Too Many Shoes?
Manolo says, here is the most recent column of the Manolo from the Express of the Washington Post.
Dear Manolo,
Despite annual culling, I find that I still have 63 pairs of shoes. Is this too many?
Kate
Manolo says, too many shoes? Ha! The Manolo he laughs!
Are there too many stars in the heavens? No!
In the fact, to use the science, the recent survey of the readers of the Manolo reveals that the average super fantastic girl own 127 pairs of the shoes. Yes, perhaps this it is not what might be called the “random sample”, but is it not clear from this that 63 pairs is only half enough?
To the Manolo, it sounds as if the real problem it is not that the Kate has too many shoes, but that she has too few closets.
Manolo recommends building more closets and then you can put into them this pair of the beautiful suede pumps from the Jean-Michel Cazabat.
Yes, they are expensive, but you are celebrating. You have the new closets!
Comments
Annalucia 19 years ago
The Annalucia, she cannot imagine owning the 63 pairs of shoes. But then, she has the wide feet and cannot wear the heel more than two inches in height, so she is perhaps more restricted than Manolo’s correspondent in what is available to her.
She has gone through her shoe closet and counted up the following:
1 pair of Naturalizer shoes, black, heavy lace-ups, suitable for wearing with the blue jeans; the common-every-day shoe for the cold weather.
1 pair of tall black Naturalizer boots – the dress boot for the cold weather.
1 pair of black Naturalizer sandals, for the everyday use in hot weather.
1 pair of white sandals of German manufacture, for the dressy occasions in the summer.
1 pair of high-heeled black Oxfords from the Naturalizer (no doubt the Manolo is beginning to detect the pattern here) for wearing with the smart trousers, as opposed to the jeans.
1 pair of plain black dress pumps of German manufacture, for all dress occasions not covered by the summer sandal.
And her joy and delight…
one pair of black dancing shoes ordered from the folk who run Discount Dance Supply, the “Junior Footlight” character shoe with the heel of one-and-one-half inches and the strap across the instep, very Forties, and excellent for the swing dancing. It is sold as a tap shoe, but the taps are sold separately, and indeed it took the Annalucia quite a while to persuade the lovely telephone saleslady that she did not require the taps. And this shoe cost only $25.50 of the American dollars.
Do not mistake the Annalucia – she loves to visit this blog, to see the pretty shoes pictured thereon, but she knows that most of them, they are not for her. The Naturalizer it is not an exciting shoe, and the German shoes are perhaps a little…staid…in their design, but they keep the feet of the Annalucia happy. And it is the Annalucia’s experience that if the feet are unhappy, the rest of the woman is unhappy too.
catrandom 19 years ago
LOL, good Manolo! I’m trying not to laugh too loud at work :)
Wayne 19 years ago
63 pairs? Pffffttt…I’m a male, and I own about 110 pairs.
AskMom 19 years ago
Indeed, it can be postulated that the super fantastic person of either gender has a duty to own the absolute maximum of wonderful shoes. Ask yourself, can there ever be too much beauty in the world?
Kim 19 years ago
Hello. My name is Kim. I have a shoe problem. Well, not according to some, but I’m trying to be normal. Hah. I have around 49 pairs of shoes. I divested myself of the shoes that were uncomfortable, out of the style and just generally not superfantastic awhile back.
Therefore, I had THE HOLES IN THE SHOE NEED AREA! Which necessitated going out and doing the buying of the hole-filling. Unfortunately there are stores like the DSW and the Dillards who have the hole-filling shoes. Just for the small, everyday work sort of shoe or the jeans accompanying shoe or the funky wearwherever shoe.
The one major hole of the shoe area that I’m needing to fill is the boot. Even though I live north of Houston and really should, just in general, have some sort of boot, I’ve had a problem pulling the trigger on buying THE BOOT. It’s simply too fricking hot still.
However, I’m happy that we can wear the slides and the looser sorts of fashions for a longer time than those who are stuck in the yankee sorts of weather, those who have to suck in their cheeks and buttocks and toes as the weather fridgidizes around them. Really. I’m so sorry. (I grew up in Wisconsin so I feel free to laugh riotously at those sunk in the depths of despair up there. shuh)
I’m encouraged about my shoe foraging abilities lately, though. I’ve discovered I have, as I thought, good taste. More taste than money. Oh well.
Viola 19 years ago
This is the validation I have been looking for. When I married two years ago, my husband was appalled that any woman would have so many shoes and still desire more. Manolo – you are the best. I am forwarding your commentary to him right now with glee.
Texasexile 19 years ago
There are many things that the superfantastic person can have too many of. . . but shoes ain’t one of them. The Texasexile, she has too many pairs to count. I have high (Manolos, D2Squared) and rock bottom (20 year old pair of Chuck Taylors) and I love them all! Having 63 pairs just means that you need to buy more shoes.
Kate 19 years ago
Ah, Manolo, you are truly the soothing voice of reason in this troubled age. No longer, will I be ashamed of my many shoes. Instead I will celebrate them! More closets? Yes! Also, I shall install lighted mahogany glass fronted curio cabinets to display my beloved footwear. No longer simply ‘shoes,’ hereforeto they will constitute the basis of ‘the Buchanan Collections.’ If it’s good enough for the Victoria and Albert Museum, it is good enough for Chez Kate.
jj 19 years ago
Oh dear. I believe I only have 17 pairs. I must get to work. Particularly on the brown shoes appropriate for the office.
Then again, I live in Los Angeles and own 5 pairs of boots! Los Angeles requires boots for maybe all of 2 weeks when it rains (and then, of course, not the lovely suede boots).
zippy 19 years ago
The remedy for too many shoes is to increase closet space space or decrease the nunber of shoes. The obvious choice is add more space!
Maureen 19 years ago
Annalucia, thank you for recommending the Naturalizer. The Maureen also has the wide feets, and prefers not to wear the heel of the highness most of the time. While the shoes of the Naturalizer may not be of the superfabulousness, there are some that have the quiet good taste.
Trashy and Classy 19 years ago
As I read all of ya’lls super comments, my eyes swell with tears, tears that could fill an ocean. I am also of the shoe loving type, but only have two measly closets to fill my shoes up with, and some of the closets have to have space to put things like clothes in. But I do what I can and I have a super fantastic collection of about 50 shoes, 35 pairs of good shoes and 15 pairs of shoes to wear with the cows. But sadness has taken over my entire existence. This sadness is called having to live in a dormitory for the next three years of my life…. I would buy a house like the normal college kids, but my colleges believe that the experience of dormitory living will be a life long lesson. Stupid college people, with their old brown shoes! I will have to leave behind my beautiful rainbow of high heels, heels in every color. My trashy stripper pink ones with the heel of metal, my beautiful blue velvet ones, that make me feel like a goddess. My babies will be cruelly taken away from me for three years! But then I think screw it, I can just not wear clothes… all anyone needs is a good pair of high heels, and a whole lot of confidence.
karla 19 years ago
I cleaned out my cloests(s) and got rid of 60 pairs! That still leaves me with over 200.
Me? Too many shoes? Never! I need that 89 pair of black shoes. Seriously.