So many interesting replies! I'll have to come back and read and comment later on

Thank you all for the interesting takes on this! I've enjoyed reading your comments alot.

Krista – teachers sure d have unexpected happenings around the corners. Helps to be prepared with runnable shoes

Claire – I'll have to try that too, because now I go through *at least* 5 pairs in a rush

Ceit – very clever to have a variety of shoes at the office. I do too, but are a bit short now after the vacation

Shiny and KathyL, Elisabeth – thanks for your insightful reply! Very fun to read and not overthought I love how you've sorted it out by what's dominating your schedule (shopping, walking, work…). When shopping, I also chose carefully whay clothes and shoes I wear so that I easily can try clothes with the right accessories

Echo, Shannon, Diana – I see your point! I really am a mood dresser, but could definitely be a bit more streamlined

Laura, Ruth, Angie, Scarlet, Elisabeth – weather is really unpredictable where I live, so I see your concerns. I think I've always had weather in mind when choosing shoes – it comes with the climate

Shabbychick – great that you manage to get a cohersive outfit when chosing shoes last

Racylou – I like your take on this and are taking notes! Sounds like my dinner planning that is a kind of elimination process… do I want fish or meat, if meat - white (chicken, pork) or red meat, if fish – salmon/trout or cod etc etc)

Una – we should make that an exercise both of us!

MaryK, Jonsey – you always look so cohersive and every detail is really well integrated. I'll listen to you fabbers!

When I was working in schools, my offices were not air-conditioned, so in the early fall and late spring every decision was based on what I could survive in when it was a humid 90 degrees. Shoes were based on whatever cooling outfit I could put together on top.

I think the decision about which actual pair of shoes to wear comes last, but the decision about which *category* of shoe to wear (flats, boots, sandals, heels) is based on the weather and the day's activities.

Totally depends on the day -- if weather and activities dictate a certain type of shoe, I'll start from there and work with outfit options that suit the shoe choice. Or if I'm really jonesing to wear a certain pair.

Other times I'll have an outfit in mind and have to consider shoes choice after the rest, but I have such a generous shoe collection, I always know I'll have something just right for a given outfit. I suppose that's a benefit of a large shoe wardrobe!

Alicat - I really like the idea of breaking it down to categories like you suggest, because I can easily get overwhelmed even not having a vast shoe collection

Janet - I used to have a large selection of shoes, but find that downsizing is easier to work with, though I (always) have some shoe gaps that needs filling in