All of the inventories and clean outs here have gotten me -- maybe the least organized, least disciplined, least list-making person ever -- to want to get in on the action. Even the idea of going through all my clothing at once makes me want to take a nap, but I figured I could at least tackle my shoes.

So yesterday I dumped out all my shoes in a pile, got rid of maybe 10 or 12 pairs that didn't seem worth holding on to, and counted everything that was left. I've never gotten into the minimalist urge to keep everything below a certain number or to have only things that are the Most Perfect Thing Ever, so I mostly did this out of curiosity and to get a sense of what I have and what I should concentrate on looking for.

It turns out I have … 47 pairs, not counting rain shoes/boots, a pair of plastic flip-flops, gear sneakers, and one or two pairs of shoes I think of as "slippers that can technically go outside." I was honestly expecting it to be much higher, and I don't think this is unreasonable for someone who lives somewhere with four seasons, works full-time in an office, and walks a lot. So I feel pretty good about that.

However, I feel like about half of my shoes have one issue or another. I've got a few workhorse pairs that are due for replacement, but that I keep wearing because they're still technically wearable. Most of these are just getting worn down, but there are a few in perfectly good condition that I just don't like much (yup, tall heeled black and cognac boots, that's you). In addition, I have a lot of shoes that don't get worn that often for one reason or another. Sometimes they're something I bought because they seemed fun or different and didn't expect to necessarily wear super-often (hello, summer sneakers), sometimes they're useful in specific circumstances (hello, gray wedge boots with thick rubber soles that are good when it's a little icy but not enough to need snow boots), and sometimes they're older shoes that I wouldn't buy now but still like enough to hold onto for now (hello, bright-colored round-toe flats).

I don't have a problem keeping these, although there's probably one or two more I could cull. As I said, these do get worn, and I do have the space for them. But I feel like my ratio of shoes I want to mentally stick an asterisk next to vs. shoes I don't is a little high. So maybe I just need to be a little more strategic about buying in the future. When I'm shoe shopping, I think I might over-rely on having enough shoes that I never need to buy any one thing. So maybe I could focus more on identifying holes or buying replacements for workhorses rather than just assuming that I'll always be able to cobble something together from my existing shoe wardrobe to fit any real needs I face and using that as justification for buying something more random.

This is getting really long, so I'll put pictures of my shoes in a reply to this. Thanks for reading, and any advice about other shoes I can think about culling, or advice/insight in general are welcome!