As of today, Fall weather is here. And so is a problem I’ve put off solving.

I’ve had a back injury that is a lot better but healing only very slowly. All summer long, I’ve only had two pairs of sandals I could reliably wear out on the NYC pavement without pain. I’ve also had a couple of others I do okay with. The shoes that work are Vionic and Naot. I seem to need arch support and a wedge or thicker sole

I’ve purchased some Vionic insoles. They work okay in shoes that already have some support and thickness of sole (shock absorption, basically). Today, they are in my metallic Ecco sneakers, so the shoe crisis is averted for now.

However, I have plenty of flats with very thin soles and no arch support. This includes the Naturalizer Emilines, which don’t play well with the insole as they make my heels rub. Sob.

Going forward, do I:

1. Box the thin flats up till next year and hope they can be worn. Storage space is always an issue for me, but I’m already storing them.

2. Purge some under the idea that I need to move away from shoes with little support, anyway. (I usually need support for long walking days, but these used to be fine for going to and from work.) Purging a bunch of shoes at once would be painful, and some are fairly new anyway (sunk cost fallacy?). Plus I’d need to fill out the collection a bit with dressier shoes I can wear.

3. Keep some/all and just carry thinner shoes to work (I despise doing this), or else leave many of them there (that’s possible).

I am including in this post finds for the non-gear, non-formal shoes I think I can wear with or without insoles (With one exception, I’m leaving out sandals). Most are booties or fashion sneakers. I’m going to have to take them all outside and test each pair to be sure, though, when I have a nice weekend day. I will post the shoes I think I can’t wear at all, or only indoors, in comments. 

I need your help figuring out what holes I have and which of the above strategies to pursue.

If I do add shoes, I need to be careful about it. I may duplicate the Eccos, maybe in black. And Vionic has some blush loafers that are spendy but appear to have the right kind of support. Naturalizer also has loafers in blue with a thicker sole that may work. And I can add wedges, as I don’t like the ones I have except for job interviews or something. They don’t fit my style anymore. I can’t replace ALL the shoes, though!