear my size in those and pool/camp season coming up)
12 heels/pumps/dressy shoes
14 gear/casual sneakers (some are work sneakers for early mornings in store moving things around)
7 boots

So I guess it's pretty high compared to average but I do think I have too much black and not enough color. I don't want to get to a "number" just have fun with shoes

Thanks! It means I need to go shoe shopping!

Here, in NJ, most women I see around have only 3 pairs of shoes - UGGs (or similar) for winter, flip-flops for summer, and sneakers for in-between. So, I believe that 17 pairs is honest estimate for average, not fashion conscious woman.

I do want to say that I've become much more discriminating about *adding* shoes in the past couple years. I've culled shoes from my wardrobe that hurt my feet and will buy fewer shoes, but make sure they are good quality and feel good on my feet. I'm learning...

Okay, I counted:

Pumps: 29
Boots: 6 tall, 1 cowboy, 1 snow, 5 ankle = 13
Evening sandals: 5
Casual sandals: 6
Work-appropriate sandals: 4
Rubber flip-flops: 5 (I swear I only wear 'em at home or at the beach or pool!)
Loafers: 2
Oxford/shootie: 3
Ballet flats: 2
Sneakers: 6 casual plus 2 gym = 8
Tap shoes: 3

Total: 80

Oh, drat, MaryK - you reminded me that I wasn't really counting all of my gear shoes (2 pairs of running shoes, Chaco sandals, and a pair of ghillies for Scottish Country Dance.)

My mom calls me Imelda Marcos every time I add a pair of shoes to my wardrobe!

I am afraid to count.

MaryK, bless you!

If the *average* is 17 pairs, then my shoe collection is genius.

I try to keep my collection to about 12 pairs, that way I have enough room to line them up in the floor of my closet. Recently, I've bought replacements for some of them and I'm afraid to throw the old ones out until I'm sure the new ones are blister free. I put the old ones in a bag under the bed, and I have to keep going in there to get them out and wear them, lol!

For example, I bought a new pair of black suede and patent flats that I thought would replace two pair of similar shoes that were pretty worn. But then it rained the other day, and I dug the all-patent ones out to wear, something I hadn't considered, since it rarely rains here. Now I have several pairs of black flats and I like them all for different reasons. One goes *click-clack* on the floor, another is silent. One pair gives more support for standing, another is soft like a slipper and the uppers are more comfy when just sitting around. One is warmer, the other is low-cut and allows my feet to breathe with a better lining. What is a woman to do?

So Christieanne, which Goodwill did you donate half of your closet to? Just sayin'!

I believe 17 could be average - I didn't have that many until I started trying to dress more stylishly.
Now I have 18 pairs of "fashion" boots + shoes, plus 7 or so for sports shoes/gear.

I have about 17 pairs of shoes. I would have many, many more pairs, but my feet are wide and I find it challenging to find shoes that I like in my width so I am forced to admire shoes on other women, but rarely buy what won't work for me.

Oh dear, some poor woman has negative shoes to average me out !

For a four-season climate I have 42 pairs. There might be something to a 17 pair average per season - i.e. during the summer season I would probably have that many pairs in active rotation.

Casual Sandals - 10 pair
Dress Sandals - 2 pair
Sneakers/Oxfords - 7 pair
Short boots - 2 pair
Clogs/mules - 10 pair

-GEAR-
Rain boots - 2 pair
Snow boots - 3 pair
Hiking boots - 2 pair
Running shoes - 1 pair
Garden shoes - 1 pair
House slippers - 2 pair

I can/could afford them, store them, use them, and I was able to name all but two pair off the top of my head, so I think I'm under control. (And seriously lacking in dress shoes...)

Erm, I'm somewhere around MaryK's number. The vast majority are boots or sandals. Almost no pumps. Some casual flats, loafers, converses. Mostly, I think I have too many because I hang onto some that I hope come back into style someday! I don't know why I have a harder time purging shoes than clothes.

Absolutely refuse to count. My father called me Imelda Marcos a long time ago.

Shoes are my weakness. I may have 17 pairs of oxfords. Well at least 8. And I don't just have oxfords.

Kristin's comment cracked me up...the number for the boyfriend/husband is 17, in reality it is a million ! LOL !

Shannon also maded allot of sense with a per season number. I just think that the women lied on the survey ( ahem...under reported ). This can't be accurate. Even my mom, who has bad knees and HATES clutter has about 15 pairs with winter boots, Sunday shoes, sneakers and so on.

I'm on board with the 17 pairs per season... assuming 4 seasons. But I must have 17 pairs of boots alone, and easily 17 pairs of sandals - probably more. As for shoes I regularly reach for, that's a far lower number. I've been trying to force myself to be more practical when buying shoes to make sure I buy ones that I will wear and that don't LOOK so much better than they FEEL.

I have about three dozen, including slippers, rain boots, exercise gear, flip-flops, and the like. I bought over half in the past eight months with probably a dozen pairs in 2012. I wore solely my single pair of Dansko Pros for several years running and well, I got sick of doing that. Then, I *discovered* the wonders of Zappos and Endless for finding wide width shoes. So now, I have four pairs of pumps after not having bought any (or having any that fit) in about two decades. I bought my first pair of ballet flats; same with rain boots, booties, and shooties. Pathetic, yes? Talk about pent up demand!!! My old shoes are Keens and *potato* shoes that both look and are rather the color of potatoes. It is amazing I never made it on *What Not to Wear*!!!

I only work part-time, so I guess some of these shoes fit my fantasy life. There are quite a few pairs I have yet to wear; part of the reason is that my feet get cold and turn purple so I have held off on the sandals and unlined casual flats with cut-outs. But the other is that I generally dress for work one or two days per week., and I don't feel the pumps are cross-over shoes that I would wear to the market or with jeans.

This is a wake-up call. I need to wear the shoes I have -- as in the ones I just bought!!!

Wow, what a great collection MaryK! Though, If you have 80 pairs of shoes, you get to wear each of them approximately less than 5 times a year. Some of your shoes must be feeling neglected

Funny thing: As I'm in the process of trying to split my wardrobe fairly evenly between cities (it's already split, but not evenly), I made a list of shoes needed in each --- I decided a minimum of 16 was mandatory, 8 per city, and that with carting a few between cities regularly! I guess that's reasonable, then?

What I actually have, across both cities and post purging, is something like 24. Of which, some need replacing or will pretty darn soon. And there are holes to fill too.

Oh wait! make that 25 --- I ordered a new pair yesterday!

Before I joined YLF I probably had five pair - no joke. And none of them were shoes. Just boots and sandals. For four seasons.

No wonder I looked a mess.

Now I have:

Tall boots - 3 pair
Booties - 4 pair : 1 black heeled, 1 "outdoor" all weather (Blundstones), 1 taupe suede, 1 wedge lace-up
Snow boots (hiking style) - 1 pair
Pumps - 4 pair: 1 pair burgundy patent, 1 black Mary Jane, 1 olive green Fluevog Bellevue, 1 pair purple kitten heels
Flats: 1 pair red
Lace-ups: 1 pair Doc Saras
Sandals: 3 pair - 1 nude heeled, 1 flat pewter, 1 flat gold toned.
Gym shoes/ running shoes: 1 pair

So that means 18, including the gear shoes. 16 excepting those. Looks like I have room to buy the nude wedges I want for the summer, LOL!

Actually, this was very instructive for me. Not only in showing me that I am not as profligate as I still sometimes feel (I have bought a LOT of footwear, for me, this year!) but also in reminding me of what I actually WEAR.

Do you think somebody might still be buying for her fantasy life here? I have four pair of pumps, each of which gets worn maybe 4 times a year, tops.

Meanwhile, all boots, booties, and sandals, and now, even my Doc Saras are in CONSTANT rotation. Hmmm. Guess I know where my spending priorities next year will be.

This is so fascinating for me because I'm really on the low end around here :). I'm pretty sure I have under 30, and that's including lots of gear footwear (running shoes, gardening Birkis, snow boots, etc.) for my 4-season climate. I guess I don't feel right buying a new pair unless they fill a specific hole. Maybe my SO doesn't know just how good he's got it!!

I haven't bought a new pair of shoes/boots for over 16 months now - and pretty much have not skipped a beat in being able to find an appropriate pair of shoes (in my closet) to wear with any outfit that I put on. When I begin to shop again, I will NOT buy shoes the way that I used to - I currently have over 100 pairs and its just ridiculous. I don't have room for all of them - and even though I love them, I don't have enough places/events in my life to wear them all!

I probably have 20 pairs or so, but only maybe 10 pairs are in my rotation while the others are tucked away "just in case." So 17 pairs sounds about right to me, for the "average" woman. I think we need to remember that not all women are fashion conscious or shop often, or have the means to own a huge shoe collection.

Oh my I hope I didn't case you all any shoe anxiety! I really didn't mean for you to go count (unless you wanted to). I have noticed that some people keep such meticulous track of cost per wear and items owned. Very organized!
I went through today and put three pairs in the replacement pile. My beloved (and I mean BELOVED) silver Me Too flats are causing me pain after I wear them. I just put that together on Friday and it's time to say good bye even though it means I won't have a metallic flat in the house!

Thank god! I am not the only shoe addict here. I loved reading all those shoe collection and I still see a lot of hole in my shoe wardrobe. I need to go shopping now. LOL.

Bella, you bring up an interesting point. Although I probably wear an average of more than two pair of shoes per day (I wear my gym shoes 6 days a week one day I week I wear work shoes, gym shoes, AND tap shoes!), there are indeed many pair that get worn very seldom. For example, I hadn't worn my snow boots for several years until I went to NYC in February wore them in the freezing rain. And my fancy evening shoes get worn just a time or two a year. And some of them are indeed just neglected... which includes almost all of the non-sandals flats because it turns out I don't realloy wear flats.

But.

I LOVE having the perfect shoe for almost every outfit, and if that shoe is the "perfect shoe" only a time or two a year, I'm okay with that as long as I haven't outgrown my storage space!